Confession: I LOVE Amy Winehouse. Well, her music, that is. Check out this video. See if you don’t just find yourself converted too.
A news story broke yesterday because the singer has been hospitalized in London for over a week. Her father spoke to the press and said that doctors discovered that Amy has emphysema. The 24-year old has only 70% lung capacity because of smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes. She has been warned that her career and life are in jeopardy if she doesn’t get it together.
When I worked in the inner city I knew a man who was addicted to crack cocaine. I can remember being fascinated when he qualified to receive long term disability payments from the government because his lungs would no longer function properly. I couldn’t figure out how to feel about my tax dollars caring for someone who has created so much of his own misery.
I have a friend named Christi who is a missionary in Rwanda. I saw her family just after they returned from visiting her in Africa. We talked about her work there and how difficult it is to manage the needs all around her. Again, the questions of compassion came up. What does it mean to care? Is there a point when you give up on someone? Is there a place for tough love? Is compassion more about the giver than the receiver or both? Should I care for people just because Jesus told me to and let Him sort out the other stuff?
If you are now wondering what I am smoking, please know that I understand the concept of personal responsibility – I try to instill it into my children. Yet, even if someone masterminds their own demise, aren’t they still a person worthy of care? Maybe caring for hard-to-love or hard-to-understand people is far more about me learning that I’m not the center of the universe anyway. What if, just as the Scripture refers to entertaining angels unaware (Hebrews 13:2), God's messengers are sometimes disguised as crack addicts?
Thoughts?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Smokin' love
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3 comments:
pretty deep Monday morning question but it did get me thinking so i guess it worked..... i heard about Amy Winehouse on the Today show. My spin is her father will stick by her side through thick and thin as she continues to self destruct. Sadly the record producers, agents, doctors, high end drug supplier and anybody else who has a monetary interest in her will give up one by one when she becomes too out of control and is no longer making money for them.
when is enough enough in helping people ? It's a tough question i took care of my dad for 17 years and if he was not my father i would have given up ages ago because in all those years he never seemed to want to change or be responsible for his own actions. He was difficult to say the least but he was my dad what else could i do ?
i'm not saying you should only care for people who have a deep personal relationship but when they are not in that category you can only do so much for them at some point you have to see them changing and taking responsibility for themselves.
it was not long ago i lost everybody that mattered to me. i was left standing with just one person who took my hand and helped me through it but i know now if i hadn't accepted the fact my life was totally twisted and i needed to change it and make honest steps to change it, she would have left in a heartbeat.
So after all this babbling and taking up of space when is enough enough is a totally personal thing... We can never be like Jesus sometimes we get it right and sometimes we get it wrong . you cannot package it in a neat tiny gift box that can fit every situation.
militia207
It's only by the grace of God that the sin inside of me hasn't manifested itself in more self-destructive ways (or maybe more public self-destructive ways). I speculate that to some extenst Amy and everyone else are doing the best they can, and all are worthy of our care. I have no idea about when to stop trying to help when the person seemingly isn't trying hard enough on their end.
As a sidenote, why is there such a strong correlation between creativity and torment, between growth and pain?
Compassion is most definitely beneficial to both the giver and the receiver, but the I think the potential for life change is actually greater in the giver. When we reach out and help someone in need, be it thru food, physical work or just a kind word said at just the right time, we are Jesus' hands and feet here on earth. We never know when that simple (or huge) act will bring fruit in their lives, but it's impact on US is immediate. I am humbled by the act of giving....I don't do it enuf and I tend to check the 'personal responsibility meter' way too often before I reach out. But I have never regretted the times when I let go of my reservations and just do it.
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