Another Passage

Back in the dark ages…growing up in Kansas…going to movies was a BIG sin. The doctrine of our church denomination said it was of the devil. If you gave money to attend a movie, you were helping Hollywood encourage the degradation of the world. Those men and women kissing on the screen weren’t even married to each other.

We did not go to movies.

I married and had children. Since my husband was a preacher of that same denomination, the dogma remained. No matter how badly one of our girls wanted to see a movie…even a children’s movie…they were denied.

My husband left…I became a person…and sorted through my beliefs to decide for myself. In my early 30’s I chose to take my children and go to a movie. They probably enjoyed it. I waited for the roof to fall on me.

We lived.

Attending movies became a delightful way to spend time with the girls. As they grew and went their separate ways, I continued to take myself to movies. It was such an enjoyable way to spend an evening. When I married again, we set aside Friday night as our date night. Many times we chose to go out to eat and then see a movie.

We went to a movie last night. I sat with my eyes closed through most of it. My nausea lingered on for an hour after we came home. As I waited to be able to open my eyes, I pondered my choice. I could continue to go to movies…get sick…and wait to get better. Or I could decide that going to movies was no longer an option for me.

It was a hard decision.

I have a problem with my vision. If there is a lot of sideways movement, my eyes do not track together. Thus, the nausea. Many times I’ve been able to just listen to the show and know what occurred. But last night much of the conversation was in a different language with the words on the screen. Too bad for me. My husband tells me that Captain Phillips is a very good movie. I’ll have to take his word for it.

Life is full of choices. This passage has brought me full circle…no movies.

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