I'm reading the book of John, and recalled this memory from my childhood, that was both happy and traumatic. An experience of both good and evil.
When I was very young, Elvis recorded the song, "Love me tender". My mom listened to the radio quiet a bit so I learned all the words and sang along. Oh how I loved his gental voice and those words. When I turned six, the movie "Love me tender", was playing at our local theater, and mom took me to see it for my birthday. Great memory.
Comparing that sweet experience with my granfather's gift to me, is in stark contrast. He took me to the local drive-in theater to see John the Baptist. This grandfather was a Baptist hellfire preaching minister, who preached against movies, music, unless it was gospel, and some of the most innocent things you could think of. I was captivated by the movie and watched intensely for being so young, until the gruesome scene when the lid was removed from the large silver platter, exposing the severed head of John.
I was first horrified, then devastated to know this man I loved had his head cut off. I had never even thought of such a thing and now I was seeing it. I became inconsolable and my grandfather had to leave the theater before it ended. I was still crying when he took me home. My mother was furious and I had nightmares for a long time after.
My granfather's sermons about hellfire caused me great anquish and fear. I had nightmares, mostly in vivid color, of fire and brimstone raining down from the sky. I used to sleep very restlessly, all over the bed, tangled in my covers and fall out of the bed quiet often too. Child abuse comes in many forms as I've come to know. Thanks be to our merciful and loving God he freed me from those horrors. I've also been able to forgive my grandfather, knowing it was God's will for us both. But I do hate that hellfire doctrin.
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Topic: John the Baptist and Elvis Presley (Read 3991 times)