Page 119 - Overcoming Addiction

notice. I was so busy I didn't even notice the change. It is not just that I no longer
smell it. I cannot smell it, no matter how intently I sniff the air.
You see, our senses are given to us to warn us of danger, but once the
danger is accepted they automatically reset to a new level of sensitivity. The
abrupt change in air one experiences in an airplane, sets off the alarm, yet I have
driven the same route in an auto over the Grapevine into LA and never noticed
the change in the air. When changes occur slowly, the senses cannot detect it
unless we are paying very close attention, constantly sniffing the air for odors.
This situation is well known as the frog in the kettle syndrome which
demonstrates that if a frog is placed in a kettle of water and gradually raised to
a boil he will die in the water rather than jump out. Yet, he would jump out
immediately if he was thrown into water that was slightly over 100 degrees.
Some of you have experienced this getting into a hot Jacuzzi. You have to ease
into the water to get used to it.
My point in all this is not to alarm you regarding breathing smog, but
rather to point to a threat that is far more dangerous to your soul...
God has given us precise images, called similitudes, throughout creation
which perfectly represent spiritual truths if we have eyes to see them. And, God
provides the sight to those who love, obey and seek Him. In the case of what we
are discussing, let us consider the example of lung cancer. A cigarette smoker
gets a strong warning from his body the first time he takes a puff. If he ignores it,
the body increasingly tolerates the damage to the lungs as it focuses on the
pleasure it gets from the nicotine. The warnings increase with wheezing,
coughing up phlegm, and finally cancer of the lung which begins to spread death
throughout the lungs and the rest of the body.

This physical world example of how the air we breathe can poison our body
accurately portrays that which is also invisible in the air that is poisoning our
soul. This was powerfully brought home to me at a men's retreat a couple weeks
ago. The pastor was addressing the issue of the excuses we give for not
memorizing scripture and asked us to complete the following sentence. "There
she goes just a-walkin' down the street …" Most of you are already completing it
in your head "singing doo wah, diddy diddy, dum diddy doo." His point was that
we memorize things without intending to and we don't even have to know what
they mean. Then, he asked us how many of us could name the twelve sons of
Israel or the thirty miracles of Christ. The difference is exposure. We absorb
what we are exposed to without thinking about it.
The truth of this almost knocked me off my chair. I had felt a little sheepish
knowing the words to Doo wah, Diddy diddy, but at least that was a song. My
sheepishness quickly turned to anger, however, when I realized I had been forced
against my will to memorize "Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese,
pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun." By exposing my spiritual lungs to the
cultural airways, I have been forced to memorize the ingredients of a Big Mac
and I cannot get rid of it no matter how hard I try. It is a part of my soul.

Now think of how the "word" of the culture has become a part of you... All
these headlines appeared on one day! Friday, June 14, 2002.