I discovered the following quote in an article my friends shared with me. It is from an article about Alexander Solzhenitsyn by Harry Antonides (see Sources below)
“While the Middle Ages had exhausted itself in repressing man’s physical nature in favour of the spiritual, the Enlightenment took the opposite turn. Then the worship of man and his happiness became the goal by means of unlimited freedom in the use and control of the physical world. As a result man’s sense of responsibility to God has grown dimmer and dimmer, allowing evil to have free reign.”
The part about “the worship of man and his happiness became the goal by means of unlimited freedom in the use and control of the physical world” is abundant today. It surrounds us on every side until we are desensitized.
My partners in prayer had no idea of the struggle that was raging inside of me on Saturday. This will be a revelation to them. I suspect that they too had a similar revelation in that we left the place that we had entered – early.
The Scene and Setting…
I have already written about the mountain top experience that we had in Room 305 of our hotel… (last post – The “305” Moment). This was followed by the wonderful time in prayer at the dedication in the afternoon with all of our friends. We had experienced an abundance of God stuff on Saturday to last a longtime it would seem.
Now Saturday was followed by a hugely important Wednesday evening, where the elders of our community and churches, all collected in one place called Shepherd Village, had prayed at length for us and our ministry. There was an outpouring of God’s love and power in remarkable ways.
Now it was Saturday evening and we were hungry and spent with the emotions of the days before. I was tired and even yawning.
It was decided among the group that a popular restaurant, known to most in the group, would be a good place to eat at. When we opened the doors the loud music greeted you – bumping and grinding. The heavy cluster of people was the next evidence of a long wait… at least 35 minutes before we would be seated. So we waited. This was Toronto and Scarborough in particular – waiting for a seat is normal.
After talking with some of my friends I was left standing in the corner waiting. I reflected on all that had happened that week. Many memories flooded me. But then they faded. My eyes kept falling on the young ladies that were the busy servers. They moved quickly around us taking orders, delivering food, seating people and moving among all of us.
These girls were sexy – very sexy.
Gasp!!! What a thing for a Pastor to say! What a thing for a 64 year old grandfather to say! What in the world is this world coming to!!!?
Well – look at them! That was what it was all about – you had to look at them – they were everywhere. They all wore black dresses, sleeveless, low cut with pushed up breasts showing well, short in length to allow as much upper thighs to be seen as possible and completed with high heeled boots that went up to just below their knees.
Gasp!! I tried to talk to my friend about the spiritual impact of the days just past. That faded as he moved away. So I looked at people… then a girl walked by again with breasts jiggling. So I slid down the wall to crouch near the floor. No good! Down there you see their beautiful legs and way too much thigh as they pranced by.
GASP!!! This was one place that a newly minted Chaplain didn’t need to be. This is one place that a Grandfather doesn’t need to be. It was one place a husband doesn’t need to be. This definitely one place that man like me doesn’t need to be. I am an artist and very visually oriented – on top of that I FORGET NOTHING I SEE! I CANNOT BE IN THIS KIND OF PLACE WITH THESE VISUAL DISTRACTIONS…
I don’t think I prayed about it. I was too pulled into it all…. Too much to see… Alida appeared and pulled on my arm, “Come on let’s go… they decided to go somewhere else…” I looked at her in relief. As we walked out following behind our friends… I said to Alida, “I have seen enough breasts, thighs and bottoms to last me for a while…”
I know – I know – you are freaked out with that revelation! Deal with it!!! If I was pastoring the church and you heard me say that from the pulpit – you would stop tithing and maybe even attending… THAT IS WHY YOUR PASTOR CAN’T TELL YOU WHAT HE THINKS! Did you get that one?!?
Now there are some restaurants that tell you what they offer visually. One is “Hooters”. If you think that is about OWLS you are really stupid – really, really stupid. It is all about BREASTS my dear friend and they warn you (or entice you) with their name and advertisement or well endowed Holstein cows on their photos (remember I warned you – I forget nothing!)
A new term or phrase has been coined in the last year. It is “Zoomer”. It is a take off on another term used to describe a group of people that are between certain birth dates – they are called “Boomers”.
A Zoomer is a person with these qualities (not always about age)…
- Body of a 65 year old
- Mind of a 45 year old
- Libido of a 25 year old
- Heart of a Teenager
Because you are older doesn’t mean that you are dead.
That restaurant was not a really good place for me to be. But I think that I needed to see it, feel it, experience it, hear it, and all the rest – to know what I will enter in my newly minted roll of Ministering to Leaders. When the male Leaders of our worlds are away from their families and spouse – where do they eat and what do they see? I only know what happens to me.
Again – Alexander Solzhenitsyn said…
“While the Middle Ages had exhausted itself in repressing man’s physical nature in favour of the spiritual, the Enlightenment took the opposite turn. Then the worship of man and his happiness became the goal by means of unlimited freedom in the use and control of the physical world. As a result man’s sense of responsibility to God has grown dimmer and dimmer, allowing evil to have free reign.”
On Saturday evening this fact came through over and over again for me as I sunk back into the days of my really tough times before I attempted to become “Godly person…” – you know… pastor… spiritual leader and all that stuff.
I was never so thankful to leave any place as I was that one. We walked to another restaurant not far away that was also noisy with lots of music, happy people, cute but completely covered waitresses… and a GOOD FOOTBALL Game on TV. Food was good and we enjoyed some fellowship – though we had to sit at two tables.
Why bother telling you all this? Well ladies you need to know what happens when you take your ZOOMER out on a date night… Tim Hortons as low as it gets on social stratosphere… is okay.
The great big problem is that ZOOMER men are zooming way ahead of some of their Zoomer women… and when a real ZINGER walks by jiggling and smiles at him… don’t be surprised… you have been warned.
And if you do the HOOTERS kind of place together…. Shame on you…
~ Murray Lincoln ~
(Sorry this is a way too long but how do you shorten it?)
Sources…
Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Prophet to the WorldHis life’s work of witness against communist dictatorship lives on in his voluminous and soul-stirring writings.by Harry Antonides
http://www.christianity.ca/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=6137
Libido…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libido
1 comment:
Murray
You sure tell it like it is and sooo true.
God bless.
Love to you and Alida
J & J
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