On March 20, an event took place that was very dear to me. While I was home with my husband, who is recovering from surgery, my thoughts and heart were at the event.
The event I am referring to is the second annual Recovery Walk. The walk is done in awareness of addiction and recovery. As Police Chief Michael Kelly said, drugs and addiction are very prevalent in this area.
Addiction is genuine and very serious, but there is something more important to remember: people are affected by it. The user, family members, drug dealers and co-workers are all in it together in some way, shape or form. It is heartbreaking and devastating to see someone suffer. But it is definitely a most joyous occasion to see someone recover.
I wonder, though, how much of the perception of addiction is the addict’s fault or our fault? Do we see the addict as “some drug head” or “dopehead,” or do we see a person who is suffering? It may be that person’s fault, but the bottom is line they are suffering. It is made worse when the addict doesn’t see the problem, cares less about it or feels defeated by it. When we see someone who is “messed up” somehow, do we turn our nose down on them, or do we realize that there is probably someone somewhere in this world praying for that person for their lives to be changed?
I have been guilty of that. I have foolishly and erroneously judged addicts. For that I have to ask forgiveness.
My thoughts go further than just addicts. What about criminals? Do we consider them the labels thugs, thieves or whatever? Or do we see them as a person who, for whatever reason, made a huge mistake or multiple mistakes.
Working at this job has opened my eyes more. I deal with a wide variety of people, and each one is always going through something. I have been with a mother whose son was murdered, and I have been with a mother whose son has been charged with murder. Guess what? Both of those mothers were absolutely crushed. Both cried and both may have even asked why, knowing no answer will ever make sense of it.
I think about Christians, more specifically churchgoers. Every Sunday, they go to church and sit in the same spot. A lot of them will talk to the same people every time, ignoring a new person. Or if the new person is acknowledged after the customary welcomes for a couple of weeks, they go back to their previous routine, leaving a person who needs love, warmth and acceptance all alone again. There is a saying that gets to me. Do the churchgoers treat the church as a country club for the saints, or do they allow the doors to be permanently opened to be a spiritual and/or mental hospital for sinners?
Some of those who participated in the Recovery Walk carried signs with names of loved ones that are fighting, recovering or have lost the battle with addiction. But to those families, those names on the signs were not dopeheads or drug heads. Those names represented a mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter and so on. They are people who are loved and most likely being prayed for.
If we could change our view, we may be able to offer more hope in the world. Maybe if we would lift someone struggling by simply genuinely smiling at them, their world will not seem so dark and lonely. It is incredible how a person can change on the inside once they realize they have value.
Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me.”
Susan Amundson is
managing editor of The Columbian-Progress. She may be reached at (601) 736-2611 or
samundson@columbianprogress.com.
