Hello, people! Thanks for all the enthusiastic support and interest over my How I Made Friends With the Devil trilopost. Now that it’s done, I think it’s only fair to address some of the excellent questions and comments I have received.
Many of you asked me for more clarification regarding the technical aspects of diabolic behavior, mainly because you were trying to assess the possibility of demonic activity in your own lives. For most of that kind of information I shall humbly defer to the expertise of pros like Fr. Euteneuer, Fr. Gabriel Amorth, or Malachi Martin.
It does probably need to be stated here that I was not possessed–certainly not in the way that, for instance, Regan in The Exorcist was. Most of you are probably aware that there are at least four different categories of diabolic activity, full possession being the worst. The next step down from there is called ‘oppression,’ the common features of which most closely describe my own experiences, I think. However, possession can be partial, and there was definitely some of that towards the end of the process in Father C.’s office that day.
The thing is, don’t make the mistake of thinking: “Well, I’m not tied to my bedposts in my room howling like a wolf and spewing profanity in strange, foreign languages. I get up and go to work like everybody else, and I love Jesus. I’m fine, right?” Or not. As Tom Hoopes once wrote: “…the truth is, the victims of demonic activity don’t live in carnival haunted houses. They exist at the edges of a malaise. They’re anxious or depressed, disoriented in their spiritual lives or slowly losing their minds—always wondering if the thoughts filling their heads are really their own.”
This leads to the next question: What should you do if any of this sounds uncomfortably familiar? Like I’ve pointed out in my email discussions with some of you, I am not an expert. The advice I have to give is primarily that of a brother in Christ, and therefore simple.
1. First and foremost: pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance.
2. Find a priest. This is potentially the most challenging step, because not every priest is up for this, sorry to say. I was blessed to have a real Ghostbuster living near me, but not everybody has access to someone like that.
Now, look: the priests our Lord sends us deserve our utmost respect, by virtue of the fact that they carry with them His authority. I am not advocating factionalism or rebelliousness here. Respect your priest, no matter who he is! I’ll leave it up to the Holy Spirit and to your own good judgment to find the right priest for the job, but there are two kinds of priests you probably might as well avoid so that you don’t waste your valuable time:
Father Rogers. He’s soft on tradition, big on hugs. He thinks every Mass should be a Life Teen Mass. The words ‘evil’ and ‘Satan’ give him a tummy ache.
Father Regional Manager. He’s traditional, but he unconsciously subscribes to the theory that the parish is primarily a business institution that needs a steady hand and good common sense to keep it all running smoothly. He’s not opposed to talking about the reality of Satan, but you may have a hard time getting him to commit to anything more in-depth in between all the parish council meetings and youth group awards dinners on his calendar.
Just to be clear, I’m not saying that the above priests are bad guys. But probably neither type will be your go-to guy for all your Ghostbusting needs, you know what I’m saying?
3. Prepare yourself. As I told someone recently, when you do finally locate a priest you think will be sympathetic, don’t go into his office sounding like some superstitious peasant who thinks a witch cursed your crops. Be able to speak calmly and rationally about the subject. Have specific evidence in mind. When it’s time, request some level of spiritual purification, and keep in mind that it is your RIGHT to have these concerns seriously considered!
I am not trying to drum up hysteria. At the same time, I don’t think mine is a unique case. Occult activity is pervasive; we’re all choking on the smoke of Satan. We are in some ways quite similar to 1st century Palestine, filled from one corner of the country to the other with lost, wandering folk oppressed by evil spirits–the big difference being that 1st century Palestinians had the good sense to say “Oh, that guy wandering around in the graveyard who screams at people? Yeah, he’s possessed by devils.”
So, if you really think there’s a problem, do something about it. Don’t be afraid. Yes, I know: it could simply be related to a poor diet; it could be hormones; maybe you’re a hypochondriac. Maybe. Or maybe not. Either way, don’t let the matter just sit; that’s my advice. God bless!
