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| Next | Back | Home | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Poems | Book Excerpts |Religious| MEMORIES
OF THE GUILTY MAN
A man was sitting at a park bench just staring the beauty that
surrounded him. Then all the sudden his heart felt heavy with sadness
in that brought tears to his eyes. An old man walking by saw the
sadness in the man and approached him.
The old man asked the man what burdens you so young man.
The compassion in such a voice caused the man to look up from
where he was at. He saw an old man standing there looking tired as if
he was carrying to many burdens on his heart.
The man said, “Old man what would you know of my problems?”
Old man answers, “I have a good ear so I know when to listen
to people”
It was just how the old man spoke which had prompted him to ask
the old man to sit down to listen to him.
“Okay son get started,” the old man said.
The man spoke, “When I was a senior in high school I thought
I had it all. Good Christian friends and girlfriend. We both loved
each other so we thought we could take our relationship to a new
level. We both discussed having sex as a couple could make big
decisions. The only problem with our thinking is that we did not think
of the consequences of having sex before marriage. She became pregnant
and her parents started pointing fingers at me. Even if we both
consented to having sex I was to be the escape goat. The father and
mother made sure I did not see the baby or was allowed to acknowledge
that I was the father of the child. Even the church me and her were
going to split due to the difference in opinions among the church
members.”
Old man said,
“So this has been a great burden on your heart all these years?”
Man answered, “Yes it has been because I allowed guilt to eat
away at my life.”
Man speaks, “But that is not the entire story. I eventually
left God and the church behind and even the town I grew up in. I left
high school before I completed my senior year. My mother was dead and
my father could barely look me in the eyes so I decided to run away
instead of facing my problems. A few years ago I learned my father had
died on his death bed saying I forgive you son. I still could not find
the courage to go home.”
Old man, “Son it
takes two to tango and even then it takes cooperating bodies. Let me
say this, you either can have God as your partner or you can have
Satan as your partner”
Old man continues speaking, “Son it sounds to me like
everybody involved in the situation allowed Satan to be your decision
maker not the Lord.”
Man speaks, “So what should I do in your opinion?”
Old man says, “First you ask the Lord for forgiveness of your
sins. Then face your problems with the Lord at your side. Come take a
walk with me.”
So the man and the old man took a walk in the park. The man
finally got down on his knees to ask forgiveness for the sins he had
committed against the Lord. The man felt a peace come over him. As he
got up from his knees he noticed there was a glow about the old man.
The old man spoke, “I am the bearer of your burdens son and
many others. The people you spoke of now have forgiven you, and now
you have forgiven yourself and turned your life over to the Lord.”
The old man got quiet and chose the next words he spoke
carefully for what he was about to say to the man.
Old man spoke carefully, “The child you spoke of is up here
in heaven with my Father and me. The child died instantly in a car
wreck, but the mother and her husband still lives.” In an instant,
the old man was gone from the man’s sight. The man fell to his knees
weeping for he had lost his only child to selfishness, bitterness, and
self-centered actions caused by him and other people.
Memories are a precious to a human being, but when unable to be
part of other human being memories is an injustice set out on a
destructive path that may be hard to change when it is started.
Religious by William
G. Woodard Gentlefire72@yahoo.com
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