Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!ucsd!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: quintro!daf@uunet.uu.net (Doug Flesner) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Frames of Life Message-ID: Date: 23 Nov 90 07:14:41 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: none Lines: 74 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu 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..........