|
When I was a boy of about eight-years-old, my afterschool buddies were Owen and Danny. Every day we would get together and do guy things. Sports, trapping gophers, going over to the stockyards to look at the animals, you know guy things. But, occasionally, we would watch TV. In 1972, just about the time, it was getting dark, just about the time when the sun went down, some “Brainiac” at ABC decided it was a good idea to air the show “DARK SHADOWS.”
Did they not realize there was a dark alley between me and my home? Did they not know that at age eight, I was still scared of the dark? Did they NOT know I was too proud to tell Danny and Owen I didn’t want to watch the vampires because I was afraid? So, I spent an entire fall learning to do the one hundred-yard dash, sleeping under what I prayed to God was magic covers, and being sure the whole cast of DARK SHADOWS lived in our attic. Let me tell you this. It is hard work spending that much time looking over your shoulder.
Fear is the DARK SHADOWS moment of humanity. God designed us to look through the windshield, but fear keeps our eyes pinned to the rearview mirror. When we are running full tilt, it is a good idea to be looking forward, but fear focuses our attention on what is behind us. So, powerful is fear. It can turn your dancing into mourning and your song into sadness.
In fifty-seven-plus years, I have learned that life is infinitely creative at providing new ways to experience fear. So, to whom do we turn when life brings us extra seasons of walking in the darkness? Same as always.
|
