In past blogs I have talked of my youthful dislike of suspense and yes, I still avoid scarey movies. Is it nurture or nature? I am not sure. Some of my kids were/are the same way.
When our family would watch a movie (as opposed to a stillie) as soon as a little suspense happened, the key word being-- little, we would see one or more of them leave the room, with little heads peering around the corner when they deemed it safe enough to come back. As a boy, I would go to Boys Brigade at our local church. It would often end in the dark, leaving me to run home down uninhabited streets. These were not your normal streets, they were dark, very dark (to the point of hardly being able to see the road or the woods that were on either side) and there were hands that were reaching out to grab me at anytime. The worst, however, were the people that would chase me with the axes! When people say "Don't run towards the light!", don't believe them. Our little porch light was the only thing that saved me... and did so more than once. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. Thank God it never burned out at the wrong time.
Does growing up in a calm and peaceful home make people avoid dramatic situations? I don't know. You can still startle me, by jumping out from behind a vehicle in the extreme dark and yelling, sometimes done by a certain wife (I'll try not to take a swing at the mad attacking beast but, no guarantees).
Ever been out for a walk in the woods or deer hunting, being as quiet as you can, only to have a rabbit or pheasant jump up or take flight right at you feet? Most of the time you'll lose a few heart beats or sometimes a pint or two. You are deer hunting after all, so I am not sure why all other game needs to wait till I am ready to step on them to move. Maybe they are just taunting me. One day I had a long and uneventful excursion (except almost getting lost in the middle of a swampish environment in the U.P. with only taverns and long empty stretches of roads around, nobody in the bars, mind you) and was a little later than normal getting back to camp. It was pitch dark (just a side question or two: who pitches dark anyway? You can pitch a ball, pitch an idea, even pitch a tent but dark? Is this the only instance of us using the word pitch in regard to oil anymore?) Anyway, I even couldn't see a hand in front of my face, given the circumstances if I could see it, it probably would have had an axe in it. All I could see was just at my feet and maybe a foot or two beyond. Bears, wolves, wolverines, skunks, porcupines (oh my)... you never knew what was right around the corner (possibly the ax murderer that chased me as a kid). Was I on the right path? Was I going the right direction on the "right path"? It couldn't be worse... I guess there could have been two axe murderers after me. Actually, the fact is, it wasn't what was ahead... but to my right about 20-30 feet away... Suddenly before I realized what happened, my skin left my body as I eagerly tried to catch up and catch it! Boots? No they were left far behind! (They say the largest organ in the body is your skin, even being so large it was nearly impossible to grab, seeing it had a good head start on the rest of me. If it had been my liver, heart or any other of the smaller organs, I for sure wouldn't have had a chance of catching them.) As it turned out it was just a deer HOOTING!/HUFFING! IN MY EAR! Well it did seem so anyway. Here is what I heard except my deer was a lot louder and scarier!
When our family would watch a movie (as opposed to a stillie) as soon as a little suspense happened, the key word being-- little, we would see one or more of them leave the room, with little heads peering around the corner when they deemed it safe enough to come back. As a boy, I would go to Boys Brigade at our local church. It would often end in the dark, leaving me to run home down uninhabited streets. These were not your normal streets, they were dark, very dark (to the point of hardly being able to see the road or the woods that were on either side) and there were hands that were reaching out to grab me at anytime. The worst, however, were the people that would chase me with the axes! When people say "Don't run towards the light!", don't believe them. Our little porch light was the only thing that saved me... and did so more than once. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. Thank God it never burned out at the wrong time.
Does growing up in a calm and peaceful home make people avoid dramatic situations? I don't know. You can still startle me, by jumping out from behind a vehicle in the extreme dark and yelling, sometimes done by a certain wife (I'll try not to take a swing at the mad attacking beast but, no guarantees).
Ever been out for a walk in the woods or deer hunting, being as quiet as you can, only to have a rabbit or pheasant jump up or take flight right at you feet? Most of the time you'll lose a few heart beats or sometimes a pint or two. You are deer hunting after all, so I am not sure why all other game needs to wait till I am ready to step on them to move. Maybe they are just taunting me. One day I had a long and uneventful excursion (except almost getting lost in the middle of a swampish environment in the U.P. with only taverns and long empty stretches of roads around, nobody in the bars, mind you) and was a little later than normal getting back to camp. It was pitch dark (just a side question or two: who pitches dark anyway? You can pitch a ball, pitch an idea, even pitch a tent but dark? Is this the only instance of us using the word pitch in regard to oil anymore?) Anyway, I even couldn't see a hand in front of my face, given the circumstances if I could see it, it probably would have had an axe in it. All I could see was just at my feet and maybe a foot or two beyond. Bears, wolves, wolverines, skunks, porcupines (oh my)... you never knew what was right around the corner (possibly the ax murderer that chased me as a kid). Was I on the right path? Was I going the right direction on the "right path"? It couldn't be worse... I guess there could have been two axe murderers after me. Actually, the fact is, it wasn't what was ahead... but to my right about 20-30 feet away... Suddenly before I realized what happened, my skin left my body as I eagerly tried to catch up and catch it! Boots? No they were left far behind! (They say the largest organ in the body is your skin, even being so large it was nearly impossible to grab, seeing it had a good head start on the rest of me. If it had been my liver, heart or any other of the smaller organs, I for sure wouldn't have had a chance of catching them.) As it turned out it was just a deer HOOTING!/HUFFING! IN MY EAR! Well it did seem so anyway. Here is what I heard except my deer was a lot louder and scarier!
Sometimes our current circumstances, or thinking or deceptions or even the blindness of our own perceptions limit us or overwhelm us and the next problem or "startling" that comes can set us off. Losing bits and pieces of our sanity or minds (not to mention bodily fluids). "This Christianity stuff doesn't work!" or "I can't do this anymore!" or "I'll never measure up!" or "I've had it up to HERE!" But... You wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You. Where is your mind located? What anchors your thinking? What do you dwell on? (the majority of your thoughts). Is it on the problem or the problem solver?
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