My Parents took my TV away!!!

A not so funny thing happened to me in the 9^th grade. My parents took all the TV’s in the house and locked them upstairs in the attic. Now this was in the mid to late 70’s so there were no iPods, no computers, no other options! Can you imagine the horror!! They said that “leaders are readers” and that my little sister and I needed to spend our time learning from great books versus sitting in front of a TV. I can remember having to go down the street to my friend’s house when “Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century” was on just so I could watch it. My Dad picked books for me to read. These included Dale Carnegie’s, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, William Danforth’s, “I Dare You”, Hannah Hurnard’s, “Hinds’ Feet on High Places”, and anything CS Lewis wrote. I hated it because it made me feel ostracized from my friends. It was just another instance of how I, and my crazy upbringing, was different from them. But that was the whole point of my Dad’s “experiment”. He didn’t want me to be like the masses. He had risen from below what would be considered mediocre and shot to successful heights experienced by few. He wanted that for me and knew filling my mind with hours of idle time in front of the TV would not aid me in becoming a better person. When I lived on my own I figured I’d watch as much TV as I wanted. It was sheer bliss. As the technology and sheer volume of channels blossomed, so did my ability to vegetate in front of the TV for hours on end. I was especially vulnerable to all day marathons such as “Law and Order: SVU”, and “The Three Stooges” on AMC. Then came HGTV, Lifetime, Animal Planet, and so many others! Now I am not saying that TV is bad, but just like anything else, everything in moderation. And I, like I’m sure many others do, have a problem with turning off the boob tube and engaging my mind and body in something else. Somebody gave me a copy of “The Kneeling Christian” last month. I have never read a book that presented the unlimited power and intimacy of prayer.  Nor have I ever read a book where they consider how much time you spend in prayer and what effect it has on every aspect of your life. For instance, the devil doesn’t shudder if I spend 24 hours a day watching Joel Osteen or Charles Stanley on TV. He doesn’t think twice if I do great deeds or spend many hours volunteering at the church. The only time the devil trembles is when I’m in prayer.  There’s a quote in the book that says, "Prayer is the moment when heaven and earth kiss each other." Now what on TV could possibly be better than that??