My Uncle Steve (pictured) died 48 years ago today...at age 29. He tragically, literally drank himself to death. I drew this picture of him a few years back from memory, as no one had any PHOTOS of him. It depicts him playing chess with me when I was only 12.
Every year on January 21st, I think of Uncle Steve with great pain in my heart. In my blog "The Horrors of Alcoholism" (9-9-'18), I mentioned that I am a "Total Teetotaler," based on the fact that my dad and step-father were Alcoholics and I saw how drunkenness degraded them.
You see, I had ALREADY made the decision to steer totally CLEAR of booze when Steve passed away so suddenly right as I was about to turn 16. His Liver Failure-induced death only CONFIRMED me in my decision, ditto for the fact that one of my young friends from high school got killed that summer (1971) by a drunken driver.
Now, God used BOTH of those tragedies to put the fear of sudden death in my young heart, and to cause me to seek to get right with Him, but again, I was confirmed in my path of not drinking alcohol. I saw that drunkenness not only made you do hurtful things and act stupid, but that alcohol can literally KILL you...or someone else.
As I mentioned in Part 1, the Bible condemns drunkenness but NOT drinking alcohol, per se.
I honestly judge no one who can enjoy alcohol in moderation, if it doesn't harm them or OTHERS.
But as today happens to be the day that my Uncle Steve died, and I only had barely started blogging here LAST January (so I was silent about this LAST January 21st), I just want to say (again)...Alcohol can KILL you.
Please....If you have a problem in that area, please....seek out your nearest "A.A.," for there is HELP, and there is HOPE for you!! Don't be like my Uncle, please!!
P.S., I am well aware that Dr. King's birthday is celebrated today...see my two blogs referencing him at the end of last week!!
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