Drugs or Scripture?

Spirituality Column #40
August 14, 2007
Current! In Carmel (IN) Newspaper

Drugs or Scripture?
By Bob Walters

When I was 18 I fell flat on my tailbone – hard – while playing driveway basketball. I remained healthy and active but lived with lower back problems including occasional crippling, couldn’t-get-out-of-bed pain for the next 25 years.

I tried to get rid of the pain. Doctors would assess the pain and prescribe pain killers and muscle relaxers. I hated the way the pain killers clouded my mind. The muscle relaxers (there’s no easy way to put this) relaxed the wrong muscles, causing diarrhea.

I’d sneeze or step wrong and my back would “go out.” Surgery was suggested, so was ice, heat, more exercise, less exercise, aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, Naproxen (Aleve). I dealt with the pain mostly by toughing it out.

It is important here to notice what was not being addressed: the cause of the pain. A very bright Carmel chiropractor revealed the truth to me about some misaligned lumbar vertebrae and muscle spasms, fixed the problem and the pain went away.

In our souls where we suffer life’s emotional hard-contact spills of fear, anxiety, disappointment, depression, addiction, loneliness, guilt, marital and family strife, career trouble, misunderstandings … and let’s not forget sin and maybe even the awful feeling of separation from God … it is easy to reach for emotional pain relief in a pill.

It’s even easier – and smarter – to reach for a Bible and address the actual problem.

We must not miss what God promises by the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). Wouldn’t you want that as your mental profile, instead of the hash of misery listed above?

The Holy Spirit is already breathed into each one of us. It’s there waiting for us to tap into its power by believing in Christ. Much mental stress comes from our heart attitude, and a heart full of Christ is always a better way to cure the root of emotional pain than a bottle full of pills.

Many churches offer Biblical and Christian counseling, and you can look up CCEF.org or NANC.org to learn more.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) knows one psychology joke: neurosis is when you know 2+2=4 and it bothers you terribly; psychosis is when you know 2+2=5 and it doesn’t bother you at all.