Sunday, February 1, 2009

True Story - Not Sure Why I Want to Share This

On the way home from my parents recently, we stopped in a mid-sized town that we used to live in to go to the restroom.  The boys and I went in, each to our own destination.  As usual, the boys headed on out ahead of me to get into the warm comfy car, while I, taking a little bit longer, fiddled around buying a pack of gum or something to keep everyone happy for the next 3-4 hours.  I happened to get behind a young man (probably mid 20s or early 30s) in line.  He was buying a lot of magazines.  As I looked more closely at the stack, I notice that they were the variety that are covered in plastic.  He was dressed in shorts and short sleeves and has a tatoo on his upper arm that the girls behind the counter noticed and asked him what it meant.  It was a scripture reference that he promptly started to recite.  The verse was John 8:36.  Please look it up.  Obviously, he is not free, at least not yet.  Anyway, the bill for his addiction was more than $60.  As he left, I am surprised at the cost, but the ladies tell me that they cost about $10 a piece.  Of course, I am thinking, hoping, that he isn't taking food from his family to feed his addition.   And, of course, when he leaves, the girls burst into laughter at the irony of it.  I was deeply saddened as they begin to share of all the types of people buying these magazines.  They speak of a preacher, leaving his bus in the lot to come in and buy magazines of this variety.  I left praying for this young man, in bondage, not experiencing the freedom that God provides.  I was also shaken.  I have never seen someone buying such a stack of magazines of this sort before.  I know that porn is so much more of a problem than ever before because of the availability of it on the Internet, but it had never been in my line of vision before.  I feel older, somehow, just witnessing this.

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