The other day I was watching Entertainment Tonight. Yea I know it’s cheesy, but I like to keep up with what’s going on in the world of entertainment! They had an interview with former film critic Roger Ebert who has lost a lot of his jaw as well as his ability to speak due to his battle with cancer. One cannot help but feel sad when you see the images of his body, however he is very upbeat and positive.
During the interview it came up that Ebert has also battled with alcoholism for years and one of the questions asked by the reporter was “what caused you to start drinking in the first place?” Ebert said, “nothing caused me to start drinking, I have a disease.” Is it just me, or does it sound like Roger is saying that its not his fault that he became an alcoholic?
Now it is not my intent to get all “holier than thou,” but does it seem that when bad things happen to us, we tend to try and pass the buck? I realize that alcoholism is considered a disease, but is it not a self-inflicted disease? Is one born an alcoholic? Lets not get into a nature vs. nuture debate here, I have my own personal opinions but now is not the time fo that. I just want to close with a passage of scripture written by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 6:7 which says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that will he also reap.” I would think a better answer to the reporters question would have been, “I shouldn’t have ever taken a drink in the first place.”
