Zombie Land

There was a time when Matt and Brad and Meghann were teenagers when evil took up residence in my house. I'm not talking about their teenage behavior, though I'm sure there are many parents who would readily agree that evil is indeed a fitting term for the things teenagers do and say from time to time. Rather, the evil I'm referring to was a game, a video game to be precise, aptly named Resident Evil. I have no idea why, but my sons went crazy over that game, totally and completely crazy. They would invite their friends over, turn off all the lights to "make it scarier," and play the game for hours and hours. And when everyone would leave for the night, Matt and Brad would sleep in the same room together because they were afraid that zombies would come and try to kill them in the night. Now that I think about it, perhaps my sons inherited more than just a touch of my penchant for irrational thinking. Each time a new iteration of the game hit the shelves, Meghann and I would shake our heads in wonder as the boys would rush to the store to buy the newest version in hopes that it would be scarier than the previous one.

I never quite understood my sons' fascination with all things zombie, but it doesn't surprise me at all that they are now both smitten with the television series The Walking Dead. The show tells the story of a small group of survivors living in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Most of the story takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area as the main characters search for a new home away from the shuffling hoards of the undead, or "walkers" as they are called by the survivors. The plot is focused primarily on the human element of a post-apocalyptic world and the way the struggling humans manage to survive. As their situation grows more hazardous, the desperation of the group of survivors pushes them to the brink of insanity. The show has been a tremendous hit with television audiences, and the network recently announced that it would be returning for yet another season.

When Matt first told me I should watch the zombie-filled show, I laughed and asked him if he was crazy. My son knows me well enough to know that horror movies, blood and guts flicks, and certainly gross-looking zombies on a television show have never been my cup of tea. But when I was home for 10 days over the holidays and barely left my house, I decided to get online and watch the show that my sons declared to be "one of the best ever." And I will admit that I was hooked after the first couple of episodes. Yes, I will say it publicly ... my name is Terrie, and I like to watch The Walking Dead. Perhaps because I know my sons love the show is part of the reason I enjoy it, or perhaps because it's set in Atlanta which is just a few hours south of where I grew up, or perhaps because it's a story of human survival against pretty harsh odds. And perhaps, just perhaps, it is because it's based on some completely irrational thinking (and you all know that I can easily identify with completely irrational thinking). I mean, really, dead people who walk around and take over big cities like Atlanta?

As I snuggled in my bed watching hours and hours of The Walking Dead, I couldn't help but feel for the poor zombie guys and gals. They shuffle through their days as if they are alive, but in reality, they are just dead bodies. They appear to be living, minus the gaping holes in their faces of course, but they aren't ... they're zombies. All they do is wander from place to place scaring everyone they come in contact with, or worse yet, doing some serious harm to anyone who is unlucky enough to cross their path. The longer I watched the show, the more I thought about how many days I wander through life now, how often I reside in zombie land, appearing on the outside to be alive while the inside of me is a zombie. A zombie that frightens others, a zombie that hurts those around me. And the more I thought about life in zombie land, the more one fear swept through me. You see, on the show, there is no cure for being a zombie ... once a zombie, always a zombie. And the more I thought about there being no hope for all the zombies of the world, the more God brought a lesson from His Word pounding into my mind. There's a verse in the recounting of the story of the prodigal son, a verse about being rescued from zombie land.

"For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found." Luke 15: 24

4 ... I win.