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Topic: Fearful (08/23/07)
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TITLE: "Premature Burial" | Previous Challenge Entry
By Frank Salerni
08/23/07 -
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One of the most common attractions we inherently possess is also one of the oddest of fascinations. It is called death. What is it, where do we really abide when the grim reaper comes, or how can we perceive its aloofness’s?
As a Christian the fearfulness of this event is tethered in Christ, but before I came to know Him I was captivated by its mystery. My friends and I would often try and scare one another by simply using elements of God’s creation to our disposal. The night, the moon, and the sounds in the evening’s darkness could all be used to our advantage.
Fear was so easily induced.
Satan is a master at conducting a symphony of events using our own imagination for his evil pleasure. As an example I would like to tell a tale of a night that brought fear in my life without mercy.
I was twelve years old, and went to the movie theater with a friend of mine. We went to see a film entitled, “Premature Burial.” This was a story of living death, being buried alive, and it took place when embalming was not so common. As the story unfolded an inherent condition called catalepsy plagued a man whose family was buried alive in this state. The family members were exhumed only to find their bloody hands and arms along with terror-stricken poses indicated that they came back to consciousness only hours after they were buried. This film dictated the thought process of a man who was paralyzed in body, but not in mind. The silent screams as they placed him into the grave were vividly captured in this twelve year olds head for years to come.
But, that wasn’t the scariest part. What happened next had me sleepless for weeks.
When we exited the theater night had fallen. My friend had to go home one way, and I needed to go another. My journey took me through dark fields and across wooded acreage in order to access the shortcut that would get me home on time. The silhouetted old oak trees, and human like stances they took only added to the uneasiness I was encountering.
Suddenly, a most peculiar sound came up close behind me. I turned and could see nothing but darkness. The glow of a streetlamp about a quarter mile in front of me was the proverbial light at the end of my tunnel. As I continued to walk the sound progressed, and so did my pace. A swooping sound intermittent to my stride stirred up ghostly thoughts of death and evil intentions. Still, it came closer… swoop, swoop, SHOOP! It was so close I was sure I could feel its breath down the back of my neck. The streetlamp became an all-encompassing goal for my salvation to expel the darkness. Faster and faster I ran, and the more frantic I became. Swoop, swoop, SHOOP.
At last the shadows were dispelled as the light flooded in around me. It was then my explosive heart finely began to subside. I saw my banshee.
She was not the evil I supposed; yet the damage was done. I was now a prisoner of my own fearful, imaginative, and overactive mind.
Somewhere on the trial home I had stepped on a large wad of gum, then it adhered to about six foot of string, which attached itself to an old dried out twig that followed my every step.
We often have things in our life that consume us, and they can certainly make us fearful. Satan loves to strike fear into our hearts, but when we are God’s own the devil’s tricks are more like gum, string, and twigs. We can have the assurance of heaven when our life is in God’s hands. My only real fear is that you may not be really His. Please do not make the mistake of being stuck in a cataleptic state, unable to turn your life around.
Remember, Phil 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. NKJV
Run to Christ for He is the true light that will expose the darkness for what it really is.
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