Rolling Down The Mountain Side

Proverbs 19:20 (NIV)
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

Why so stubborn sonny?

Why didn’t I listen when told that school was important, cigarettes were bad for my health, and that drugs would fry my brain cells if I dabbled in them? Why was I so hard headed when younger, and even today I still find myself doing things I shouldn’t be doing, even when I know first, second and third hand experience that it’s wrong.

Is there anyone out there that knows what I’m talking about?

As a father of three boys whose ages are twenty-seven, sixteen and eleven, I’m constantly reminding them of my mistakes in the past because I don’t want them to go through the things I had to experience when I was their ages. You see I started fatherhood when I was twenty-two years of age. When I had my first child, I wasn’t ready for this responsibility; as a matter of fact I was a wreck. I was a drop out, on drugs and two steps from prison or the cemetery. When I was told of the pregnancy, sure I was emotional – actually shocked, but deep down inside it meant nothing to me because of the life I was living. Had it not been for the strength of the child’s mother and the support rallied around her by our families, this story may have been a lot different today.

You see responsibility for me didn’t kick in until quite some time later. I was a bull headed young man and simply refused to listen to wise instruction. Not even those who journeyed the path I was on could reach me because I didn't care and my mind was too far lost in what I thought was living. Some say that once you’re on the mountain rolling down there’s no stopping until you hit rock bottom; this may be so for many, but I believe one doesn’t have to necessarily hit the bedrock. You see while I was sliding down there were life lines cast out to me by my family and friends who were trying to rescue me. Unfortunately, in my case, human intervention was no match for the force of my descent. I needed the intervention of somthing much more greater than my friends and family - I needed a faith and a hope that was unfailing and could be depended upon - for me that was Christ. Well, eventually I bumped heads with the bedrock and my only choices then were life or death.

Take if from me, the bottom hurts and it’s a long way down. It doesn’t have to be that way and one doesn’t have to touch the flames to know that it burns. Free your mind from stubbornness, seek and listen to advice and instruction from others who care and really want to help. You’re not alone out there, I want you to know that you are blessed when even in the darkest hour of your life, there is still an opportunity to choose between life and death. What's your story, lets tell others about our encounters with the mountainside.

Anthony Adorno