One summer I spent a couple of weeks with my grandmother when I was a little boy. I don't remember how old I was but I think I was about 8-years-old, I enjoyed spending time with her. She was fun, we would talk into the evening, she would show me off to her friends and tell everyone what a wonderful grandson I was. She made me feel really special. Her neighbor across the street was gone for a few days and they had asked my grandmother to watch their house. This was a very small town in rural Oklahoma so people didn't lock their doors. It was a wonderful place to be a little kid. It was safe, calm and inviting, I could go any place in this small town on my own but usually she and I took walks together.
She told me one time, "let's go over to the neighbors house and check on it to make sure it is ok." So we went into their house and it was totally trashed. It was like a dump, there was trash everywhere and it looked like it had never been cleaned. Over by the couch were several magazines. I didn't know what they were but my grandmother grabbed one and we went back to her house.
Once we returned home my grandmother handed me the magazine and said, "Here, take this magazine and go into your bedroom for 15 minutes and then bring it back out and let's talk about what you saw." So, I took it in there and noticed on the cover it said PLAYBOY. I looked through it and saw pictures of naked women and I remember saying to myself, "This is gross. Why would anybody want to look at this? Is this why their home was so full of trash?"
I saw pictures of women in provocative poses and they looked simply stupid to me. I then remember finding her and talking to her and she asked me what I thought. I said, "I didn't like it. Why would people have pictures of themselves naked?" She said, "There are magazines like this that some men like to read. Men who read them aren't Christians. Now that you've seen what these magazines are like, you won't ever have to waste your money on this trash and won't be curious what's in them." She took the magazine back and walked it over to the house where it came from.
That was the end of the conversation.
Now, even in my 50's, I remember some of those pictures. I remember that I wasn't sexually aroused by viewing them. When I walk past a rack of those kinds of magazines, I usually remember my grandmother saying, "You don't need to waste your money on that trash."
Now, I'm not saying that I recommend that you go out and buy pornography for your 8-year-old son or grandson so that he can see what it is like...because that just might prompt someone to call a state child protective agency and get you into legal trouble.
But, you know what? And you may find this hard to believe...I have never purchased or looked at pornographic magazines.
I don't know how calculated my grandmother was in this lesson. But she had me view this material when I was very young. In fact, it was during a time when I believed that girls were yucky and I didn't want to be around them.
Looking back, I think the timing on this lesson was perfect. It certainly had a profound effect on me. And I'm grateful.
She told me one time, "let's go over to the neighbors house and check on it to make sure it is ok." So we went into their house and it was totally trashed. It was like a dump, there was trash everywhere and it looked like it had never been cleaned. Over by the couch were several magazines. I didn't know what they were but my grandmother grabbed one and we went back to her house.
Once we returned home my grandmother handed me the magazine and said, "Here, take this magazine and go into your bedroom for 15 minutes and then bring it back out and let's talk about what you saw." So, I took it in there and noticed on the cover it said PLAYBOY. I looked through it and saw pictures of naked women and I remember saying to myself, "This is gross. Why would anybody want to look at this? Is this why their home was so full of trash?"
I saw pictures of women in provocative poses and they looked simply stupid to me. I then remember finding her and talking to her and she asked me what I thought. I said, "I didn't like it. Why would people have pictures of themselves naked?" She said, "There are magazines like this that some men like to read. Men who read them aren't Christians. Now that you've seen what these magazines are like, you won't ever have to waste your money on this trash and won't be curious what's in them." She took the magazine back and walked it over to the house where it came from.
That was the end of the conversation.
Now, even in my 50's, I remember some of those pictures. I remember that I wasn't sexually aroused by viewing them. When I walk past a rack of those kinds of magazines, I usually remember my grandmother saying, "You don't need to waste your money on that trash."
Now, I'm not saying that I recommend that you go out and buy pornography for your 8-year-old son or grandson so that he can see what it is like...because that just might prompt someone to call a state child protective agency and get you into legal trouble.
But, you know what? And you may find this hard to believe...I have never purchased or looked at pornographic magazines.
I don't know how calculated my grandmother was in this lesson. But she had me view this material when I was very young. In fact, it was during a time when I believed that girls were yucky and I didn't want to be around them.
Looking back, I think the timing on this lesson was perfect. It certainly had a profound effect on me. And I'm grateful.
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