Thanks Dan for sharing your experiences. I keep thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if there were a diagnostic for the demonic, perhaps a Satan scan or something? Alas, discernment is not so straight forward it would appear, and it’s a hard topic to bring up even with a really good confessor. I can just see it, …”and by the way Fr. I think I may be pestered by some real creeps, invisible mind you, but I think I may be being bullied, and possibly even cooperating with them, I mean when I’m not in Adoration you know…”
Satan scan…nice. And you’re right, of course, about how difficult and embarrassing it all is to go through–like I wrote in the posts, it took me eleven years to arrive at the point where I was ready to truly entertain the possibility, and even when with the priest I felt like a tumbling idiot–but keep in mind, that embarrassment is itself a tactic of the devil. He wants us to put all this off, because its just soooo ridiculous, and sooo kooky, and who would believe me, anyway? An instant scan really would be more convenient.
Thank you so much for being so open and upfront with your struggle and also the process that garnered your freedom. There are many people that are suffering unnecessarily as a result of demonic oppression and interference in their lives. Modern society has got us so trained to think we are coo coo for cocoa puffs if we even entertain the possibility of of seeking help for these situations. Shoot, just believing demons exist in the first place is borderline nuts. I also appreciate the fact that you told this story with restraint. You did not sensationalize the process. I believe that is so important! Good job on the priestly breakdown too. Truly just good, good stuff here and in the previous three posts!
Very interesting series of posts. It’s nice to find another Catholic man’s blog. I look forward to reading more posts.
Dan, I’m blown away…after contemplating all the things you’ve described I can’t say I don’t feel a strong thread of commonality. I relate so much with your story, and have had, and do have, many similar experiences. It all started after a near death experience while tripping on LSD at the tender age of 15…I saw what appeared to be evil, or even demons, in everyone! Some more than others, but nonetheless the attempted murder had more effects than would be expected. I’m now disabled after having my lower leg crushed by a car, and have been beat around so much I relate with the greek Sisyphus. But there’s a cryptic silver lining it seems..I’ve had many wonderful experiences in which I saw God, in such a manner I can’t relay quickly, I’ve met my soulmate, devoloped positively on a personal level, and have incessantly tried to further my relationship with Christ.
Sorry for rambling, it’s just that I’ve been taken back, for many reasons, by your well-written story. I’ve studied everything but Catholicism and think I should get to reading! Thanks for posting this, I feel relieved in your humility and ability to be completely open and real.
Zack, this is an amazing comment–I’m really stunned by the way things unfold. I’m just sorry it’s taken me this long to reply. I also received your email–if it’s O.K., I’m going to reply both to it and to your above comment in an email, which I’ll send asap. I’m looking forward to discussing all of this in greater detail. Talk to you soon!
I read each of these posts when they went up, and I re-read them today.
I’m pretty sure Father Regional Manager and Father Deputy Regional Manager (who are both dedicated, intelligent priests) would tell me that it might help if I took advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation more often than once every 6.4 years. And I suppose they’d be right.
I’ll tell you what though, the only relief I’ve ever felt after confession was relief that it was over. True, for the most part they weren’t especially good confessions, so there’s an element of getting out of it what I put into it, for sure.
But on the other hand each time it took a tremendous act of will to drag myself to the confessional, and afterwards I felt… I don’t know. Nothing particularly good.
So my question is this: do you experience reconciliation differently since your experience with Father C.?
I have a feeling that there’s something blocking my way to the Lord, something even darker than my own unconfessed sins.
of interest:
Confession stronger than exorcism
http://ingodscompany2.blogspot.com/2010/10/confession-stronger-than-exorism.html
That’s a good article, Kay. No doubt, if everyone sincerely and regularly received the sacrament of Confession exorcisms would become virtually obsolete, don’t you think?
