For the purposes of this article “rum” refers to any alcoholic beverage and the rum bottle refers to any bottle containing alcoholic beverage.
The bible tells us that God made wine to “make the heart glad”; but it also warns that “wine is a mocker, strong drinks are raging, and whoever is ‘deceived’ thereby is not wise”.
In my early childhood, I had my fair share of experiences with “rum boogies”. In colloquial British Guiana, a “rum boogie” is a person who over-indulges in alcoholic drinks.
The men living in the house opposite mine were heavy drinkers, to put it lightly. In fact, they would drink from morning till night. Needless to say, quarrels and almost violent eruptions were frequent from that house.
One day, my dad and I were walking home from the nearby shop when we saw two drunk men fighting. I said “dad, why are people always fighting when they drink”?
He replied “the devil is in the rum bottle”.
And that’s a point to ponder. Is the devil really in the rum bottle? We’ve all heard stories of how alcohol has changed the lives of so many people for the worse. We’ve all heard stories of abuse and neglect which have their roots in imbibing.
How many car crashes could have avoided, how many lives could have saved…how many children could have seen a brighter future…if only men, and women, had turned away from that infamous bottle.
But it would seem like taking one less shot was always too much to ask. The other day, I was reading a story of alcohol’s effect on the body and health. And from all indications, in regards to human health, alcohol may very well be classified as a poison. For one, it weakens all organs of the body. On top of that it is a “carcinogenic”.
This evening, as I was chatting with an old friend, aunty Gloria, the topic of alcohol came up. She related some horror stories which resulted from the excessive use of alcohol and she advised me and the other young man to stay away from it at all costs.
And this made my mind reel back to all the horror stories which I personally know were rooted in alcohol abuse.
I personally know of at least three young women who were taken advantage of sexually because of their drinking habits. But statistics show there are much more. I’ve heard story after story of young men losing their lives at parties because of alcohol intake. And we’ve all heard story after story of car accidents which were directly related to alcohol use.
“There is something evil in alcohol” aunty Gloria added. Then I contributed my own two cents to the conversation. I said “my dad use to say that the devil is in the rum bottle”.
“That’s true” Aunty Gloria said as she nodded in sincere agreement.
But how could the devil be in the rum bottle? How could a physical substance be so directly linked to the spiritual world? Was alcohol then an invention of the devil?
In my personal opinion, indulgence in alcohol weakens the mind to the point where it is extremely easy for the devil to influence it. As we are admonished in the book of Proverbs “wine is a mocker…strong drinks are raging, and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise”.
Related: When you’re losing your grounds, get a grip of the holy bible.
