Signs of hope in a suffering world

I recently met a young man who shared with me that he was a recovering drug addict.

He has begun to turn his life around and now he wants to help others to do the same. He rides his bike around the city of St. Catharines cleaning up discarded drug paraphernalia and offering curb-side counselling to those on the street who are struggling with addiction.

He told me that the opioid crisis is causing a great deal of suffering and death among the most vulnerable in our community. It was a very disturbing conversation; however, what I found most troubling was a statement he shared regarding the attitude of many of the people that he was trying to help. He told me that they believed that they were worthless and that nobody cared about them.

Some may think that the drugs trigger these thoughts; however, I believe that it is because of these thoughts that some turn to drugs. It helps to dull the pain of feeling useless and unwanted.

In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus states, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (10:29-30)

This simple passage reminds us of how precious we are in God’s eyes. We are known intimately and loved unconditionally by our God. In God’s eyes, nothing that has been created is worthless or useless.

Our Christian faith teaches us that our value and dignity comes from God, not from us. It is not based on what we own, are able to contribute, or how useful we may be to society. It does not come from anything that we do or have. It comes from the fact that we are made in God’s image and likeness.

Psalm 139 states, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (13-14)

Life is a gift from God with incomparable value. We are “wonderfully made” and this is something that we need to be reminded of on a daily basis. When we see the brokenness and weaknesses of others we can easily begin to forget this important truth.

One of the greatest reminders of just how valued we are by God is the death of Jesus on the cross. He loved us so much that he sacrificed his life so that we could be saved. Every time we look to the image of Christ on the cross this should be a powerful reminder that we are not worthless. Our God died for us!

Anyone involved in health care knows that if you only treat the symptoms of an illness and not the cause, then the person will never be healed. I believe that this principle also applies to the challenging issue of substance abuse, addiction and homelessness in our community. We need to address the cause more than just the symptoms.

We need to help the most vulnerable feel valued, loved and remind them that they are not forgotten.

I am so grateful to those in our community that help others feel this way on a daily basis. If more people did this then perhaps we would have fewer people looking for ways to dull the pain that comes from believing that they are worthless and that nobody cares.

We need more people like the young man who inspired me. He is a sign of hope for those who feel hopeless.