I originally landed on your blog while doing a google image search looking for creative commons (out of copyright) images. This post intrigued me. I find it very interesting and cool to learn how you handled such a situation.
I responded to another post on your blog today and am hesitant to post another response, but you seem like a pretty cool guy. I’m just hoping you don’t think I’m a wackadoo because I don’t talk about this kind of thing with most people.
I’ve seen different things that most people don’t see. They range from what I call angels or lightbeings to what I call energetic parasites, which seem pretty similar to what you dealt with.
Your story is interesting because you were able to trace things to actual events in your life where you potentially allowed that type of thing unknowingly.
When I would see these dark types of entities they would appear as grey or black globs floating in the air around someone’s head. One that I saw was attached to someone’s back. Luckily that person was able to release it through prayer.
What I’ve noticed with these critters is that they are drawn to *addictions*. They seem to be attracted to people under the influence of alcohol and other vices. They also somehow feed off of negative thought patterns, things like fear, anger, hate, etc… I did see one actually emerge from inside a woman when she was emotionally discussing with me a lot of painful things she had gone through. I did tell her what I saw that time because it was too intense not to. I did not feel fear, but felt sorry for her and prayed that whatever it was would go away.
A time in my life when I experienced these critters the most was when I was in a relationship with man who had alcoholic tendencies. They would appear around his head every now and then when he had been drinking.
A friend of mine recently confided in me that he saw some sort of demon when he was a child and it grabbed him by the throat. He was maybe 7 years old? His dad is a raging alcoholic and actually died of alcoholism. He said that his dad would sometimes pass out and he’d hear shrieks that seemed not human. At that point I realized that it was the same type of thing! I am so glad that I haven’t seen them in that form. There are likely different degrees of creepyness to them or whatever.
Because I had had exposure to them in a previous relationship – I actually realized that at that time they had been influencing my thoughts as well. It was a codependent type of relationship thing going on. I hadn’t experienced them for years. Then one day when I was sitting in my office I got this feeling of fear and insecurity/inadequacy over a particular situation. The thought would not leave me. It was hounding me and I’m like “what the heck IS this?”. So I called my mom and said, “Mom I don’t know why but I have this feeling/thought that will not leave me and I thought I’d call you to talk to you about it.” I asked her to pray for me. My moms prayers are powerful, lol – she’s such a sweet and beautiful woman.
I forget what all she said but it was something along the lines of “I bind you Satan in the name of Jesus.” and she asked Jesus to intervene. I did not tell her that the feeling I had reminded me of the parasitic energy. During the prayer I felt the negative energy dissipating. I seriously felt like a wave or wash of light flow through my body. It was really amazing. My mom was elated that I asked her to pray for me. I haven’t felt anything like that since.
I’ve seen things totally the opposite of the creepy critters though. Sometimes when random people used to talk to me at my old workplace I would see a little ball of light over their shoulder. These lights I’ve seen around people come in various colors ranging from white to blue to teal, peach and magenta.
I typically only see the magenta light in a situation where someone has passed on. My friend Shawn died several years ago and he actually spoke with me for 2 hours the night of his funeral. He told me where things were in his house that he wanted people to have. I hadn’t been to his house in 10 years or so, and he lived in a different house! At any rate, after our conversation, a magenta light came and basically said to him “Ok it’s time to go, we have things to take care of now”.
The woman who’s house I was at when I saw him was an old girlfriend of his. She had some addiction problems and ended up with the notion that I had some special *powers*. She kept asking me to talk to him and ask him about things. He would give me the answers and it would reinforce her belief that I had some special power and it really made me feel uncomfortable. Finally the things I was experiencing went away for a while which enabled me to exit out of the situation where she kept asking me to try and communicate with him. I just told her that whatever it was went away. I honestly think that it went away because she was using me and abusing this, because I’ve seen these angelic beings many times since then. I don’t generally hear them though.
