[Faith-talk] {Spam?} Daily Thought for Saturday, May 21, 2016
Paul Smith
paulsmith at samobile.net
Sat May 21 16:20:00 UTC 2016
Hello and greetings from a rainy, damp and cold Baltimore, and I'm sure
the same is true of other areas here in the mid-Atlantic region of our
country. No matter what the weather is in your part of our country or
even the world, I hope that you are all faring well today, by God's
matchless grace and His providential care.
The author of today's contribution, Andrea Canale from New York, is
another one of those whom you probably never heard of before. She
treats the subject of addiction in her article "When God Gives You
Oranges," rendered as follows:
I was an addict. I wasn't addicted to an illegal narcotic;
nevertheless, my addiction was so powerful that I needed it to function
every day. As I dragged myself out of bed each morning, my first
thought was, _I _need _coffee.
I appreciated its enticing aroma and the rich, robust flavor. I
anticipated the warmth and comfort with each steamy sip. While I liked
all of this about my coffee, the one thing I couldn't live without was
the caffeine. Without it, everything about the cup of joe would be
unappealing. It wouldn't be the same if it were decaf.
Before I went to college, I worried about how I would get my coffee.
My parents recognized my concern and my first graduation gift was
everything I could've asked for--a coffeepot. From there, each present
I opened was coffee related: bags of coffee, filters, travel mugs.
These were the best gifts anyone could have given me.
In the first few weeks of college, I fell into a routine that began
with coffee. While drinking it, I checked my email and Facebook.
Then, I would text a few friends. Eventually came classes, homework,
and studying. Soon I realized I couldn't get through my day without
coffee, Facebook, and texting. _Was _it _possible _that _I _was
_becoming _addicted _to _my _computer _and _phone, _too? All of these
addictions became too much to handle. My life seemed to be ruled by
the Internet and caffeine. It scared me to think about what I would do
if I couldn't have these things.
I feared getting my midterm grades. These marks determined where I
stood academically. The anticipation rose as I slowly opened my
envelope. When I finally saw the results, my heart stopped. The
grades were anything but favorable. Were they because of my
addictions? That was when I evaluated myself on a deeper level. I
concluded that my addictive personality was getting in the way of my
academic performance. I knew I had to give up Facebook and texting.
On the day I vowed to give up Facebook and texting, it wasn't as hard
as I thought. I hid my phone in a coat pocket in my closet so it would
be out of my way. I didn't open my computer unless I had to write an
essay. As I thought about how easy it was to get over the addiction to
the Internet and texting, I realized I also had to get over my
addiction to caffeine. I was up to five cups of coffee each day! I was
only 18 years old, and my body was dependent on a drug. I gave up
coffee for good.
If I ever felt the pull of coffee pulling me in, I looked at a picture
of Jesus on a cross. This image reminded me of how He sacrificed
Himself so I could go to Heaven. If Jesus could die for me, I could
suffer coffee withdrawals for Him. My overindulgence of coffee pointed
to a deadly sin--gluttony. God has given me the strength every day to
overcome obstacles. So, I asked for His strength to get over caffeine.
I asked for a sign that it would get easier. He gave me one that week:
oranges. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When God gave me
oranges, I used them to get off caffeine.
Knowing the coffee would tempt me made me dread going to the cafeteria.
When I would walk into the dining area, the first thing that would hit
me was the powerful scent of the coffee. As I made my way to the
coffee cups, I spotted the oranges. Their burst of color drew me to
them. The citrus fragrance tempted me further. Why hadn't I eaten
them before? At that instant, a message I remembered from Bible study
years ago jarred my memory.
The instructor distributed an orange to each student. "I want you to
get to know it," she said.
I felt silly, but I did it anyway. "Hello, orange." I ran my fingers
over its bumpy surface and laughed quietly as I thought about what I was doing.
"Does everyone think they know their oranges?" the instructor asked.
The class murmured sarcastically, "Yes."
"Good." She placed the empty basket on my desk, "Put your orange back
in. I'm taking them all back!"
I was flabbergasted because I thought it was mine. Thankfully, the
class was told that we could claim our original oranges out of the huge
basket on the front table. _How _will _I _ever _find _it? As I pawed
through the collection, I was shocked when I actually found it. I was
able to identify my orange by the bruises and indents on its skin. I
learned from this experience that recognizing our flaws is the method
Jesus uses to know and love us.
Remembering this scenario made me smile. Jesus was watching out for me
and still loved me regardless of my addictions. I looked forward to
meal time again because I knew that basket of oranges would be waiting for me.
As I sat down with my friends for lunch, one of them asked with a
confused expression, "Andrea, where is your coffee?"
"I'm not drinking that stuff anymore," I said with a smile as I started
to peel my orange. In the end, it was this fruit that gave me the
willpower to overcome my addictions. This orange reminded me that God
loves me--flaws and all.
And there you have Andrea's testimonial article which I trust was food
for thought for all of us.
When she wrote that she was drinking up to five cups of coffee per day,
that reminded me of the lady who ran a private nursing home in northern
Virginia who came to our hospital because of an ulcer. She told her
gastroenterologist that she was drinking 40 cups of coffee per day and
smoking five packs of cigarettes per day also! Man, but am I glad I'm
not a patient in her private nursing home.
Now about the Internet for me and I'm sure others also, that's a
different story. I just love surfing through all the various radio
stations, but in addition to that addiction I'm also very fond of
hearing live voices of people whom I know, especially four very sweet
people whose names I won't disclose. The Lord has brought them into my
life, and I just can't imagine life without hearing what they have to
say. So my addiction is my computer and these four peoples' voices.
And that will do it for today. Don't forget that tomorrow in this
space will be the weekly Bible trivia game poem, then based on a book
and chapter of the Old Testament. Until then may the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in
these last days in which we live. Your Christian friend and brother, Paul
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