Harry's Wake-up Call

Isn't it ironic that sometimes we need to be at our weakest in order to be humble enough to call out to God?

Harry was a man who went about his daily routine without giving much thought to how his words and actions affected others. For that matter, he also gave little consideration to how his heavy drinking and lack of care for his own health was likewise negatively affecting himself. Harry was a man of the moment; there was no thought of tomorrow, only of his immediate gratification.

Although Harry was forty years old, and he was unmarried. At one time, he steadily dated Rita, but the relationship fizzled out because she felt that Harry was too self-centered. Besides, when Rita tried to encourage Harry to get help for what appeared to be his need to drink alcohol nearly every day, Harry's denial of his problem caused Rita to realize that a future with the man she loves would only lead to heartbreak. Wanting better for herself, Rita moved on and eventually got married one year later.

God placed many people in Harry's path who offered to help, but Harry always refused, thinking that these 'Jesus freaks' must have nothing better to do with their time. "They are the ones with the problem!" thought Harry as he downed another shot of whiskey.

One day, Harry got a call from his mother in the middle of the night. "Your dad is dead. The police said he was drinking and driving," his mother whispered with tremendous grief coating her every word.

Harry was silent.

His mother continued, "There's more. A family died too."

"What? What do you mean?" asked Harry abruptly.

"Your father was drunk and lost control of the car. His car veered into the other lane and hit a family in a car coming from the other direction. They are all dead," sobbed his mother.
"How many?" asked Harry hesitantly. Through tears his mother replied, "Five. It was a mother, father, two young children, and a baby. They all died on impact, the police say."

Stunned, Harry gently set the phone down, and vomited. Certainly, there was great pain at knowing his father was no longer alive, but an entire family had just been wiped away from the face of the earth needlessly, and at the hands of his own father! "The booze!" thought Harry. "That blasted booze!"

Harry angrily grabbed the bottle of whiskey next to his bed, and held it high. He shouted, "You knew what you were doing, Dad! YOU reached for the bottle! THEY did not! This was an innocent family!" Harry threw the bottle against the wall and sobbed uncontrollably. Again he vomited, then passed out on the floor.

Hours later, Harry awoke on the dirty floor. The emotional pain was almost too much to endure. The harsh reality of not only his father's, but his own alcoholism, was undeniably staring him in the face.

Harry hopelessly looked to the floor where the broken glass lay. He pondered the needless loss of life, and how easy it would be to take his own life.

Holding a glass shard high, Harry suddenly noticed something odd. As the morning sun began to rise, a beam of light shone brightly into his room. The bright light hit the piece of glass in his hand, and cast a prism-like colorful pattern on his wall. Harry fiddled with the glass, turning it this way and that, watching in strange awe as the tiny puddles of light danced around the room.

From that moment on, Harry's life dramatically changed. To him, the light symbolized hope. Within the blinding darkness, a glimmer of light shone through and showed him not only how precious life is, but how important each and every one of us is to God. He also realized that God had not abandoned him, but rather that it was he who had turned his back on God all these many years. Harry had allowed alcohol to be his savior when life became too stressful. It took a terrible tragedy to finally open his eyes to truth.

What about you? Is something holding you back from God and blinding your eyes to truth; closing your mind to what may be the harsh realities in your own life? If so, only God can penetrate that darkness, but it is up to YOU to call out to Him.

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Contributed by Melanie Schurr (Copyright (c)2005 Melanie Schurr) Melanie Schurr is author of "Ecstatic Living Ecstatic Loving: A Christian marriage manual and Life-guide," "Son Salutations" and "Daily Contemplations," which are a collection of read-one-a-day modern inspirations. For more information, visit www.MelanieSchurr.com