Deprived

Over a year ago, I accidentally broke our TV antenna and we no longer had our fuzzy 4 1/2 local channels. We never have had cable. Of all the things in the world to "afford," TV isn't one of them. Sorry, folks, but it's the truth. W-O-T, as Mom would say. WASTE OF TIME!

Jeremy and I weren't too heartbroken. After watching an "educational" show, we decided the world was deprived of morals. I mean, really, come ON, PBS! Full frontal nudity is STILL nudity, even if it is "educational."

All of the sudden, we had all this time to spend together. It was weird.

Well, we have successfully adapted back to how people surely interacted before Philo T. Farnsworth started meddling. And it's amazing how free you are when you aren't tied to the dumb machine every Tuesday night during prime time. I admit I was a "Gilmore Girls" junkie (and felt totally robbed when they ended the series), and have had my close encounters with the various CSI shows. I now content myself with BBC miniseries on DVD, that I can turn off whenever I feel like, and I am not worried I will miss anything (HEY! Don't give me all that T-VO crap. It's just another invention to get you to sit on your bottom all the time and worship the great and spacious boob-tube.)

Furthermore, I have noticed a change in attitude. Instead of finding my husband boring because he lacked a laugh-track, we actually enjoy each other's company in the evenings.

It has been a bit of a trial with Josh, however. He didn't care what he was watching on TV, just that he was watching SOMETHING. So, instead of watching a half-hour of "Super Y," he was watching 2 hours of whatever Disney movie he chose. And when I got pregnant, he would watch several movies a day. The result was one crabby little boy who wouldn't listen to a word I said and would cry himself into a puddle of unexpelled energy. We now have "movie day" once a week (sometimes on Sundays, too, if I need a nap). Can we say serenity?? Try it some time. It will amaze you how calm your children are if you give them something to do with their minds. I would love to kiss the inventor of Playdo and Legos.

Life has been good...but from time to time, I have felt a slight longing for brainless television.

Well, I have to admit, I got sucked into the whole VMA Taylor Swift-Kanye West scandal via Comcast's news stream, and thought to myself, "well, I wonder if any of those videos are any good??" So, I wandered over to MTV.COM and looked up the winners and their videos. I have to say, Taylor Swift is a cutie patootie. As for everyone else...

I was blasted by not semi-questionable imagery, or "art," as they call it. Oh, no no no...And it wasn't even semi-pornographic. It was full-BLOWN pornography! I didn't even know you COULD have naked people on TV! And this wasn't "educational" by any means...unless you really needed to have that much detail in anatomy.

I came away feeling like I had just jumped into a giant pile of poo and had swallowed some of it. I was severely disturbed. I suddenly remembered why TV wasn't missed. I went to bed and had a dream...

In my dream, I was walking in some place. I had a book in my hands, and while all I could see was a picture, I knew this book was telling me that what I was seeing was dangerous, and I should stay away from it. The picture I looked at was a beautiful, striped tiger. As I gazed at the image, noting that I should avoid this beautiful, yet dangerous beast, I looked up and noticed that the very tiger in my book was lying in the grass not 3-feet away from me. He looked relaxed, but his eyes were attentive and wide-open. Now, I am not stupid, so I veered away from the tiger. What was impressed on my mind was that even though I was wise in moving away from the tiger, I had come way, WAY too close, and at any moment, the seemingly lethargic beast could jump up and have a tasty meal.

I woke up and reflected on my dream. I immediately knew what everything in my dream represented. I took it as a friendly, even loving, warning.
How grateful I am to have the means to know how to identify evil. Heavenly Father is the same yesterday, today and forever. Evil is the same yesterday, today and forever. Thank heaven revelation is for all times. Ancient through modern prophets have sounded the same warnings. It is too easy to be mesmerized by the beautiful stripes, and, as we gaze and are drawn closer, are devoured by a cruel-hearted beast.