Poisoning the Dragon

I work with dysfunctional people. There’s no other work like it. It has it’s

triumphs. As often as not, defeat is the order of the day. But I live for

those triumphs, and they make all the difference.

     I was watching a documentary about fire-fighting and was struck at

closely it parallels the gut-wrenching, day in and day out kind of work

called reconciliation and recovery..

    We see a 300 foot tall gasoline storage tank… completely engulfed by

fire. The flames rage in all their livid colors; the reds, the yellows, the

oranges.

    And far below the ugly sight, some very average men are reflected in it’s

glow. They are sitting down in a circle, around one particular fellow that

seems to be giving orders.

    “Men, it’s like a dragon. We’ve got to put poison right in its mouth,

where it can do the most good. We have one chance; one moment to

orchestrate our plans. If we’re not singing the same note at the exact time,

we will fail.”

    And these very average men set about to pour a massive amount of foam

directly into the storage tank. Sixty-five minutes and only sixty-five minutes.

That was the measured amount, and all they had. At times the flames seemed

to relent. At other times, it seemed that all was lost. But, slowly, and

deliberately, the blaze was controlled. Exactly sixty-five minutes. No more,

no less. The flames were out.

    Oh so similar; my ministry and those firefighters. I told a woman,

“You’ve got to do whatever it takes to impact your husband. If you keep

on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve

always gotten.” And, “if you don’t use those last few bullets, you’ll never

 know whether success was close at hand.”

    Counseling is akin to fire fighting. It’s a lot like putting poison

into the mouth of a dragon. The dragon doesn’t take real kindly to it, but it’s

probably the only way you’re going to kill it.

    And unlike the eventual fate of that fire, nothing’s guaranteed with

such a plan. Laying out mandates and penalties isn’t always successful, but

when one has attempted everything else, what is there to lose?

    There is a time and place to challenge dysfunction and discord. I believe

it is sooner, rather than later.

 

 

By William McDonald, PhD. "Unconventional Devotions" Copyright 2005