So I don’t know why I was compelled to spend my evening commenting on your blog, lol! I did find your story very interesting for sure. It’s definitely awesome that you were brave enough to share it with everyone. Like If I see different energies (or whatever you’d call it) around people I find it difficult to tell them what I see and am not sure how they would handle it. Your story is first hand and eloquently articulated in a manner that’s very easy for the average person to grasp.
Hello Starsunflower, and welcome! I read your other reply over at the Reincarnation post, and I’ll just combine all my thoughts into this one comment.
First, I definitely don’t think you’re a wackadoo. I think you’re a very sensitive, intuitive kind of person and you feel things that many don’t feel but which nonetheless possess reality. There is a tendency out there to think of those gifts as something outside of mainstream Christianity, but in fact they are at the heart of Christianity. God created mystics just like he created practical, organizational types! However, our natural gifts, whatever they may be, are always in need of perfection and improvement by the grace of Christ. If you are the type who feels things, senses things, dreams of things, then those are your God-given gifts….but he wants you to let him guide and shape them.
Let me put it this way. Jesus doesn’t say to the world: “Everything you’ve experienced is wrong. Ignore those experiences, and start thinking this way…”
Instead, Jesus says: “Everything you’ve experienced has truth in it, and some level of validity. Now, let me show you what your experience really, truly means and what I’d like you to do with it.”
In your case, you are seeing these ‘parasites’ and you’ve noticed their connection to evil or to negativity. That ability might be your natural gift.
But what Jesus says to us through Christianity, and particularly through the Catholic Church, is that evil spirits are not merely free-floating blobs of impersonal energy.
Your mom, though it sounds like you haven’t told her about your visions, would likely agree with me here, I’m guessing. It sounds like she knows what the Church knows: that evil spirits have both will and desire. They want to destroy us, and they possess the intelligence to attempt it in a thousand million ways, in blunt, crudely obvious ways or in extremely complex ways that we don’t see coming until its too late. She also knows that the only real defense is Jesus–that’s why she prayed that prayer over you, and that’s why it worked.
If this sensitivity of yours is indeed a natural gift, then give it back, so to speak, to the One who gave it to you. You know, Father Gabriel Amorth, the famous exorcist of Rome, writes in his book that he is well aware of sensitive people and has sometimes consulted with them in the cases of demonic possession that he’s dealt with. And those sensitive, psychic-type people he consults are not always Catholic, either! It’s just that Fr. Amorth recognized, I think, the thing I mentioned earlier: that Jesus gathers up our gifts and experiences and asks us to use them in service to him.
I hope I’m making sense. Now I’M starting to feel like a wackadoo. But, please write anytime, and God bless.
Dan what you have said makes total sense. I appreciate the response. What’s interesting is that just recently before you responded to this post, I experienced something very strange that pretty much proves to me that they are not “free floating blobs”. I mean I sort of got the gist of that when I discussed with my friend what he saw as a child, but had not experienced it first hand.
I think part of the reason why I was so intrigued with this series of posts was not only my experiences but something someone asked me to give an opinion on recently. A friend of mine’s son had been experiencing some strange things and she asked me my thoughts on it via email. Before I responded to her email I put a lot of prayer into the situation and asked for God to drive away whatever it was that they were dealing with.
So on a personal level, I’ve experienced some pretty traumatic things over the past 2 years in regards to financial setbacks. Well I was randomly thinking about some things that were starting to generate residual income for me and they are things that are very dear to my heart. It’s a way for me to *give* to the public but also get a kickback financially. It’s related to a design blog that I have worked on for about 2 years now that has ads on it. I was excited that I’m actually starting to generate an income from affiliate sales in addition to selling things in a digital design shop I have. I was not thinking in terms of *greedy* whatsoever. My thoughts were of excitement and relief!
