Gremlins

I remember 3 early exposures to gremlins in my childhood.  The first, though not necessarily in chronological order, was from the classic and wonderful cartoon world of Looney Tunes. I recall several episodes that included the clever antics of Bugs Bunny as he navigated his endless mischief in the cockpit of several World War II air crafts only to find a little green man constantly sabotaging all areas of the flying machine.  As I watched the humorous mayhem that the creature created, I asked my father, “What’s a gremlin?”   

“A Gremlin!? Why I used to have a Gremlin!”

Imagine my confusion.  I had never noticed a small green creature running around anywhere in the home.  I pondered where he kept the little freak. 

“Really!?” I asked astonishingly.  “Where is it?”

“I don’t have it anymore…I let a friend take it out and he wrecked it.”

“So is it dead?”

“I am pretty sure it must be…it may have still ran…but it was pretty much totaled.”

It wasn’t until many years later when my father forced the entire family to sit in a dark living room while he flipped through 35mm slides on a semi effective projector and a wobbly white screen, that I realized what his Gremlin really looked like.

“Oh, look! Here’s a picture of me and my 1973 Gremlin.”

It didn’t look anything like the green cartoon which was tormenting Bugs.

My third encounter with Gremlins came in 1984.  My dad had taken the family out for a rare night of fine dining at the local Hardees.  When my kid’s meal arrived, it included a 7” square book and inside the book was a black vinyl disc that was titled, Gremlins.

My brothers and I took the 45 speed vinyl disc home and immediately began listening to it on our “record player.”   We followed along in the book as the crackling voice came over the quiet single speaker. Sadly, this disc was only part 1 of a 5 part series.

“Dad! We need to go back to Hardees and get the other 4 discs! We need to know how it ends!”

Eventually we were able to receive the missing sections of the story…though not from my father who was unwilling to return to Hardees and spend the money on the final segments of the collection.  Fortunately, my grandfather visited Hardees everyday for breakfast and he was gracious enough to procure the remaining treasures for us.    

Once we finished the books…we begged for our parents to allow us to watch the movie.

“Oh, I don’t know about that…it’s rated PG,” my dad insisted, “I don’t know if you guys should watch a PG movie at your age.  You are only 7 and 8 years old.”

“Dad! You have already let us watch Jaws…and The Shinning and those are both rated R”

“No…Jaws was only PG.”

“Fine…but there was lots of blood and it was scary…and still…The Shinning was rated R.”

“Oh…ok then.”

We watched the movie and once again saw little green creatures covering the screen and wreaking havoc only to finally be destroyed by getting blown up in a microwave or electrocuted in a swimming pool. 

My final encounter with gremlins occurred just this past week, when my sunglasses suddenly disappeared without a trace and in the twinkling of an eye.  It was amazing.  One moment I had my sunglasses and the next moment they were gone.  I searched everywhere and have yet to find them.  The only explanation that I can conclude is that they must have been taken by a gremlin.  No matter what happened to them, I remain astounded at how suddenly and how quickly they vanished and seemingly without a trace.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the Apostle Paul foretells of a vanishing that will soon take place. Paul says that, “we who are left will be caught up with the Lord and meet him in the clouds.”  Additionally, Paul speaks of this event in 1 Corinthians 15:52, in which he describes the event taking place at the sound of a trumpet and happening in a flash.   

No matter how or when these events take place I am convinced that this mysterious vanishing will turn the world upside down and it won’t be gremlins that caused it.  It will be the return of the Almighty coming to be with His people forever.

May you eagerly find your hope in the return of King Jesus and an eternity with Him…and if you find my sunglasses…would you mind returning them?