So last evening Terry and I went out to dinner. Can I just say that hunger is the best seasoning? All I had to eat yesterday was a protein shake for breakfast and a peanut butter and banana sandwich for lunch. I was totally starving and the food was close-your-eyes--in-order-to-savor good. I did behave myself in that I ordered things without sauces or butters and I ate exactly half of my salad and my entree. What a good girl am I. Quite often after eating out Terry and I will head over to Books-A-Million to do a little shopping. He looks through audio books and I check out the fiction. We both usually wander through the clearance tables as well. I always enjoy our little ritual, but two things that night took a little of the joy out of it for me.
First, I ran into someone I hadn't seen in quite a while. We used to work together. When I left that job, I left it abruptly and I left it for personal reasons. We chatted and caught up a little with what we both were doing, but it felt incredibly awkward. The elephant in the room was almost visual, yet unrecognized. It's been quite a while since I've had a conversation with an elephant in the room. I don't particularly relish it.
The second thing that happened was I looked at a display table marked with the sign, "Most Popular Fiction for Kids". With one or two exceptions, every book on that table had to do with either witchcraft or vampires. I was horrified and saddened at the same time. Reading anything beyond a 140 character tweet or text message is rare in young people these days. Reading is becoming a lost art. And for those that do actually read for fun, this is the garbage with which they are filling their minds. Yes, I said garbage.
Something we don't often acknowledge is the fact that Satan is real and he is out to capture the minds of our youth. Both witchcraft and vampire themes are laced with such occultic overtones, it's no wonder kids struggle with purity, morality and the desire to do right. We're giving Satan a foothold in our children's lives from a very early age. Please don't be fooled into thinking that because the story is compelling, or the writing great, it's something your children should read. There may be certain types of poisons with a delicious flavor, but that doesn't change the damage that the poison will do to your body.
As for the elephant? I think I left it in the store. Hopefully it won't be there the next time I go. It's awfully hard to carry on a conversation with that thing waving its trunk in my face.
How about you? Ever had an elephant in the room?
I have met some rather large elephants of late, but they quietly sit and often wander away if I press on.
ReplyDeleteSome people just hold the key of making me uncomfortable.
I completely agree about the choices for kids fiction. I think when they are younger, there are still more choices, but when they hit teens, there's nothing good. I feel as though I am one of VERY few who will not watch or let my children read Harry Potter books.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a nice dinner and you were indeed very good.
-FringeGirl
I hate it when I have an elephant following me around. It just makes everything awkward.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on the vampire/witchcraft stuff for kids. I've read the Harry Potter series and my husband has read Twilight ( haven't read those; I refused to jump on that bandwagon; my hubby read it because the youth kids would not stop talking about it and he wanted to be familiar with what they were asking about).
What blows me away is how parents just allow their kids to read the books with no questions asked. Even if you throw out the occultic stuff, the books are NOT suitable for children. There is a 2-chapter span in the last book of the HP series that gave me nightmares for several days, and I'm a grown woman!
My daughter WILL NOT read either series (or anything else that comes along). I used to think HP wasn't that bad (up until the 3rd book) where I was like, "Maybe, MAYBE when she's an older teen (like 16-17) I'll let her read these," but then when the fourth book came out and it went from a "teen series" to an adult sci-fi/thriller.
But that is the pattern with everything in the world - start out not so bad and then next thing you know you're thrown headfirst into something really sinful, dark, or dangerous.
You have to hand it to the enemy. He's good at what he does.
I know how you feel about the kids books. Matthew and I talk about that all the time. My two oldest ones love to read and here we have no christian choice so we go to the store and try to find things they can read. Now for 7 years old and up, everything amazes us. there are no choices, everything are things that I wouldn´t even read myself, much less would I feel it to my kids.
ReplyDeleteI don´t know what parents are thinking anymore. Obviously if that is the only thing in the store is because it is the only thing that sells. It amazes me though how they have no idea what is going on with kids anymore... With the thing they get fed up with, no wonder they are the way they are anymore...