Well right then when I was pondering the end of the month and ads switching out, etc… I felt something very STRANGE. It felt like something spit on me! What I felt from it that whatever it was…. was not happy that I was happy and that it had no power over me and was mad about it so it spit on me! I mean it didn’t really do so, I didn’t have anything physical on my face but I sure felt it. It was probably one of the most strangest experiences I have ever had in my life. I did not feel fear though. I felt as though it was whatever — this thing’s — last resort or something. I still prayed though, lol! Talk about an odd experience!
So I sort of brought it up to a Christian friend of mine but did not describe it. I just said that something very strange happened to me. I later on told her the story, after I got this reply. This is what she said, and the scripture is so great and so fitting with what I experienced in regards to this situation:
“Sometimes when one renews their faith in God, the devil tries to prevent it. The Bible says our battle isn’t with flesh and blood (humans) but with the spiritual realm. There is a battle going on in the heavenly realms on your behalf (between good and evil). God’s people are protected, but that doesn’t stop the enemy from trying to drag you down or frighten you. This passage of scripture talks about our Armor to put on so we can deflect the enemy. This may sound really far out for you to grasp, but that’s what God’s word tells us below.”
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18
I wasn’t sure how she’d react to the way I handled the situation in addition to prayer. I imagined a walnut shell around me and my living space as an *armor* of sorts. I also took some walnut flower essence and put it on an amethyst and quartz (breastplate) I had near my plants. I know this sounds sort of wacky, but after reading the scripture it seems so fitting! The walnut flower essence has helped me in the past and it’s now reinforced with this beautiful scripture and the “shield of faith”.
I apologize for being long winded again.
Oh I didn’t say that I visualized the walnut armor “before” she sent me that prayer, lol!!
That’s creepy stuff, and I find your response to be really inspiring. You have a good friend–her recommendations are powerful and her choice of scripture is perfect. You have a dramatic story going on here, my friend, as I’m sure you’re aware.
I’d like to make one other recommendation of my own, if you don’t mind. It seems to me that you are under particular spiritual attack right now and, as I mentioned before, I’ve become utterly convinced that the best and ultimately only true defense is Jesus. With that in mind, I’d like you to try something, kind of like an experiment.
For a week, keep reading that scripture passage. Pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance, keep asking Jesus to defend you–and don’t rely on anything else. Just try that–don’t rely on anything to protect you other than Jesus–including crystals. Try that for a week and see what happens–and then I’d love to hear back from you, whatever the result. I think this important, because I definitely don’t like the thought of something spitting on you! I’d like to see all that go out of your life permanently.
Give it a shot!
I very much appreciate that you’ve taken time out of your day to respond to me.
Thanks Dan. I’ll definitely take your advice and completely understand where you are coming from with it.
A movie surfaced in my thoughts earlier today and I thought I’d mention it to you. It’s one of my all time favorites and it’s been years since I’ve seen it. Have you heard of “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”? It’s such a sweet movie! I have been thinking about your comment and the movie came to mind in regards to crystals/gemstones/breastplate in this movie about St. Francis of Assisi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Sun,_Sister_Moon
Here’s a clip of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYH2WS3CU6A&feature=related
I’m going to have to search on Amazon or something to see if I can get a copy of that one to watch it again.
I’ll definitely have to check out that movie, St. Francis is by far my favorite saint, and changed the way I looked at Christianity.
I think your both wakadoos but I love wakadoos (I’m married to one afterall). Wakadoos seem to have the best insights into life and I think you have a really important purpose. Not everyone has life altering or life defining spiritual experiences, but these spiritual experiences are what make for strong convictions. It’s what turns neutral beliefs that you grew up with into meaningful understandings of truth. The rest of us ordinary folk who are going through life happy go lucky with our comfortable beliefs need the wakadoos to wake us up and show us that there is a reason for those beliefs. They’re not just ideas in book, they’re personal experiences. I think the Bible can sometimes lose that personal element because the stories are so old to us now and often times have been built up by the Church to be something so grand and glorious that it couldn’t possibly happen today. When in reality things haven’t really changed that much; miracles still happen, demons are still dispelled, Jesus still appears to people. That’s one thing I like about Catholics is that the inspiration keeps going beyond the Bible through the lives of Saints. Not being a Catholic myself or raised Catholic I have to ask though… What’s the difference between praying to saints and praying to Jesus? Are saints merely intercessory souls and therefore just a middleman, if so what’s the point? Or are they actually able to do work in the afterlife for our benefit?
