Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 17, 1993 TAG: 9301170207
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by NELSON HARRIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MINISTER FIGHTS ADDICTION UNDER PUBLIC EYE
BALM IN GILEAD: A Baptist Minister's Personal Journey Through Drug Addiction. By Don Jeffries. August House. $19.95.Fishbowls.
For those who live in them, life is walked on a perilous tightrope. "Balm In Gilead" traces the life and ministry of a prominent North Carolina pastor, Gordon Weekley. For many years, Weekley served the large congregation of Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte. The fishbowl in which he lived almost destroyed him.
Weekley's biographer, Don Jeffries, was a member of the Providence congregation during his subject's pastorate. He, along with others, noticed their young minister's personal and professional deterioration. Faced with an onslaught of unrealistic expectations and workload, Weekley gradually became addicted to the prescription drugs he was taking to maintain his energy level.
Over a period of years, the addiction to drugs and alcohol eventually cost Weekley his health, marriage and career. But Jeffries' book is one of hope, demonstrating the powers of faith and self-determination in the face of life's crises because Weekley eventually moves out of his addictive cycle.
It is, in short, an account of human recovery and divine redemption.
But "Balm In Gilead" is more than just one man's story. It is the story of many in our society - especially ministers - who find their private lives under the constant eye of the public. Such persons often find themselves sitting on pedestals which reach euphoric heights. Maintaining one's position on such a pedestal often comes at a great personal cost; and the fall there from, can be professionally and personally fatal.
Consequently, "Balm In Gilead" is must reading for those who sit on pedestals and those who, ignorantly, put others on them.
Nelson Harris is pastor of the Ridgewood Baptist church.