DRUNKARD'S AWAKENING

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Sep 20, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 38.

DRUNKARD'S AWAKENING.

The Horror That Is Felt When His Delusions Are Swept Away.

An editorial writer in the Banner of Gold says: "The sophistry of the inebriate is very delusive. He invents numerous excuses to account for his frequent lapses from sobriety, but they deceive no one but himself. If he is weak, he must have a bracer. If he has extra work, he must have a stimulant, and if he is in trouble, he seeks oblivion or strength to bear it. But such forgetfulness is fleeting, and such strength imaginary. Neither is of any benefit."

"One of the sweetest delusions of the drinking man is his strong belief that no one can tell that he has been drinking. He will assure you with great assumption of superiority that he can stand more liquor than any two men without showing it, when perhaps at the time he is talking his language is rambling and disconnected and his manner incoherent."

"Such men are a source of constant mortification to their families. They do not share the vain delusions; they are keenly alive to every indication of intoxication, and suffer torture because of the disgrace and humiliation for which they are in no way to blame. If the men who imagine that liquor brightens their intellects and renders them more brilliant would authorize the attendance of their stenographers, and examine a carefully-prepared report of some of their conversational achievements, they would feel like signing the pledge directly."

"Unfortunately, none of these things are realized until the time has gone by when to let liquor alone is a mere question of volition. When a drinking man awakens to a knowledge that total abstinence is a social or business necessity, he usually awakens to a realization that liquor has become a physical necessity. Henceforth there is a rapid scattering of delusions. The stern conviction that he is no longer his own master is a sad revelation to a proud man. He reviews the treacherous path that has led from the careless social glass of early manhood on down the steep decline to the present time. The effort to stop drinking has cleared some of the mists from his brain. It has given him a clear perception of the duties he has shirked, the opportunities he has lost, and has filled his heart with remorse for the sorrow he has caused."