Really you believe that Christ intentionally produced an evil to be given to the guests at Cana, wow.
I believe that times have changed, and what was once an innocent and joyful practice at a God-blessed fellowship has now become twisted.
For some reason, social drinking has become a stepping stone that for too many people, leads to overindulgence and addiction.
Too many people in the U.S. have, for some reason (perhaps genetic?) developed a tendency towards addiction and addictive behaviors.
I don’t know why so many of us in the United States overindulge and develop addictive personality traits. But it’s reality, and it is destroying too many of us.
Several people in this thread have brought up the issue of food. Look around today, and see how many people and children are chubby, fat, or obese. Drive by a high school and study the students as they walk around campus–many of them are so very fat! And then look at a high school yearbook from the 1970s or earlier–you will see that NO ONE is fat!
For some reason–and I don’t know what that reason is–people in the U.S. have become unable to eat normally. Instead, we have constant cravings, and on a regular basis, many of us give in to those cravings and devour far more than we need, to the point where we are slowly but surely killing ourselves.
It’s not just food. There is a very sad thread on CAF (family life section) about a husband who is addicted to video games.
For many people, especially men, sex has become a monkey on their back, something that they can’t stop thinking about or indulging in.
Addictive shopping has destroyed the banks accounts of many people, especially women.
Gambling is another weakness that destroys the lives of many. One of the most liberal pastors in our city (fights for abortion rights, gay rights, etc.) regularly writes and gives speeches against legalized gambling (casinos, etc). This man works with the poor, and he has seen first-hand the devastation that happens when people become addicted to gambling, and he believes that no one should have access to a vice that is so potentially-addicting.
In spite of all the “Just Say No” and other campaigns, drug addiction is worse than ever in the U.S.
Heavens above, even EXERCISE has become addictive for some people!
And of course, there are all of those people who are addicted to the internet.
I don’t know why so many people in the U.S. are unable to simply enjoy simple pleasures and instead become addicted to them! I don’t know the answer. That’s probably what this thread should be about.
But in the meantime, while we are looking for the answer to the questions about why we become addicted, we need to be really really super careful and guard our souls AND
help others to guard their souls.
And then there’s another issue–overindulgence. This isn’t the same as addiction, but it is probably even more prevalent in the U.S.
We constantly treat ourselves to whatever we like.
We constantly overindulge in food! I am the most guilty person in the U.S. at this–I routinely stop at McDonald’s after work for an ice cream cone (170 cals). Or my husband and I will buy chips and dip to eat while we’re sitting on our cans watching a few hours of television.
We overeat, we overspend, we oversleep, we over-recreate–some people even over-church (mainly Evangelical Protestants, who are generally at church almost every day or evening).
Overindulgence in the U.S. is a way of life!
zaffiroborant, that’s why I say that Jesus and the disciples and the wedding at Cana were THEN. We do not live THEN. We live NOW, in an era where addictive personalities seem to be epidemic and overindulgence and “living large” is a celebrated industry, not a weakness or a sin.
We need to be a lot more careful than the disciples were back then. We don’t have the social mores and restraints set up that cause people to pause and step back from behaving in harmful ways.
Our laws and customs encourage overindulgence, addiction, and self-centered behaviors. We are “free” in the U.S.–but in the last decade or so, this freedom has gone horribly awry and people are suffering and dying as a result of their inability to just say “no.”
If you can drink or eat or gamble or have sex without become addicted, wonderful. That’s the way we all should be.
But too many of us can’t seem to figure out the balance. For too many people, the opportunity to participate in God’s good creation leads to overindulgence.
