I have often heard a lot of people in church refer to Noah as a drunk. I believe this is because in the flood narrative we read about Noah planting a vineyard, making wine and getting drunk. I have always wondered why he is called a righteous man if he was a drunk.
A few years ago I watched a movie with Russell Crowe as Noah. The movie left little to be desired, however, there was one scene that I believe they got spot on right! The scene is Russell in the ark, with the door closed as it started to rain. We then begin to see and hear those that were not on the ark start to cry out for him to let them on the ark. They began to pound and beat on the ark and Russell’s face was noticeably disturbed by these sounds. It is obvious that he was having a hard time as he was essentially listening to his friends, neighbors, and those that he lived in community with die.
This scene helped me to better understand Noah’s narrative in the Bible. As I think through Noah’s narrative more and more I realize that Noah was not a drunk but rather he had PTSD. He had to listen to all his friends and neighbors die and could not help them. Then when Noah got off the ark he was met with the memories of the people that he used to live in community with, memories of places where he used to purchase goods, memories of places where his children played, as well as many other memories that we can only imagine.
After experiencing this Noah planted a vineyard, made some wine, and got drunk. He did what many of us do: self medicated. He chose to drown his issues in alcohol. Some of us choose wine, some choose drugs, some sex, some shopping, as well as various other vices that we can think of. Self medicating is something that we do in response to experiences that are bad, unpleasant, traumatizing, etc. Me personally? I am an emotional eater. I will go eat things I have no business eating, in quantities I have no business consuming, even when I am not hungry. It’s my way of self medicating. Does it work? Nope! I eat to feel better and it lasts for a few moments. Afterward I am miserable. Either because I ate too much, ate food that does not agree with me, or I realized that the problem is still there. The eating did not make it go away and I am still in the same position that I was in before I started eating.
All that said, self medicating does not work, however, there are lots of ways that we can address the painful, hurtful situations in our lives. Resolutions range from professional clinical help to journaling, prayer, fasting, talking with a friend, etc. There is NO one-size-fits-all solution and sometimes it is a combination of both clinical and non clinical help.
What are some of the things you turn to instead of facing the painful situations in your life?
What things have you noticed that others have done in their hurtful situations?
