daf@uunet.uu.net (Doug Flesner) (11/23/90)
I thank God for His mercy and the grace He has bestowed upon me in my life. It is my life, or maybe life in general, that I wish to share with you, as I see it. In looking back at my own life, from childhood up till now, I see it as a giant roll of movie film. This roll of film is made up of many events, or frames. Out of all the frames in my life, I have narrowed them down to just seven and it's these seven I would like to share. As I look at the first frame I see a baby crawling along a seashore that stretches as far as the eye can see. The sea also seems endless, and I notice that the color of it is black not blue, and it smells. The name of this sea is Sin. Floating in it are pride, lust, drunkenness, murder, theft, audultery, greed, hatred, selfishness, fornication, idolatry, bitterness, and debt, just to name a few. There are other bits of debre floating around, but I do not recognize them all. The black waves lap at the shore but they do not come near the baby. He stops once in a while, he hears the sea but does not know or understand. He crawls on in black sand unaware of the smell. In the second frame I see a young boy standing. He's moved closer to the waters edge but he fears the sea and its black vastness. He raises his hand to his nose and mouth, he has noticed the smell, yet he looks on and wonders. In the third frame I see a youth in his teens and he is wading in the sea. He is not as fearful as before. He is still close to shore. He knows not to get in too deep. It's strange but the sea isn't as black as he thought, and the debre doesn't seem to be as thick as it once was. He has gotten used to the smell. The water feels cool and the waves feel good lapping at his ankles. In the fourth frame I see a young man, in his twenties or thirties, out play- ing in the sea. He says he has learned to swim, and is splashing, and frol- licking all around. "There's nothing wrong with the sea," he says, "It's fun! The debre has gone away, and where did I get the idea that this sea was black? And who called it sin? I will rename it LIFE! There are others out here too, having fun, and enjoying themselves as I am! I can still see the shore, it's not far. If I get tired I'll swim back, or some of my new friends will help me get back!" In the fifth frame I see a man still splashing, but no longer in fun! He is struggling and is getting tired. He flaps his arms, and kicks his feet, and tries to swim, but he is not sure in what direction, because the shoreline has disappeared! He calls to his friends, but they are not there. He weakens, and goes under, but he fights his way back! He can't hold on! His mind races and he wonders, "How could it come to this? What am I doing clear out here?" The sea is still black, and for the first time he tastes it, and gags. The debre is still there also, and it smashes against his head and body, wounding him. The stench has become over powering. It truly is sin! Not life as he had thought. He renames it DEATH! He is without hope and realizes that he is lost. He says to himself, "Oh, to be as I once was, a child upon the shore! But how, and who can save me, I am so far out?" Then he remembers, and regrets, and is sorry. He then looks toward heaven, and stretches his hand to God and with what could be his last breath, he cries, "Lord, please forgive me, I am drowning in sin, please help me!" In the sixth frame I see a man back upon the shore. He is somehow different. He is a man but he is like a child, and he is not alone, someone else is with him. As I look closer I know that it is Jesus who has joined him. He is the reason that the man is so different! Jesus has removed the filth and the stench of the sea from him! Jesus has healed the wounds caused by the debre pounding against him! Jesus has cleaned him up and saved him from sin and death! Together they start walking, the man holding tightly on to Jesus. I am, by the grace of the Lord, living in the seventh frame. I am still holding on tightly to Jesus as we walk. I have to, because the sea is yet black, it still smells as bad as it ever did, and the debre is still afloat. The waves are always lapping at the shore, trying to lure me back in. But the Lord is between me and the sea. He heard my cry and He answered my prayer. I am back on shore, I am a child, not as before, this time I am a child of God! Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. -- Doug Flesner................... | ...There is pleasure in sin for a season... Glenayre Elec........Quincy, Il | ......and there are lovers of pleasure..... quintro!daf@lll-winken.llnl.gov | ..........more than lovers of God..........
garyh@crash.cts.com (Gary Hipp) (11/26/90)
In article <Nov.23.02.14.39.1990.20177@athos.rutgers.edu> quintro!daf@uunet.uu.net (Doug Flesner) writes: > I am, by the grace of the Lord, living in the seventh frame. I am still >holding on tightly to Jesus as we walk. I have to, because the sea is yet >black, it still smells as bad as it ever did, and the debre is still afloat. >The waves are always lapping at the shore, trying to lure me back in. But the >Lord is between me and the sea. He heard my cry and He answered my prayer. >I am back on shore, I am a child, not as before, this time I am a child of God! Is it possible that the following frames will read like this? As I looked around me, I all of a sudden noticed there were others. There were myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed, they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more. But, I saw with delight a number of other poor, struggling, drowning wretches continually climbing out of the angry ocean. And I saw a few of those who were already safe helping the poor creatures still in the angry waters to reach the shore of safety. On looking more closely, I found a number of those who had been rescued, industrioulsy working and scheming with ropes, boats, and other means more effective, to deliver the poor strugglers out of this sea. There were some who actually jumped back into the water, regardless of all consequences, in their passion to rescue the perishing. As I looked on, I saw that the occupants on shore were quite a mixed company. That is, they were divided into different "sets" or classes, and they occupied themselves with different pleasures and employments. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the people out of the sea. What really amazed me most was the fact that though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about it. Anyway, it seemed the memory of its darkness and danger no longer troubled them at all. They didn't seem to care about the poor perishing ones wo were struggling and drowning right before their very eyes...many of whom were their brothers and sisters, and even their own children. Now this astonishing unconcern could not have been the result of ignorance or lack of knowledge, because they lived right there in full sight of it all and even talked about it sometimes. Many even went to hear lectures and sermons in which the awful state of these poor drowning creatures was described. Many of those on shore spent their time in amusing themselves with growing flowers on the side of the rocks, engaging in business and trading, painting, or in dressing themselves up in different styles and walking about to be admired. Some occupied themselves chiefly in eating and drinking, others were taken up with arguing about the poor drowning creatures that had alrady been rescued. But what was most amazing was those on shore whom He called, who heard his voice and thought they ought to obey it - or at least they said they did - those who said they loved Him much-who worshipped Him or professed to do so - were so taken up with their trades and professions, their families and circles, their religions and arguments about it, that they did not listen to the cry that came to them from this Wonderful Being who had Himself gone down into the sea. Anyway, if they heard it they did not head it. They did not care. And so the multitude went on shrieking and struggling and drowning in the darkness. Then I saw some of these people on shore whom this Wonderful Being had called to, wanting them to come and help Him in His difficult task of saving the drowning creatures, were always praying and crying out to Him TO COME TO THEM! Some wanted Him to come and stay with them, and spend His time and strength in making them happier. Others wanted Him to come and take away various doubts and misgivings they had concerning the truth of some letters which He had written them. Some wanted Him to come and make them feel more secure on shore- so secure that they would be quite sure that they should never go into the ocean again. So these people used to meet and get up as high on the rock as they could, and looking inland (where they though the Great Being was) they would cry out, "Come to us! Come, help us!" And all the while He was down (by His Spirit) among the poor, drowning, struggling creatues in the angry deep, with His arms around them looking up in vain to those on the rock. Crying to them with a hoarse voice, "Come to ME! Come and help ME!" ----- All of us as Christians can see ourselves in this allegory and my intent is certainly not to take away from your joy, we all need times of rest with our Lord. Next time as you are walking along the shore, take another look out into the dark ocean. Listen. What are you going to do? Gary Hipp The above allegory was adapted from "Who Cares" an article in Last Days Magazine, Last Days Ministries, Box 40, Lindale, TX 75771. It was originally by William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.