Path of Darkness

However wholesome or serene our lives look or feel, there is a monster lurking just outside our doors. In fact, it's lurking within many of our doors. I am aware of a darkness pressing in upon us from multiple fronts. That darkness is pornography. It begins with the soft porn of sensual advertising and the sexual innuendoes in even the "nicest" of television shows. Slowly but surely, however, the collective moral conscience of society is being worn down. The ratings on movies and television have eased up over the years. The lyrics of popular songs whisper their way into our unsuspecting hearts and minds. Like the hands of a clock or the rising of the tide, the darkness of pornography slowly slips into the undefended corners of our lives. We must be ever vigilant of this enemy because it is everywhere around us, offering the worst of counterfeits to entice us away from the good and beautiful things so lovingly crafted by our creator. We can never let our guard down, for even the softest of rains or the smallest of waves can erode a mountain over time. So it is with pornography. Gird your hearts and minds, watch over your children. That goes without saying. We must, as adults, also watch over each other and hold one another accountable. Pornography is a known carcinogen which leads, with the utmost certainty, to a cancer of the soul. We become what we look at and think. In the book of Philippians the Apostle Paul wrote, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things." That is the secret of a life of righteousness, and pornography is the antithesis thereof. Let us choose carefully what we will allow in to our lives and hearts. Those are the things which will shape our character ... and our character shall shape our destiny.

Path of Darkness
There is a darkness descending about us
Encroaching a little more each day
Into our houses and hearts and offices
In a subtle, covert way
It begins with advertising
And songs we hear on the radio
It slithers into our children's minds
And our television shows
At first, it's just an odd comment or two
Perhaps and off-color joke
We giggle and smile knowingly
Unaware of the mirrors and smoke
Unaware of the darkness gathering
At the fringe of our conscious thought
The darkness of pornography
Slowly gaining ground, like it or not
Every time we switch on our computers
Or go to the movies it's there
A little soft porn, to wear down our resolve
It pursues us most everywhere
Slowly eroding our values
Until one click of remotes or a mouse
Unbars the gate of ethical thresholds
And ushers the worst kind of porn in our house
Sure, one peek won't do any damage
He's curious, what's the harm
So we tiptoe to the abyss and peer in
And no one sounds the alarm
No harm, no foul, nobody knows
Just one little innocent look
So said the trout, the tuna, the teenager
Unaware of the shiny barbed hook
And that is how it ever begins
But the path that it leads to is dark
It corrupts our values, degrades our women
It is a devouring shark
It kills and maims indiscriminately
It robs us of love and our youth
Teaching us to accept a counterfeit
Until we no longer long for the truth
Things haven't changed since long ago
When the serpent offered the apple to Eve
The fruit may have changed but stakes are the same
If we're willing to be deceived
Friends, I cannot warn us sternly enough
We are at war, I implore you to see
With a darkness which hungers for hearts, minds and souls
And the battle ground is pornography
By Frank Carpenter ©