Decisions

A moment if I may...
A former student recently lost his battle against addiction.  He was young, vital, just a few years removed from my classroom, committed to a bright future.  Drugs remain an insidious threat, available and perversely attractive.  The critical nature of the problem is readily apparent.  Things can be bought, sold and dealt with in the most pristine environments.

"Every man's death diminshes me,"  more so when that man's life has been shared.  What to do?  Where to start?  How to proceed?  Perhaps we should return to the beginning?  This is not to say that responsibility rests primarily on anyone in particular.  One merely acknowledges that from childhood to maturity life revolves around the parental nest.  Conversation remains an essential.  Philosopher Paul Tillich argued that "the first duty of love is to listen."
Listening is the imperative, not judgement, accusation, or dictate.  The young have a great deal to say.

Such moral relevancy may sound simplistic and one can argue that choirs of angels might still fail to strike a responsive chord. We are only human and modern life is not cloistered.  Assistance is readily available and professional opinions can certainly prove valuable.  However, the issue remains at our doorstep.  Struggle still begins across the table.  Moments taken with a receptive audience can prove invaluable.  Recognition of the potential problem is a beginning.  Similarly regret for opportunities lost are painful beyond measure.

Are we in crisis?  Most knowledgeable observers would seem to agree.  Crisis derives its meaning from the Greek, "krinein," meaning decision.  It is time for each of us to weigh the prevailing evidence and then decide.  As for me, I intend
to wait for the quiet at end of day and remember a young man in the fourth row.