Proverbs
4:18 Good
News Translation
18 The road the righteous travel is like
the sunrise, getting brighter and brighter until daylight has come.
The sceptic in me felt that this was a lost cause. But I
also admit that the Holy Spirit has a mighty way of guiding all of our lives,
especially when we encourage Him to do so. A few months earlier a friend of
mine had taken me over to a large Salvation Army Corps, east of us on I-215. It
had a center that distributed all the donations to various smaller corps in the
L.A. area. It also had a center where people could come and live while they
consolidated their freedom from addiction.
Anyway, Sylvia saw the panhandler several more times, and
told him about the Corps I had described to her. She wanted to drive him over
there. I was solidly against letting her drive an hour away from home alone
with a former addict. She finally got me to agree to take him.
She arranged a point where we could meet him. He put his
stuff in the trunk and climbed into the passenger side. Sylvia rode in the
back. I instructed her to come to my rescue if he pulled any surprise on us.
As we drove, I chatted with him about his conversion
experience. He glowed with the euphoria he had experienced, (Have you forgotten
your experience, or did you never have one?) He wanted this euphoric experience
all the time. It was so much superior to what he used to get from his liquor or
drugs.
I tried to point out gently that the Christian experience is
like someone lost in a cave. When the lost turn a corner and see the bright
light of mouth of the cave in the distance they are overwhelmed by the distant
light. A great wave of rescue and freedom sweeps over them. Then as they thread
their way carefully and possibly painfully toward the light, it becomes ever
brighter, and their original euphoria fades in the brighter light. Finally,
they step out of the cave and the full rays of the sun envelop them in warmth
and light. They no longer have that initial thrill, but they have something
much more beautiful and vital.
I stepped into the Salvation Army Captain’s office with him.
He invited us to sit down. The captain interviewed the panhandler briskly. When
asked how long he had been clean, he had to admit that he had gone over to his
girlfriend’s home the previous evening and had celebrated this new step with a
stiff drink. The captain informed hm that they didn’t take anyone unless they
had been clean for at least six weeks. He then directed us to a home where he
could lodge until he had achieved the six weeks. Sylvia and I dropped him off
there. His mother later informed us that unfortunately he was back on the
streets within a few days.
Dear Lord, may Your Spirit guide firmly and successfully toward Your perfect light.
[1]
https://medium.com/sensible-biohacking-transhumanism/the-meaning-of-euphoria-in-mental-health-and-spirituality-ca3781e87ef9
