This summer I met
This summer i met an alcoholic. he was homeless, and knew he had a problem. i can’t remember his name, but i heard him say multiple times, “I need help. I’m going to die. i have one month to live.” his scars from past surgeries, odd-sized knees, and a belly the size of a basketball all pointed to the fact that he needed help. he was in his mid-fifties, had psoriasis, and he had thirty days to live.
in the short span that i was with him, he had said that phrase probably 20 times. it’s an odd way to introduce yourself to a new group of people, but he was one of the most real guys i have ever met. he knew his problem, he knew where he was headed, and he knew he needed help. i was coupled with the strange comfort that he was in the right place, and also the burden of his greater problem. i knew he wasn’t saved, and i knew he wanted help. i didn’t know what kind of help he was looking for, but it sounded like he wanted more than just help for his alcoholism. i don’t remember his name, and that was the last time i saw him.
i forgot about him. i’ve never seen a man so powerless, yet so aware of it. no control. not a thing in the world could shake him from it. he was a nameless memory who made a lasting impression on me. helpless, scared, and in love with life. he didn’t want to go, and faced with the reality of his condition, he scared the crap out of me. that was me. that IS me. the only differences i could feel was that he could see the result of his lifelong indulgence on his body, and mine is invisible. he could count his days on earth, while i take mine for granted.
a month later, i had heard from a friend that he had passed away. he died in a rehab center, and in the arms of his Father. he was 30 days sober, and had found God. no longer plagued with death on his body, but a new creation and now a new body. he showed me what it looks like to to need a Savior. he displayed an infectious powerlessness that not only glorifies God on earth, but makes him happy. there’s no telling what that man had gone through to reach that point. once homeless and death bound- found life while loved.
