Friday, August 29, 2008

Angels and the Devil

Greetings faithful readers. The saga of the Angels and the Devil continues! Enjoy Friday Letter #63.

An angel sighting

In the fall of 1979 I was a bus driver for the Pocatello School District.

As the most recently hired driver, I was on the substitute list. I wasn’t guaranteed a daily route. In spite of my long hair and beard and my hippie biker ways, Transportation Supt. Lake had taken a liking to me. So I almost always got to drive.

One bright morning, I was assigned the Special Ed route – the Short Bus. My instruction sheet took me to the foothills at the western edge of old Pocatello.

There, waiting at a corner stop, was my angel. She was about six years old, and had the brightest, reddest hair imaginable.

She was wearing a pastel pink and green plaid dress. Her bright hair had been done up in ringlets that day, tied in place with pink and green ribbons.

She wore pink knee socks and white Mary Jane strap shoes.

When she climbed the steep stairs into the bus, the sun was at her back, so I couldn’t see her face. I could see colors, but her little face was in shadow.

The little girl made her way to the back of the bus and climbed up onto a seat. I looked into the mirror to be sure she was sitting before putting the bus back in motion. There in the mirror was my angel.

She was so tiny her feet didn’t reach the floor. She held her lunch pail on her lap, and looked back at me in the mirror. A benign smile came over her face – a beautiful, comfortable, calming smile.

Then I saw the halo. My angel.

Can a Down Syndrome person be an angel? You bet your boots she can. It’s a vision I’ll never forget.

A devil sighting

Our friend Dick writes about an event that happened to him about 25 years ago.
I awoke, at least I think I was awake, in the middle of the night with the feeling that someone was watching me.

At the foot of the bed stood a gargoyle-like creature -- pointy ears, large feline eyes and muzzle. (As I write this, my skin still tingles!)

It just stared at me, speaking no words, making no motions, just peering at me as if sizing me up for possible drafting into his domain. My blood truly ran cold.

Now, I am a believer in the power that Lucifer wields and that he can take on the physical features of anything he may desire to gain the effect he may be wanting from his target.

In my case -- the gargoyle. Never before or since have I experienced the absolute terror of that night. I was petrified.

Was I dreaming? I don't believe so.

What was the purpose in his visit? This terrifies me more than anything.

Was he visiting to see if I was in his power?
Was he there to see if I was vulnerable to his advances? A potential recruit?

Was he in the wrong place? (I hope so, but I don't believe he relies on Map Quest for directions!)

Was he confirming that I belonged to him already, because my wanton lifestyle? Too many questions that I can't answer.

But, I do believe he was at the foot of the bed -- no dream, no vision. I closed my eyes and begged for help from God, Jesus and anyone else I could think of. My breath came in rapid, shallow gulps. I closed my eyes and prayed.

"Lord, get him out of my sight! Get him out of my house! Don't let him take me!!!

He is real. Don't be deceived.
You cannot fight him off without help.
Just ask, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.


The “debate”

Our Boise friend M. Rinard writes:
Tonight I wished you and Laura had television. That Irishman, O'Bama, and the Scot, McCain, were individually quizzed for an hour each at a mega church in California. They flipped a coin and Obama got quizzed first.

He never looked at the huge audience sitting there, but looked down most of the time. In body language that can mean he was lying. Each man faced the same questions; McCain could not hear the questions being asked of Obama. The pastor treated the candidates equally.

Results? McCain was funny and clever and got applause with almost everything he said. He is full of anecdotes, not funny, but relates real happenings to him. I am eager to read a definitive bio of him, when it is written.

He described one way he was tortured while he was prisoner in Vietnam. His hands were strapped behind him, with his head strapped down between his knees -- for many hours.

One guard came along one day and stealthily loosened the straps, and then came back in four hours to tighten them again.

When McCain then was standing outside his cell for five minutes, he saw this guard make a sign of The Cross in the dirt and then erase it. McCain said, "At that moment, two Christians made connections." "Two Christians" is exactly what he said.

Some of his words nearly brought me to tears. Not so with Obama. McCain's answers were not all sad, but they were quick and decisive, sometimes coming before the question was finished.

When Obama was asked at what point life begins, he hemmed and hawed and never gave a good answer. But McCain instantly said, "At conception."

The pastor showed no favoritism, of course, but that audience surely did. McCain promised if he were President, he'd get Osama bin Laden. McCain is my choice, and I like him so much better after tonight's program. I'll try to borrow a tape of it to make you a copy. Now you go out and buy a television set!
Have a nice day~ MLR

Word of the week: Anathema. Naturally, it comes from Greek and Latin, with its ancient meaning being a thing devoted to evil. It means a thing or person accursed or damned, hence, something greatly detested. It has come to mean a formal curse ex-communicating a person, or any strong curse.


Next week’s word: Seminal.

-0-

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