Yesterday was Easter, the High Holy Day of Christianity, April 20th, 2014. In my church, there were so many in attendance that an overflow auditorium was set up with closed-circuit TV to accommodate those who couldn't squeeze into the church pews and didn't want to or couldn't stand around the back or in the aisles. Those who would like to think that God and the traditional family - husband, wife, and children - is dead or declining should have seen us all!
Yet in the State of Colorado, there was an alternate celebration, that of legalizing marijuana. The news (before yesterday, I was too busy with family yesterday to watch TV news) reported that "four-twenty" was a police code dealing with illegal marijuana use. So now in Colorado adults can buy and use what was formerly considered 'dangerous' enough to be illegal.
To me it is disgusting that so many people will readily admit - some of them even boasting - that they 'used' marijuana, or "pot" when they were teens or college age. Why reveal that you didn't mind risking criminal consequences? And former presidents admitting (boasting?) this! How downgrading!! How can we respect a person who has no respect for himself?
There is a large contingent who 'believes' that marijuana is harmless, it only makes a person 'a little bit' 'high,' that there's no truth in the statement that 'pot' is a gateway drug. As a former psychiatric nurse who dealt with hundreds of legal and illegal substance abusers, addicts, I tell you: they are WRONG! Yes, there are some people who use marijuana nearly their whole lives and don't 'graduate' to more dangerous drugs, but, for most, marijuana is the first drug used to get 'high.' Then they seek to get even higher and use more dangerous drugs.
Speaking of church, several weeks ago, one of our priests asked us to pray for heroin addicts. It seems that, during that one week alone, FIVE families in our church told of a newly-discovered heroin addict in their families. We all know how tragic and devastating this is! And, of course, we pray for them, and all other addicts.
One former patient of mine, a heroin addict, tested 'positive' for Hepatitis-B, a virus which can ultimately destroy your liver and your life. I wanted to discover the source of this. He said that he and several buddies were on the banks of the Ohio River 'shooting up.' They had no water in which to dissolve their powdered heroin. They took water from the nearest source: The Ohio River! The pain and waste of lives: it makes me feel like weeping!
What can we do besides pray for all addicts to get help and have normal lives? We can make sure those we give legislative power over us know our wishes for legalizing mind-altering drugs, and all other issues important to us!
Dear Lord in Heaven, what a complicated society we have! How can we raise our families in a wholesome climate with all those who don't care about consequences? Lead us, guide us, comfort us, we ask you today!
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