The stranger in our home

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. This stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young child mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seems to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave?)

Dad rules our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honour them. Profanity, for e.g. was not allowed in our home..not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with the four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try on regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigar manly and pipes distinguished. He talked free (much to freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrasing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... and NEVER asked to leave.

More than 50 years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name?

We just call him , "TV"

And the stranger has a wife now. We call her "Internet".


--------------Interesting article which was given to us during our church service few weeks ago. I thot its pretty true and interesting..thus wanna share with you here. Hope you like it and perhaps the next time when we interact with this stranger and his wife like what you and I are doing now..let's just bear in mind this piece of article. :)

(Published: Aish.com)