The Stranger

[John317]

A story my sister sent me as a FWD--

The Stranger

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family.. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped

talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?.... .. .

We just call him 'TV.'

He has a wife now...We call her 'Computer.'

[John317]

Yeah, the story is a good illustration of how a lot of people wouldn't stand for people to come into their house and use foul language or display pornography in front of their wives and children, but many allow it to happen through the TV.

[Aliensanctuary]

I found this in my old stuff earlier this year, similar to the above post.

The Visitors

Copyright © 1987 by Aliensanctuary

They came one evening, so long ago, the guests I had invited over to spend the evening. They really brightened the place up, and sometimes they made me laugh. I wished they could come over more often so I wouldn’t be so bored in the evenings.

They were more than willing, so I fixed up a special place in the living room where they could be more comfortable. I enjoyed their visits so much that I asked them to stay with me on a permanent basis. No more boring evenings reading a dull book. When my friends were around there was always something exciting or interesting going on.

They stayed in my house for years, and as my family grew, so did theirs. They brought their friends, and their friend’s friends, until I lost track of how many of them I entertained. They were all part of my life, however, and they were always welcome. Sometimes some of them tended to repeat themselves, but when I grew tired of their conversation, I looked for someone new I hadn’t met before.

Occasionally someone said or did something I really didn’t approve of, but whenever I spoke to them about it, they just ignored me. “Oh well,” I thought, “It’s better than being bored.” Over the years, though, they all seemed to get worse. They would often lie or steal or cuss or get increasingly familiar with each other.

One day a couple slipped off to the bedroom by themselves. This made me very uncomfortable because I knew they weren’t married. They kept meeting there until they finally decided to move their bed into my living room, completely ignoring me when I objected.

I tried my best to send my children out of the room when the bed was occupied, but more and more unmarried couples showed up to have sex in my living room. Sometimes I thought that I really should tell these people to leave my home, but I liked them all so much that I never did find the courage to kick them out.

One evening, while I was relaxing, a blood-chilling scream startled us, followed by something heavy falling on the floor. I called the police when I found a body in the middle of the living room, but they just laughed at me. They promised me that I’d know who did it before the evening was over.

That was only the beginning. Now there were murders nearly every day. Although the murders were sometimes messy and gruesome, the visitors always cleaned up afterwards. The police continued to laugh at me, though, especially after they came to my house once and found no body, no blood, no evidence. The visitors had cleaned up the mess just before the police arrived.

I was very upset. What would the neighbors think about all the sex and murders and other crimes going on in my house? What did my children think about being exposed to so much human depravity in the safety of their own home? Then I knew what I must do.

The following day I loaded up all of the visitors into my truck and took them for a ride. We stopped at the dump where I helped them all out of the rear of the truck. They were all quiet as I picked up a large rock, then threw it at them.

The picture tube exploded into millions of pieces of glass as it made a loud hissing noise, then only silence. I drove home alone to peaceful house where I spent a pleasant evening studying the Bible while my children did their homework without the help of the television.

[LifeHiscost]

The following day I loaded up all of the visitors into my truck and took them for a ride. We stopped at the dump where I helped them all out of the rear of the truck. They were all quiet as I picked up a large rock, then threw it at them.

The picture tube exploded into millions of pieces of glass as it made a loud hissing noise, then only silence. I drove home alone to peaceful house where I spent a pleasant evening studying the Bible while my children did their homework without the help of the television.

One gentleman lit the match he found in the kitchen cupboard and proceeded to light the kitchen gas range, where he placed different pans and pots on the individual burners for the morning and afternoon meals. He also took another match into the living room and lit the wood that had been neatly placed in the fireplace the evening before in preparation for heating the house after a chilly night.

During the day he struck a welders stricker in the garage to enable himself to weld some parts for his boy's bicycle that were in need of repair. He also went into the basement to fire up the furnace so his wife might enjoy a warm shower room while showering.

A few weeks later his neighbor across the street, after desponding over some marital battles with his wife, decided to solve his problems by rising very early one morning and after dousing the living room with a can of gasoline, lit a match and set the house afire, proceeding to flee rather than share the fate he left his sleeping wife and children to face, if or when they awoke.

Which match or matches do you think were evil between the two households?

Upon buying a book of instructions to learn best how to make my computer function for me, I ran across this wise observation almost in the very first paragraph.

When entering the world of personal computers, one needs to follow the same pattern they would when entering a city. If you know the city, go in the direction you wish to, in order to obtain the destination where your needs will best be met. Only thinking, freewill agents allow a non-thinking tool to serve or master them.

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."Joshua 24:15 KJV

Blessings!

[LifeHiscost]

HEY LIFEHISCOST

BUT SOME PEOPLE (MYSELF INCLUDE) have to get rid of

these items that is the only way they will not

be controlled

dgrimm60

Good point. Today, on the internet, the headlines told the present ongoing story of seven killed and 31 injured at Ft. Hood, an army base in Texas.

"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

"John 17:15 NKJV

Blessings!

[Aliensanctuary]

Since the conversion to digital TV in the USA, the only channel we now receive is public television, not exactly must-watch TV. Our main interest is news, which we can pick and choose from msnbc, yahoo, and others online. Sometimes even that can take a lot of time by following one story to another, then another...

One could choose to view evil content online, too, and if that is a problem due to lack of self control, one could live a good life without certain electronic devices and their sometimes irresistible temptations to think or do evil.

[Mark Aurelius]

One problem with the approach of choosing carefully what you watch is that during the hours supposedly suitable for children the stations advertise the programs for the later hours, by showing previews. Some of those previews are pretty strong: CSI, NCIS, Desperate Housewives, etc. have quite gripping scenes.

So, there's no simple solution. I think getting rid of TV is quite acceptable. We haven't done it though.