Scars of Life

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:00 am

Somebody recently sent this to me.

SCARS OF LIFE

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.

He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore. His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.

Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.

That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go.

In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you. God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead.

The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let you go.

You just never know where a person is in his/her life and what they are going through. Never judge another persons scars, because you don't know how they got them.

djm · Post by **djm** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:19 am

I thought this was going to be a joke about stretch-marks. Enough religious prattle, please.

djm

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:33 am

Though I am not Christian, and as such I sometimes become weary of constantly reading through a barrage of Christian sentiment in many of the posts on this forum, I wouldn't dream of preventing such sentiment from being expressed. Cran has a right to express his faith, especially in his own thread, and it is up to us to respect that and him.

'Nuff said.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:35 am

Joseph E. Smith wrote:Though I am not Christian, and as such I sometimes become weary of constantly reading through a barrage of Christian sentiment in many of the posts on this forum, I wouldn't dream of preventing such sentiment from being expressed. Cran has a right to express his faith, especially in his own thread, and it is up to us to respect that and him.

'Nuff said.

I would also add that it's the moderators' function to tell folks to knock of any prattle, not the rest of us.

I suggest taking any complaints to Dale, or the other powers that be.

All the Best, Tom

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:39 am

Well, JES is a moderator, per se...

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:46 am

Tyler Morris wrote:Well, JES is a moderator, per se...

Thus proving my point. JES didn't tell Cran to shut the heck up.

My suggestion was that folks should email moderators if they don't what they are reading, not tell others to shut the heck up.

Tyler, shut the heck up!

Tom

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:51 am

He could indicate it is religious material in the thread topic. I know I would appreciate that.

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:54 am

Cynth wrote:He could indicate it is religious material in the thread topic. I know I would appreciate that.

Yes, I agree, that would be a good thing to do.

djm · Post by **djm** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 7:57 am

I didn't ask anyone to shut up. There is no reason someone can't share opinions. Its just a request to respect the fact that not everyone shares their religon. Just to show that I am not biased:

SCARS OF LIFE

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Egypt a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.

He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, a crocodile was swimming toward the shore. His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.

Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the crocodile reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the crocodile snatched his legs.

That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The crocodile was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the crocodile.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father's fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from a crocodile, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because Allah has refused to let go.

In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you. Allah loves you. You are a child of Allah, and his prophet is Mohammed. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead.

The swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if you have the scars of His love on your arms be very, very grateful. He did not and will not ever let you go.

You just never know where a person is in his/her life and what they are going through. Never judge another persons scars, because you don't know how they got them.

Or we could set this in India with a tiger. Perhaps we could thank Ganesh ...

djm

TomB · Post by **TomB** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:01 am

djm wrote:I didn't ask anyone to shut up. There is no reason someone can't share opinions. Its just a request to respect the fact that not everyone shares their religon. Just to show that I am not biased:
djm

Well, saying, "enough religious prattle" seems to me to be telling him not to say what he said.

I don't disagree that not all share his religious views, but hell, if folks didn't post differing views, there would be no pub.

Umm, I did not in any way mean to suggest that you were biased. If that is what you thought, I apologize for that.

Tom

TelegramSam · Post by **TelegramSam** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:14 am

And the Duck says, "Wank, wank, wank!"

djm · Post by **djm** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:16 am

TSam wrote:And the Duck says, "Wank, wank, wank!"

Exactly!

djm

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:17 am

TelegramSam wrote:And the Duck says, "Wank, wank, wank!"

In the USA that must have a totally different meaning to what it means in the UK.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:17 am

TomB wrote:
Tyler Morris wrote:Well, JES is a moderator, per se...

Thus proving my point. JES didn't tell Cran to shut the heck up.

I only moderate the UP forum, but if I were a moderator of this forum I wouldn't have told him to cease the prattle. It is his post/topic, and as such, his expression of his faith is really nobody's else's business.

Perhaps, a clue to the content of his topic would've been a nice idea, but it really isn't necessary IMO.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:23 am

I basically agree JES. To me it is the same as the political threads were. I rarely read them and I could easily skip by them. A hint of the topic in the title helped me skip them, but otherwise it was really no problem. It's too bad that they are gone now because others couldn't do that.