Proverbs 31

"Use wine and beer only as sedatives, to kill the pain and dull the ache of the terminally ill, for whom life is a living death." Proverbs 31: 6 & 7

In a humorous passage from Little Women, Jo is asked if she drinks. She replies she only takes alcohol medicinally. In response, she is handed a glass of wine and told to pretend she is sick.

In reality, the use of mind-altering substances and addiction isn't so funny. People are dying from drug overdose by the tens of thousands, over 70,000 in 2017 alone.

For me, it's a very personal issue. I've had horrific pain for the past several years, and have been prescribed strong pain medication to take as needed. The good news is I had surgery a few weeks ago that has remedied the cause of my pain. For the first time in years, I didn't double over in agony right on schedule.

At the same time, as the pain from surgery subsides, I'm afraid. Afraid about how intolerant of pain I've become, and how me, who endured natural childbirth multiple times without so much as one scream, now wants that stupid pain pill as soon as I start hurting.

I don't think I'm an addict. I am pretty confident that once I am recovered from surgery, I won't seek prescription pain pills, but I fear addiction, and my heart goes out to the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people who deal with chronic pain, as well as those who struggle with addiction.

Only take prescription pain pills if you have to, if pain has made life a living death. That seems pretty extreme, but even back in Biblical times, I think the threat of addiction was so great it was seen better to endure some pain than to risk bondage to a mind-altering substance.