Blog 281 – 04.26.2016

W.C. Fields who was a famous user of alcohol had many funny things to say on the subject including when he was dying and they offered him a drink of water, he quipped, “I never drink anything that fish swim in.” When I do my W.C. Fields impersonation I always include another of his drinking quotes. It goes: “Alcohol has never touched these lips, my boy. I use a straw.” So many promising lives have be shipwrecked or at least vastly limited by alcohol abuse. Of all the drugs that cause so much havoc, alcohol, legal almost everywhere and easily obtainable, is one of the most dangerous and damning when abused.

I was raised in a narrow Christian sect that taught that Christians should never drink alcohol. C.S. Lewis, the great Christian Apologist. For the younger generation who might not know what a Christian Apologist is that is someone who defends the faith, writes and or speaks in such a way as to convince others of the validity of Christianity. Anyway, Lewis wrote that Christians who teach against drinking alcohol are but a small minority. He said that if you want a teetotaler religion you need to look to Islam. The Mormons also teach against drinking alcohol, smoking, and the use of caffeine.

When I left the Christian faith in my late thirties I was determined to learn to drink alcohol. Up till that point except for perhaps a sip of rum laced eggnog I had never tasted alcohol. I do not care for the taste of beer or most types of alcohol. I can drink it if it is in a fruity or more pleasant tasting mix. I have never been drunk but still I try to have a drink once or twice a year just to remind myself I am not under those old restrictions that I was raised in and also that I am not afraid of being damned or becoming an alcoholic. If I am with a person who has either of those two problems with alcohol I refrain from drinking and thereby avoid offending their conscience or tempting them.

I have known several people in my life who have had a lot of problems with alcohol. I know of men who have beaten their wives and children under the influence of drink and women who have ruined their lives with it as well. Whatever people are looking for in the bottom of a bottle comes at a tremendous cost to them and those who love them.

I have also known many what I call “functioning alcoholics” who can hold down a job, and lead relatively normal lives keeping their addiction to alcohol under control. It is a very delicate balancing act.

Two things and I will get off this subject. When you tell someone they cannot or should not do something you often only make them want to do it more. And the other is like it, for someone like myself who has never been addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, or tea and coffee to say, “Just quit” is really ignorant. People will quit a habit only if they have had enough and are ready to quit it. Our nagging or good advise only makes it worse.

I have habits enough to work on without trying to tell others how to live. I love you and I am on your side, pulling for you to have the best possible adventure in time and space.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White