A True Story about Hypnotism

I recently read this story about an English woman who, after a long day of work, came home to find her husband transfixed, staring at the bathroom mirror.  The woman tried with all her might to break her husband's gaze to no avail.  The woman noticed that his pupils were small as pinheads.  It was then that she realized what had occurred.

The Londoner called a friend, specifically her husband's teacher, to talk with her husband and release him from his gaping.  Within seconds, her husband snapped back to normal, blinked several times, and then walked slowly into the living room to sit down.

For several weeks the husband, named Helmut, had been studying hypnotism and learning advanced techniques to the point that he had began practicing for an upcoming show.  What had happened is that Helmut, practicing in the mirror, had accidentally hypnotized himself and was stuck staring into the bathroom mirror for over five hours.

While this story is an incredibly humorous story about the risk in getting in over your head, it is also a  colorful painting of trying to live a righteous life apart from the guidance and fellowship of Christ.  Many people live their lives as zombies staring into the mirror, stuck in their life without any ability within themselves to snap out of the gaze.

Normally, I would spend time supporting the point by the weight of Scripture, however, today it would suffice to say that, while the above story is both factual and hilarious, it is also a good metaphor for life spent apart from God and apart from Christian fellowship, unable to break the hypnotized stupor without outside help.  Therefore, let us break the zombie-esque self-hypnotized state and seek after God whole-heartedly!

"Emmie, You're Bad Luck."

Bill was in his early 70s when the cancer hit in force.  He lost several pounds and found himself so exhausted from the treatment that he decided that it was time to let go of this mortal world.  Emily, his wife, stayed strong by his side throughout the whole ordeal and, although it was hard to her to accept his decision, she was supportive in the end.  The doctors had prescribed some painkillers to deal with the pain so he spent most of those last weeks in and out of sleep, all the while having Emily right there with him.

One day Bill woke up from his nap and turned over to Emily and spoke, "Is that you Emmie?"  He spoke so softly that she had to lean in to hear.  "Remember years ago when I was in the Veteran's hospital?  You were right there with me, taking care of my wounds.  Do you remember when our house went up in the fire and we lost everything?  Again you were right there with me.  And now, as I'm fading into death, you're right there.  Emmie, for over 55 years you've been right there through all the hardships."

She smiled and reached for his hand.  Bill smiled and looked right into his wife's eyes, "You know Emmie, I've figured something out: you're bad luck."

We all know people who deflect, who divert, who blame, and who are plagued by negativity.  Negativity is a poison that infects from the inside out.  It is highly-infectious too.  We have all found ourselves in those situations when just being in the presence of a particular person can make us negative, or blaming, or turn us into a gossiper.  Or, like in the situation above, the traumatic struggles of life can propel us into vertiginous states of negativity and blame.

This should not be so.  Instead, when we, as Christians, find ourselves inching towards negativity, we need to take a deep breath, make a short prayer, and remember all of the blessings God has bestowed upon us already.  Remember, it is thankfulness that should characterize our lives.  Therefore, although Christians face many of the debilitating life circumstances as un-believers, our attitude and posture towards them should and will be altogether different.  Let us then press into God for our peace and for our joy whenever we feel the creeping of negativity in and around our lives!