JUST ONE MORE

One More Day, Kiawah Island, SC

Addiction is an interesting component of our human experience. I wonder if anybody has ever escaped it? I once worked for a man during one of my summer college breaks who I shared a beer with after work on one hot afternoon. He raised his glass somewhat dispassionately and mused “one’s too many and a thousand ain’t enough”. And then there’s one of the richest men on the planet at the turn of the century who responded to a reporter’s question about “just how much money is enough” by stating “just a little bit more”. I’m sure we all know someone who is addicted to their work. Their life is way out of balance, but they can’t go home on time. Junk food producers know about addiction all too well as evidenced by today’s obesity epidemic. One potato chip company had a very successful marketing run with the catchy phrase “bet you can’t eat just one”.

I admit to an addiction for vanilla ice cream. When I cave in to a “buy one, get one free” Eddy’s Vanilla Bean special, the containers have my complete attention. Late in the evening I can hear the muffled cries from my freezer calling out to me to free them from their frozen imprisonment. I succumb to freedom’s cry and release the tasty spoonful’s into my anticipating stomach and later onto my expanding stomach. I know that I’ve experienced all the taste that I can after that first spoonful, but I’ve never stopped at just one. Consequently, I don’t believe that I fully appreciated any of them. So, I just try not to bring these guys into my home any more.

Are there any good addictions? Do you think Mother Teresa was addicted to doing good? Was her life out of balance too? Maybe. Our pastor years ago mentioned that he was extremely attracted to a pretty young female in High School, so when she finally agreed to a date he placed his Bible between them in the car--but I don’t recall if he said that it worked. Could it be that most of us are also addicted to life and we never want it to stop? If we were informed that this was our last day on the planet, would we do our best to bargain for “just one more”? Or have we confronted our addiction and really learned to appreciate today—kind of like vanilla ice cream?