Wednesday, December 10, 2008

CHEERS AND TEARS

A simple man, Mr. Simon, was driving his car carefully through a wide highway. Mr. Judas, who followed him in another car, was very rash and careless in driving.

Judas, while rashly overtaking Simon’s car, hit it and caused major damages to Simon’s car. They stopped the cars and examined the crash. It was obviously caused by the fault of Mr. Judas. But Judas was very cunning. He fell at the feet of Simon and begged his pardon. He agreed to pay for the full repair of Simon’s car. Simon was impressed by these words. Finally, as a mark of compromise and friendship, Judas offered a drink. Simon used to enjoy alcohol and so he gladly accepted the offer, shouting “Cheers!” and drank the alcoholic drink. The wicked Judas pretended to join the party, but drank only water. By this time, the Highway Police reached the scene and enquired about the incident. Without any hesitation, Judas complained that Simon was heavily drunk and caused the accident.

The police found that only Simon was drunk and he was reported to be guilty. Later he was convicted and punished by the court and had to suffer great mental agony in spite of his innocence in the incident.

This story illustrates the dangers of alcoholism, which has ruined the life of millions. The Holy Bible warns that drunkards will not possess God’s Kingdom {1 Corinthians 6:10, Galatians 5:19-21}. It is stupid to get drunk {Proverbs 20:1, 23:20, 23:29-35}. Wine has been the ruin of many {Sirach 31:25-31}. We must abstain from this harmful habit and pray for God’s grace to transform the alcoholics in our society.

By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India & Dr. Resmy Susan Babu, M.D., Senior Resident, Dept. of Medicine, Govt. Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

This is Story No. 17 in this site. Please click ‘Older Post’ at the bottom of this page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Post' at the bottom of this page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.

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