The Devil’s Poison

Alcohol unlocks the door to allow evil to kill the soul

Alcohol is fun. We indulge in it to take the edge off and relax after a long day or week. From tasty craft beers to fancy wines to delicious bourbons, the options are endless. There’s only one problem; it tends to lead to evil and sin.

While I don’t consider myself an alcoholic, I’ve struggled handling alcohol throughout my adulthood. I generally go through different spells of drinking more or not at all. Weekends usually involve some sort of binge drinking and often amplified when in a social gathering.

The problem is I can never reach my limit, rather I just keep drinking until I run out or pass out. I’ve regrettably blacked out more times than I’d like to admit, and while I know I can’t handle liquor in particular, I keep with it.

I don’t believe my story is unique, and have always wondered why alcohol is so glorified in our society given it’s devastating effects on people. Why is it that bars and liquor stores are everywhere and drinking is fully embedded in our culture?

The only conclusion I can come to is that alcohol is indeed the devil’s poison meant to destroy our body and soul, and unfortunately the devil’s keepers have pushed for its prevalence in society for a very long time.

Hollowed Out Soul

Alcohol has always been my kryptonite and something I know that I should steer clear of but have never been able to let go. My connection to alcohol and its devilish effects are personal to me. I lost my mother to alcoholism when I was 21, witnessing her demise growing up and seeing the alcoholism tear the life out of her soul in the process.

When I was five years old, I remember my mom going away for a while. As I got older I learned that she went to rehab for her drinking problem. Upon being released after two months she remained clean for about six years until I was around the age of 12 when my uncle contracted brain cancer and died. He was the patriarch of the family, so his death was hard on everyone.

As I entered into high school my mom’s alcoholism began to spiral, with her spending less and less time at home and more time with her bar family. I began to see her brain deteriorate as she became more and more alienated from our family and what really mattered.

It got to the point when I gave her an ultimatum; stop drinking or I’m no longer your son, but by that point the devil had taken over her brain completely and she didn’t even flinch. She was trapped behind satan’s prison bars, stripped of their ability to feel the love that was dying with her own family.

By the time I left for college my parents marriage had long been over romantically even though they stayed together for us kids. I chose a school seven hours away to run from the pain of seeing my mom die slow from the devils poison.

Eventually her body gave up and my mom came down with cirrhosis of the liver. Before winding up in the hospital for the last month of her life, she quit drinking and smoking and told my dad that she wanted to start anew. Her shackles from the devil’s spell had been broken but it was sadly too late.

Mind over matter conquers evil

Most of the mistakes and sins I’ve made in life involved alcohol. As much as I try to separate myself from the poison, it feels like the devil has me on his leash to tempt me back to the bottle for the quick pleasure.

In the end, the devil’s poison killed my mom and hollowed out her soul in the process. She became a prisoner in her own mind and body, removing herself from reality and the things that mattered. The devil set up shop and destroyed a beautiful woman and mother in the process.

As I continue to dance with the devil and tip toe on the line, I’ve felt that God has been looking out for me. God did not make me blind to the devil’s work done to my mother, and as a result I’ve held the edge of mind over matter thus far. I promised God I would never succumb to the perils that my mother endured, and that’s a promise I intend to keep no matter what.

~ TM