Drinking The Kool-Aid

I remember the disappointment of returning from Viet Nam not only because of how let down I felt, but also because of the negative reaction of the public to what we did. Instead of being hailed as heroes we were thought of as murderers and rapists (not pulling any punches here).

I had put my faith 100% in this country, only to be manipulated by the politicians who had us fighting with one hand tied behind our back, and negative media coverage which portrayed us as hostile bullies. I had blind faith in the USA as a Marine when I went over, but those events shook me into reality.

The phrase "Drinking The Kool Aid" has been used in reference to the Jim Jones cult that in 1978 drank the cyanide laced Kool Aid that killed 900 followers in a virtual mass suicide. Believers in a man who thought of himself as God, in a sect that actually did many good things but in the end destroyed itself, had that same blind faith.

There are many things that we mistakenly put our blind faith in such as our employers, our sports teams, our church, a relationship, or a cause,  not realizing that these are all human concerns that also have flaws. No problem to believe in them but to have total faith without some understanding of the humanity of it all can be devastating.

That's why when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well he took the opportunity to teach her and us what was much better than Kool Aid. Hers was relationships  - 5 marriages and a live-in boyfriend plus a set of beliefs in only what she could see. Then he gave her an opportunity to drink living water which is something we cannot see, but will never disappoint and last eternally. No blind belief, a sustaining wellspring of contentment.

The gods we have idolized in our lives that have all let us down need to be replaced by The God who always lifts us up!