The Twilight Zone

I was, and still am, a huge fan of the Twilight Zone. It was 50 years ago today that it premiered and I remember the late nights that I stayed up to watch the show and the impact it had on me. I was also into the spin-off shows that the Twilight Zone inspired like Monsters, Amazing Stories, Tales from the Darkside, and, to a lesser extent, Night Gallery and the The Outer Limits. I don't think I am overstating this a whole lot, but the show had an influence on me actually coming to Christ in my college years. I think there are numerous reasons why this was the case.

For the most part, the Twilight Zone showed me the weakness of the reliance on both sensory input and the interpretation of that input to discern what is truly real. Through the experiences of the characters that the show put forth it pointed out how weak we as humans truly are and the effect that the impotence we wield had on not only the individual, but the people that interacted with them. The Twilight Zone  also opened up the possibility that there may be some things that truly cannot be understood by looking through the lens of the supernatural or spiritual. Science was tried in many of these shows and found lacking. Reason often left the main character and they were reduced to simply coping with what was presented to them. Weakness indeed.

It is true that God can use anything to bring someone to His Son and He absolutely used this show (and the others mentioned) in to give me Life. It would be one of many instruments in His hands that He would use to save me. And little did I know that, creeping up the stairs a little less sure of myself as the final credits rolled, the Hound of Heaven knew that He would find me soon.

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