Day 15

How do you spell relief? Some pain medication used to use that tag line to sell their drug. Whether its Aspirin, Advil, Tylenol or Motrin we are a nation addicted to pain relief. If it hurts, take a pill.

But that hasn’t always been so. Talk to some older folks and they will tell you they seldom took pain meds growing up. I can only remember my mother or father taking medication rarely… and then only when gravely ill.

Now, before you get upset about your right to a pain pill, hear this: Mankind longest love affair isn’t with aspirin but with emotional Novocain. We look for ways to medicate our hurts and dull our heartaches. Just like the younger son in Christ’s parable. What did he do once he got the cash from his dad? He went to a “far country” and spent his money on “wild living.” I translate that as burying your sorrows in wine, women and song. He didn’t want to feel the pain of separation from family, of alienation from home or even the loss of someone to watch over him. I can’t suggest that these were conscious losses. He probably couldn’t even put words to these feelings. But, like a lot of us, he found ways to make himself feel better.

So what do you turn to?
Drink yourself to sleep?
Eat your way to happiness?
Numb the pain with hours of TV or internet surfing?
Work long hours to achieve notoriety or success at the expense of family or health?

Wild living can come in lots of different shapes and sizes, but it always leaves us empty and frustrated. You just can’t numb the pain of being at odds with God for long. Its only through Christ that we find the peace to face our pain.

So read the story again… and don’t touch that Advil bottle this time.



Jeff Walling