Been doing a lot of thinking lately about this whole debate on Narcan and the heroin epidemic that is currently plaguing Ohio and other parts of the country. I've read the headlines about all the overdoses, dead bodies filling up our morgues, parents overdosing with young children in the car with them, I mean, it's like complete chaos all around us these days it seems.
I've heard people say, "Stop giving them Narcan, let them die and do the world a favor"....I've heard it said "They must WANT to die, why else are they doing it?" Some people say addiction is a disease, others say it's nothing more than repetitive poor life choices....and the thing is, I don't know WHAT to believe.
Compound this kind of confusion with fear....the kind of fear that comes when two people in your small community are stabbed in their own home during a home invasion, and next thing you know you're shopping for home security systems, sleeping with a loaded gun next to your bed and you're somewhere between joining those who say let the junkies die, and those who say lock em all up and throw away the key.
Americans, from the inception of this country have the reputation to be a little rough and tumble so to speak. We are known to be gun toting, government overthrowing, civil war inciting, pursuit of happiness kind of people. At least that's how I understand it from the history I know of our country. So I can see where people are coming from when they say things like, "let em die"....because it's really hard to have sympathy for someone who knows, that doing heroin in today's day and age is basically like playing Russian roulette with your life. I mean, why do it? And the answer is, only someone addicted to heroin can tell you the real answer to that....
Have I been mad about the epidemic that is plaguing us? Yeah. Have I been frustrated? Yeah. It's easy to become hardened and say things like...NO MORE NARCAN, let em go down. Especially when you read news articles about ONE addict alone overdosing 20+ times and receiving Narcan so they can go on to overdose another day. It's frustrating to see so many people IMPLODE the way they are, with seemingly no respect for human life.....NO RESPECT FOR THEIR OWN LIVES! THINK ABOUT THAT, they have NO RESPECT FOR THEIR OWN LIFE.
But anytime I have had that hardened approach cross my mind/lips/heart, I stop in my tracks and immediately feel bad, I think about God and I think about how we aren't supposed to Judge others. And I think about "What would Jesus Do" and I think to myself, would he ever say, "be still my child, and die because I don't think you should have narcan?" I don't think he would. Clearly people addicted and willing to die the way they are...they are hurt, broken, lost souls, wounded, hopeless, sad souls. Souls looking for escape....from whatever it is that has them feeling so lost and wounded. Is that an excuse, I don't think so. I think it's just what it is.
Don't get me wrong, I HATE what this heroin/drug epidemic is doing to so many of my fellow Ohioans. I hate that it's brought violent crime into our little community, and I pray that they find the person responsible for stabbing those two Delphos citizens who did NOT deserve to be victims of someone else's poor choices and/or drug addled behavior, but I personally cannot go out into the streets and start taking the drugs out of the hands of addicts. I don't know any heroin dealers to go put out of business. And that helplessness in times like these may be the most frustrating of all. Watching the little town that you grew up in, turn into something you sometimes don't recognize as "home" because of what is happening here.
So I went in search of what God says about addiction in the bible. And for those of you who are non-believers, or you're Jewish or Buddhist, or whatever your preference is in the way of religion, I do not pretend to be the authority on religion, that my way is the only way, or that my God is not your God, but here's what I found. I found this prayer, and I think I'll start praying it.
Most loving God,
we ask your blessing upon all
who suffer from addiction.
Strengthen them to reach out for help.
Enable them to take the first step to recovery.
Bless them with the persistence to persevere
in the fight to be free.
Give courage and hope to their families,
drawing them close together
in the power of your love,
which alone can transform our living.
Amen.
Until there's something "I" can physically do to make the world a better place, to make Delphos safer, to make bad things NOT happen to good people, take the knife out of the hand of a home invader, or the needle out of a heroin addict's arm, I will say this prayer, and have faith that it's being heard.
If you feel like saying it too, please do.
No harm ever has come from praying for help.
Having Faith,
~HeatherLynn~
