Mother's Day and Imagination Run Amok

When I was a little girl, I was easily frightened by imaginary things. I couldn't handle watching even the old "horror" films with Bela Lugosi or Lon Chaney, Jr. I couldn't watch without repercussions The Wizard of Oz. My imagination ran wild. This episode of Twilight Zone, depicted above, terrorized me more than anything else. The very worst moment (oh, why was I watching it?) was when William Shatner's character, who has closed the curtain of an airliner window after being frightened at the sight of a gremlin out on the tip of a wing, pulls the curtain back to take another look and the monster has his face pressed up against the window pane! I was terrified, and remained so, lying awake in bed night after night, imagining a monster lurking, with his face against my bedroom window pane, just on the other side of the closed curtains.

So, obviously, I have a vivid imagination. I have known that for a very long time. Why, then, did it take me so long to realize that I imagined a lot of things about people with whom I have relationships? Bad things. Things that were no more based in reality than the old television shows and movies I used to watch. Simply imaginary things.

I have such a strong desire to see things as they really are and as they really will be. This hope is one of the strongest motivations I hold for seeking the Spirit in my life.
. . [For] the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are , and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation [and the joy] of our souls." (See Jacob 4:13.) (Italics added.)

On this Mother's Day, I am thankful that, pulling back the curtain from where I now sit, my imagination has been quelled and-- in the light of truth-- I see the grateful and loving faces of my children. I am thankful for them. I am thankful for the gift of The Spirit. And I am thankful--and this has not always been so, perhaps due much to that which was only imagined-- for this day of reflection we call Mother's Day.

Mock me if you will, but here are clips from shows which tormented me in the past. First of all, this scene from Jerry Lewis' otherwise hilarious Nutty Professor. I have been ashamed about my fear over this one until this very day. Watching it again as an adult, I found myself tearing away at my fingernails. It is no wonder to me now that, as a little child, the night after watching this movie at a drive-in, I awoke in terror and forced my nearly-paralyzed-in-fear legs to take me to my parents' bed to crawl in between them. This compilation of scenes with the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz still scares me as well. And these clips, no longer scary, but now clearly related to apprehension about mental illness and the loss of personal will: Lon Chaney Jr. as The Wolfman; Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula; and William Shatner (and could that be Raymond Burr in the furry suit?) in Twilight Zone: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.

(Thanks to www.tvcrazy.net for the "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" image at the top of this page.)