The Isolated Man

There was an isolated man who struggled with life.
Alcohol abuse from a young age became his medication of choice.
Although he married and had two children he still felt empty.
There came a dark time in his life when despair overcame him and he decided not to go on.

The brew kept drawing him back, he consumed it more often and in increasing amounts.
He felt like a stone dropped into raging river of depression, and while being thrown about in the murky depths of madness, he wondered if death was truly a new beginning… or simply the end…

A friends intervention and 911 call prevented him from ending his life that night.

The years have gone by but the man remained emotionally alone.
Still having trouble coping, he learned to control his self-medication and appeared to lead a normal life.
He retired from one job and took another, but nothing changed, his life remained the same.

The man had a relapse a couple years ago, and once again his first solution came back to haunt him.
He found himself alone in a small bar that he had never been in, and the bartender asking what he wanted to drink.
When she returned with his drink, she asked if he was alright, did he need to talk?
The man thought it was odd for a complete stranger to ask such a question.
He noticed she was wearing a Cross and replied that he was going to find out if God existed soon.
She asked if he had an illness or was he was thinking about something else?
The man said he didn’t understand, and she said I can see that your worried. If you want to, you can tell me about your troubles and God will hear you.

So the man shared some of his troubles and began to feel better, good enough that he left his dark thoughts behind that night.
The man found it incredible that a random stranger had helped save him, just by talking about his problems and inviting God into the conversation.
He continues his struggles, day in and day out, and has been able to ask a Christian friend to help him be saved in the name of Jesus Christ.

Last night the man had a dream in which he was entering a room full of conflict.
In the dream he was wearing a white shirt, and after entering the room he saw a man drinking whisky on his left, and a woman on his right.
The man drinking the whiskey offered it to me, I looked down at my shirt and saw a stain over my heart, felt ashamed and tried to brush if off.
The woman said not to worry about the stain, embraced me and gave me a silver goblet, some cinnamon sticks and a calendar that had no end in time.
I heard a voice say you didn’t know it before, but there has always been an Angel watching over you, an Angel to turn to, all you had to do was ask…
As my dream faded away, I awoke with a feeling of peace and found myself gently weeping…

James