These Are the Ones Who Fill This Earth

“I lost another nephew.” My neighbor said as she treaded through the puddles in black. She looked weak, as if she carried the weight of that lost soul upon her. The heaviness in her heart was thicker than the humid air around us. And I could feel it.

I could feel it because I had also just lost someone I knew. Someone who had grown up with my brothers. Someone who had once played hide and go seek with me on our beach vacation. And this someone loved the Lord very much. But this someone also struggled with addiction. And then one day, that addiction won.

I didn’t know her nephew. And I had long lost contact with this family friend of mine. But one thought surfaced in my mind, “These are the ones who fill this earth.”

Every day, people are dying from addiction. And very rarely are we affected by it. This world is made up of millions and millions of people, and how many do we really know? We have our loved ones. We have our friends. Everyone else is just here to fill the earth.

But these are real people, real souls. We aren’t even aware of the passing of most. For others closer to home, all we care to do is shake our heads, “That’s such a shame.”

Every day, over 130 people in the US die from an opioid overdose.

Every hour, at least one person in the US dies from drunk driving.

Her nephew died. My friend died. These men were not just bodies to take up space. These men had families. They were sons, fathers, husbands. They were once carefree children. They had dreams and goals in life.

But all we can say is, “That’s so sad.”

How many more have to die this way? How many more have to fight this battle every day till it wins?

We say we feel sorry for their fate, but what could we have done to prevent it?

While they were alive, did they need help? Did they need someone who would take them in and show them the better life they could have? Did they need some tough love that would set boundaries and help them stop? Or maybe they needed financial support for a facility to help them get clean.

What could we have done?

Think of the people you know who are struggling. What effort have you put in to helping them with their addiction? Have you ever simply sat down to talk to them about why they do what they do? Have you helped them get to the root of the problem?

If you knew that they could be gone tomorrow, what would you do today?

Are your doors open? Your wallet? Your heart?

Their addiction could end with you. Your hand could be what they grab instead of that next bottle of pills.

Addiction is an illness. A bondage.

These are not people living their lives foolishly and carefree. These are people who are bound. And until you have been in their shoes, you will never be able to understand the pull that this chain can have.

Death from addiction is so common that we no longer seem phased. But addiction is real, and death is final. Do not become numb to the destruction around you. Do not ignore the lost souls around you. Join us in the fight for freedom!