Month: May 2025

True Friends and Brothers

For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. 1 Samuel 20:31 Back in 2014, in the immediate aftermath of my addiction coming to light, I didn’t have a lot of people to whom I felt I could turn. It’s not that everyone turned…
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Those We Love the Most

But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death. 1 Samuel 20:33 We just got home yesterday from celebrating my daughter’s* college graduation. It was a wonderful weekend of family, laughter, and sharing memories. During such times, I find myself thinking…
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Hiding My Fast-Food Evidence

And he said to him, “Far from it! You shall not die. Behold, my father does nothing either great or small without disclosing it to me. And why should my father hide this from me? It is not so.” 1 Samuel 20:2 A while back, a new fast-food restaurant opened just across the street from…
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Obsessive Self-Destructive Thoughts

When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 1 Samuel 19:21 When I came home from treatment back in 2014, I knew that I’d found a lasting recovery. Understandably, my wife wasn’t convinced. She needed time – a…
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No More Enabling

Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?” 1 Samuel 19:17 Occasionally, I’ll meet a patient who wants me to help her husband with his alcohol problem, only to find that he’s home bound. Wait. If he can’t get to the liquor store,…
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Relapsing Emotions

And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.” 1 Samuel 19:6 I once made up my mind that I was going to stop using opioids forever. I relapsed a day later. Then, I repeated the whole process several hundred times. I failed…
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Confrontation and Intervention

“Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. 1 Samuel 19:5-6 When my addiction and opioid diversion came to light, there were those unfortunate souls who were tasked with the terrible job of confronting me. Looking back, I feel bad for them.…
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Would You Help Me Hide the Evidence?

And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself.” 1 Samuel 19:2 My wife and I watched one of those real crime documentaries a while back, in which the parents of the murderer conspired with their son…
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How to Be a Good Physician

And David said, “Does it seem to you a little thing to become the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation?” 1 Samuel 18:23 In medical school, I learned the science behind medicine in the classroom, from professors. The actual practice of medicine, however, was largely learned in the clinic…
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Mom

Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16 Nothing good ever happens after midnight. Back when I was a teenager, this was one…
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