When I saw TMNT in 2007, it transported me to the time when I first heard about the turtles.  It was 1988, and I was spending the night with my friend Brian.  This weekend ritual almost always included prank calls and stomach aches from eating massive amounts of junk food that I didn’t have access to at my house.

One night we received a call from our buddy Ben.  Ben was a nice guy, although no one would accuse him of driving along life’s fast track.  As easily rattled as he was quick to forgive, the poor kid was an easy target for jokes.

“I’ve got the new issue of Nintendo Power,” Ben boasted, “and one of the upcoming Nintendo games is called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!”

For those of you not old enough to remember or who weren’t big enough dorks to care, Nintendo Power rivaled Mad Magazine as the ultimate magazine for elementary school students.  Power gave us such gems as the famous Contra code (Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A Select Start) and the code for Punch-Out that would take you directly to Mike Tyson.  If Nintendo Power said it, then rest assured it was true.

However, Brian and I refused to believe Ben’s story. Therefore, we did what any normal sixth grade boys would do in this situation – laughed voraciously at the absurd name and mocked poor Ben ruthlessly for stooping so low as to desperately attempt to impress us with such deceit.  “Yeah right, dork face,” I astutely observed (and of which I have since repented).

“I’m serious!” was Ben’s retort, but Brian and I remained steadfast in our belief that Ben was lying.  Ben, obviously holding back tears, yelled, “Fine, don’t believe me!” and hung up the phone.

Later that night, as Brian and I were cutting a swath through our second six-pack of Dr. Pepper and second large pizza, Brian had an epiphany.  “You know what; I think Ben might be telling the truth.”  Puzzled and bemused by his sudden change of heart, I inquired as to why.

“Well, think about it,” he said.  “Ben isn’t smart enough to come up with a crazy name like that on his own.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?  It sounds silly, but it’s too creative for Ben to have made up.”

It was at this point that we accepted that this was probably legitimate, and we apologized to Ben the following Monday for assuming he was smart enough to create such a fantastical name himself.  Ben didn’t seem too impressed with the apology, but he realized it was the best he was going to get, and he accepted it all the same.

Nintendo would indeed go on to release the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game that year.

Brian, Ben, and I would all go our separate ways after I transferred schools in 7th grade.  I kept in touch with Brian for a while, but I haven’t seen him since a few years ago when I ran into him at a local theater.  Chance meetings always ended with promises to keep in touch, but those promises were only ever met with other chance meetings.  But we sure had some fun times back in those hazy, carefree days of our youth.

As for Ben?  I saw him about 15 years later at a Memphis Tigers football game, and as we made eye contact, our faces were painted with looks of strained curiosity.  Recognition set in, and we engaged in about eight seconds of small talk, and then went our separate ways, never to see each other again.

Ghosts from the past.  They’re reminders of an old chapter in our life’s book.  Memories long forgotten but instantly recalled.  Unearthed time capsules.  I like to think of everybody I’ve met in life in terms of exactly how I left them.  Were that reality then I’m sure we’d all be living in simpler, more innocent times.

Perhaps many of us really don’t grow up much beyond what we once were.  If you’ve truly been crucified with Christ then hopefully you live by your faith in Jesus (Galatians 2:20) and have been transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), but somewhere deep inside resides the little kid we’ve always been.

Remember, life is a revolving door of missed opportunities to make an indelible change in someone’s life, to plant a seed and leave a stamp that glorifies Christ.  God, in His infinite wisdom, places people in our paths every day that He knows we are best equipped to relate to.  Do we grasp the moment or simply watch it blend with the mist and become another soon-to-be-forgotten memory?  I recommend opening your eyes to what God’s doing around you.  You might be surprised at what you see.

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