A chronic alcoholic
lived in an Indian village with his wife and child. He used to shout madly and
beat his wife every day after reaching home in a heavily drunk state. The
simple wife and the innocent infant were afraid of his cruel and violent nature.
They suffered silently and helplessly.
One day, he brought home a packet of meat and
asked his wife to prepare his favourite dish for dinner. Then he went away to
enjoy his regular drink of country liquor.
The wife was busy
with the preparation of the dish for dinner but their pet puppy silently
sneaked into the kitchen and consumed the meat completely. The angry wife hit
the animal with a heavy stick and it died on the spot. Afraid to face the husband, she cut the puppy
into pieces and made a dish with the puppy's meat. The child was silently
watching the events. When the drunk father arrived for dinner and was about to
start his meals, the child was in a terrible dilemma. She wanted to reveal the
truth but was terribly afraid of the consequences. She was equally reluctant to
let her father eat the puppy's meat unknowingly. As the child could not hold
her tongue any more, she declared aloud,
"If I tell the truth, Papa will beat my
Mommy.
But if don't tell it, Papa will eat my
puppy!"
Hearing these innocent words, the man was
terribly upset. He realized that his cruel habits had caused this unpleasant
situation. He decided to stop his harmful habit and stay away from alcohol forever
and embraced his child and wife affectionately. With tears in their eyes, they
thanked God for His blessings.
At low levels alcohol may be a drug or a
food but at higher levels it is definitely a poison, which distorts the
personality, destroys domestic life and initiates sinful anti-social
activities. Alcohol appears to dissolve problems and worries for a while, but
they later reappear in bulk. Alcoholism has ruined the life of
millions.
Alcoholics have successfully recovered
from the habit by medical treatment, psychological counselling and prayerful
participation in retreats and meditation. But many have returned to alcoholism
when they 'celebrate' their victory in the company of their former 'companions'!
Hence former contacts and tempting situations should be avoided after
anti-addiction treatment. Seeking God's grace to withstand temptations, many
have left this sinful habit and led a successful life.
Drinking alcohol, smoking, chewing pan,
abuse of drugs, watching immoral pictures etc. are sinful pleasures that
destroy our health, peace, purity, character and life leading to physical,
mental and moral disease and death.
The Holy Bible warns that drunkards will not possess
God's Kingdom and that it is stupid to get drunk. Wine has ruined many. Dignity and sanctity cannot be
preserved in alcohol! Let us avoid all harmful habits.
.........................................................................................................................................................
© By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University
of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's
College, Kanjirappally, Leo. S. John, St. Antony's Public School,
Anakkal, Kanjirappally and Neil John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath,
Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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