An alarming thing happened today. Something that has been building for a year. Well, truth be told, it has been building for decades. Let me rewind a bit and include some background. I am a board certified, card carrying, remote hogging, channel surfing, lazy load watching tv addict. It is impossible to calculate the amount of time I have wasted in front of the idiot box - a term my mother was fond of - which always amused me as it was my mother who put a tv in her 8-yr old's room (granted, I was demon spawn - just ask my tortured older brother). Needless to say my childhood was a technicolor blur; as was the better part of my 30's.
So, back to my story.
When I recommitted my life to Christ at 38, tv was one of many addictive behaviors God and I took on. I moved in 2004 and made a landmark decision to opt for basic-basic (did I mention basic?) cable which consisted of about 12 channels. The customary broadcast channels, 22 home shopping networks and 11 stations broadasting only in Spanish. Okay, so that totals more than 9. But you get the picture. Pretty slim pickings - especially at 3 am when the viewing consists of infomercials or infomercials in Spanish (why did I never learn Spanish?!). The adjustment was initially like cutting off a limb. Still, after time, I started to thrive due to the abbreviated selections, and developed a very full and active life. Relationships were rekindled. New friendships formed. Books (books?) begun - and finished! A life full of the living.
Alas, a year ago I fell hook, line and sinker for the cable company's clever marketing and signed up for their inclusive package. (You know the one that bundles internet/phone/cable together in one "low" price.) The gimmick is to have you sign up for more services than you currently have in hopes that, when the price is jacked up a year later, you will be so hooked you've convinced yourself you can't possibly do without. As you can imagine, opening the door and inviting an addiction into the house again took its toll. My thriving relationship and dialog with God was stopped dead in its tracks. Friendships were strained. Weight was gained (after all who can resist mindlessly stuffing your face as you watch). Health deteriorated. Sleep suffered. Work suffered. Guilt and shame ensued over the countless marathon hours (days, weekends) spent in front of the tube allowing it to suck the drive and intelligence out through my eyeballs. My full and active life was stuffed into a moldy duffel bag and thrown into the dark recesses of the storage closet.
As you might have guessed, my low price came to an end recently and the decision was mine to ponder once more. Pay the extra 60 bucks a month or downgrade. So I downgraded. They came today. And this time, like any addiction after a relapse, turning off the cable channels I had grown so dependent on once again was physically painful. How on earth would I function minus my carefully sculpted watching schedule? The worst part? Mixed with the relief that comes from being liberated from my cage, came the sad wistfulness that tonight I would not be able to go home and see the first episode of one of my coveted shows new season. How sad is that? Just like Lot's wife, my heart pined for the oppression of my chains. So instead of running full speed towards freedom with full understanding I'd been spared, I turned and lamented my missing shackles.
I know the cravings will subside and the rewards gained will enormously outweigh any momentary longings. But boy the lessons learned will echo for I hope a lifetime. Be careless and invite sin to tea but rest assured it will quickly evict you out into the street and proceed to set your drapes on fire.
And so I'm off. Off to taste and see the land of the living.
Verses for the day:
Hebrews 12:1-2 (Amplified Bible) (emphasis mine)
1Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.
2Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Genesis 4:7 (NIV)
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
So, back to my story.
When I recommitted my life to Christ at 38, tv was one of many addictive behaviors God and I took on. I moved in 2004 and made a landmark decision to opt for basic-basic (did I mention basic?) cable which consisted of about 12 channels. The customary broadcast channels, 22 home shopping networks and 11 stations broadasting only in Spanish. Okay, so that totals more than 9. But you get the picture. Pretty slim pickings - especially at 3 am when the viewing consists of infomercials or infomercials in Spanish (why did I never learn Spanish?!). The adjustment was initially like cutting off a limb. Still, after time, I started to thrive due to the abbreviated selections, and developed a very full and active life. Relationships were rekindled. New friendships formed. Books (books?) begun - and finished! A life full of the living.
Alas, a year ago I fell hook, line and sinker for the cable company's clever marketing and signed up for their inclusive package. (You know the one that bundles internet/phone/cable together in one "low" price.) The gimmick is to have you sign up for more services than you currently have in hopes that, when the price is jacked up a year later, you will be so hooked you've convinced yourself you can't possibly do without. As you can imagine, opening the door and inviting an addiction into the house again took its toll. My thriving relationship and dialog with God was stopped dead in its tracks. Friendships were strained. Weight was gained (after all who can resist mindlessly stuffing your face as you watch). Health deteriorated. Sleep suffered. Work suffered. Guilt and shame ensued over the countless marathon hours (days, weekends) spent in front of the tube allowing it to suck the drive and intelligence out through my eyeballs. My full and active life was stuffed into a moldy duffel bag and thrown into the dark recesses of the storage closet.
As you might have guessed, my low price came to an end recently and the decision was mine to ponder once more. Pay the extra 60 bucks a month or downgrade. So I downgraded. They came today. And this time, like any addiction after a relapse, turning off the cable channels I had grown so dependent on once again was physically painful. How on earth would I function minus my carefully sculpted watching schedule? The worst part? Mixed with the relief that comes from being liberated from my cage, came the sad wistfulness that tonight I would not be able to go home and see the first episode of one of my coveted shows new season. How sad is that? Just like Lot's wife, my heart pined for the oppression of my chains. So instead of running full speed towards freedom with full understanding I'd been spared, I turned and lamented my missing shackles.
I know the cravings will subside and the rewards gained will enormously outweigh any momentary longings. But boy the lessons learned will echo for I hope a lifetime. Be careless and invite sin to tea but rest assured it will quickly evict you out into the street and proceed to set your drapes on fire.
And so I'm off. Off to taste and see the land of the living.
Verses for the day:
Hebrews 12:1-2 (Amplified Bible) (emphasis mine)
1Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.
2Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Genesis 4:7 (NIV)
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
1 comment:
Excellent discription of this process Faye! We all are addicted to various aspects of our wealthy and materially dependent culture. For example, Chris and I each like our iced tea made in different ways. We actually keep two pitchers going at all times so we can drink it the same way. It seems silly, but one of the biggest reliefs in coming home from travelling is having my tea the way I like it!!! I am reminded of Israel newly liberated from Egypt. Led by a pillar of smoke or fire, fed heavenly bread and water divinely sweet, they moan and whine "Oh, if only we had the leeks and vegetables of Egypt!" I scoff at their shallowness, but wait. Would I have survived without my perfectly sweetend iced tea? . . .
Post a Comment