A Man Can Walk And Still Have Died

In this brief poetic piece I wanted to give my audience a glance into the life of a substance abuser. We all know the dire consequences of substance abuse, however this does not stop us from stigmatizing the abuser. Have you ever wondered what sent the abuser spiralling out of control? Perhaps it was an environmental, mental or a hereditary exponent that contributed to the abuser's addiction. I am sure no one wakes up in the morning and decides that they want to be an alcoholic,intravenous drug user, or a tobacco user. Perhaps he/she is a victim as well and needs intervention; sad to say there are few institutions that are willing to restore these victims back to a state of sobriety.

As fellow human beings, especially those of us who profess Christianity have a moral obligation to reach out to what society deem as misfits, sinners and the unsalvagable. Are we not to go out into all of the highways and byways spreading the good news that CHRIST has risen, or do we pick and choose to whom to preach the good news to? Perhaps open the kingdom to some and close it to others? Brethren when the plan of salvation was written it was made to salvage all of humanity with non regards to race, gender, creed or national origin. We are to preach the gospel without bias and favoritism to all of humanity and not to individuals we deem worthy. Did JESUS not send us out as a sheep of among wolves? Well according to Matthew 10:16 that's just what he did, “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. Fellow bond-servants I beseech you in the name of our LORD let us pick up our weapons of warfare that we may fight a good fight. So you ask what is the weapons of warfare? Well let us look at Ephesians 6:13:18 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: If you are going to fight in this battle you better make sure you are suited up and prepared for battle, for this war is not for the squismish or fearful in heart.

In conclusion as I look at the last few verses of A Man Can Walk and Still Have died, I am not stating or insinuating that all preachers fit the mold of not caring about individuals who fall victim to substance abuse. Fortunately I never fell into the grips of substance abuse, however as someone who is quite active in my community I have seen the grim effects of substance abuse as onlookers and sometimes preachers make fun of these individuals who are crying out for help. My question to you is when GOD called you and asked you to feed his sheep are you nurturing them and bandaging up their wounds the same as JESUS would do? When JESUS see you hurting do he hurt as well or do he make an open spectacle of your weakness and frailties. How will you explain this when you must give an account for the souls that GOD have entrusted you to nurture??

While a father casually plays with his protégé during a ceremony of accolade, antagonism clouds his mind as it threatens to descend on his pride. Constantly witnessing the walking that has died, endowed with enough wisdom to know one can die without being oxygen deprived. For one can walk and still have died. Just listen as you hear me speak, sit down and eat as I feed you meat. One can walk and still have died. That man on the street whom you stigmatized with a glazed look in his eyes, he walks, yet he has died. So you inquire if he lives how could he have died? Dreams smashed, clothes tattered, teeth in a state of decay, as he travel through each day; to arrive at no destination. Pride has dissipated in clouds of evaporation. Yes he lives, but rigor mortis has surely set in. Chapters of Matthew, Luke and Mark hides in his Cerebral cortex locked in a dark corridor of a room. Sentenced to a life of doom by a society that could care less about restoring the walking dead back to sobriety. Preachers hold the key, but will they preach that JESUS paid the price for you, me and he way back on Calvary? Some they let out; although the price was paid and some they keep in a cage. Is this justice for some to be free while others stay enslaved because of partiality?