Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol Addiction

One Oreo Is Not Enough

The reasoning is simple and easy to understand. One Oreo cookie isn’t enough. We want more. After all, that one cookie was so good, so surely two has got to be better. That’s how Pastor Steve Trampe, the associate pastor of Grace Church (Wales, WI) explained it, adding, “soon I eat the whole bag.”

Trampe’s, cookie example was included in his sermon “Going Against The Tide In Your Pleasures,” in which he offered several illustrations of how we get into trouble by indulging in pleasure, only to wind up becoming addicted to that pleasure to the point of doing harm. It’s human nature.

We take a drink and enjoy the effect, or as so many alcoholics have described, we experience the “click” and so we want another. The reasoning is the same with alcohol addiction. If I fell good after one drink, then surely three or four will make me feel even better. That’s how alcohol addiction gets its start.

Trampe used another example to illustrate his point. If you boil water and try to throw a live frog in is, it will bounce out of the pot immediately. However, if you put the frog in cold water, it will swim around. As you turn on the heat, the frog doesn’t know it’s in trouble until it’s too late. We drink to receive the effect of the alcohol, not expecting to become addicted. As we swim around our pot, we don’t know the alcohol addiction is coming, and soon we are powerless over that addiction.

So many pleasures in life are potentially addictive—food, money, alcohol, sex, fame, entertainment, social standing and even fitness. Something that is good in moderation turns against us if we over indulge. We can reason that out, but in the moment, when the urge to indulge in the pleasure is upon us, it’s difficult to resist the temptation. That becomes even more difficult once the alcohol addiction has taken hold.

It’s far too simplistic to say “Don’t take a drink.” It’s like the guy who goes to the doctor and tells him that it hurts when he raises his arm. The doctor says, “Don’t raise your arm.” One may be in jeopardy of becoming addicted for a variety of reasons, while another will never become addicted. But if we are like the frog swimming in the pot, how can we get out before the water boils?

One way is to learn from others. If your father was an alcoholic, chances are good that you will be predisposed to alcohol addiction. If you are in recovery, your children need to know that they might be in danger of the same experience unless they are told to avoid alcohol. It’s a red flag to be careful.

There is no simple answer to the human condition, other than perhaps just accepting the fact that we are human and we are powerless over that. Alcoholics Anonymous says in the second step that we “came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

When we go too far, we need outside help. If you can see for yourself that the water is getting too warm, we encourage you to call a treatment center and let them help you. If you see another in trouble, pick up the phone and seek assistance for how you can best help your friend or loved one.

We all know that moderation is wise. It just isn’t that simple. If it were, Oreo cookies wouldn’t be so popular.

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