Welcome back, Jes! And thanks for the Wackadoo compliment.
That’s a really good question about the saints, and I’ll explain it the best I can. The saints are our big brothers and sisters. They are alive in Heaven right now and they are doing everything possible to bring us into Heaven with them. We ask for their help in prayer, and usually that gets expressed as “praying to the saints,” but it’s totally different from praying to Jesus. Jesus is God, so prayer to him includes worship. We don’t worship saints, though. We just ask for their help. And they’re glad to help, just like a good brother or sister would be.
An interesting part of this is that different saints tend to have “specialties,” particular strengths in one area or another given to them by God. So, for instance, I pray everyday for help from my man, St. John Bosco, for meekness and patience in dealing with my crazy kids. That was his “thing” on earth–he provided care for abandoned kids. I know that, as a father, I want to provide the kind of patient, Christ-like love to my kids that John Bosco provided to the kids put in his care. So, he helps me with that.
Wow. This was an amazing series. Congratulations on expelling the demons from your psyche/soul. God bless you.
I have had problems of my own with these entities for the past two or three years. Actually, scratch that – for a long time. My mother, God rest her soul, was not particularly religious. She had been raised Catholic, but rejected it when she was in college. (A Catholic college, by the way.)
When I was in high school, sometimes I would come home infested with these things. I could almost feel them burrowing into my flesh sometimes. We both worked hard to get them out. I would feel much better after we did, but I’d go back to school the next day and come home re-infested again.
In the past two to three years, we have occasionally been under what we call “astral attack.” The strangest thoughts come into our heads, our moods darken, emotions appear that are not our own, etc. I’m sure you know what I mean.
Every time they would appear and attack us, we would lay hands on one another and repeat the following words: “By the power of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Buddha, the Lord Krishna and the Lord Zoroaster, I command thee to depart from (her/him) at once. I denounce and renounce thee. Get thee hence. Our Father, who art in heaven . . . Amen.”
The invocation of Buddha, Krishna and Zoroaster may seem theologically/spiritually vacuous to you, but all I can say is it works. However, I am troubled after reading your story that the attacks simply keep coming back. I can never seem to fully and completely banish them; maybe it’s simply beyond my own power to.
I also “dabbled” in occult stuff when I was younger. Not Ouija boards, but I did have a Tarot reading done by a fellow student at high school. (I felt horrible when it was done.) I also read some materials by an occult “magic” group and even performed one of their rituals. I have owned a couple of Tarot card decks but have never done any readings for anyone. I have not been involved in the occult in any way since I was sixteen/seventeen or so.
I don’t think I’m “possessed”, exactly. I don’t even know if I’m on the earliest of the four stages you talked about.
I feel inspired by your story. I came here via a link from the blog Complementarian Loners. Do I need to see an exorcist? Would you like me to send you an email? I realize this is several months after you wrote this post. Thanks for reading my comment.
Matthew
Welcome, Matthew! This is definitely a disturbing account, and I’m glad you decided to share it.
First, I want to say this: every trained exorcist I know of seeks the advice and counsel of experts in other fields in evaluating a potentially afflicted person. It’s good to be cautious–it is not uncommon for symptoms that might seem to be of unearthly origin to in fact be due to something physical, chemical, psychological. Don’t rule those kinds of things out as possible explanations (you may have already explored those possibilities, in which case skip ahead to the next paragraph!).
Assuming these are bonafide evil spirits, then something needs to be said about Jesus here. Remember in the Gospel of Mark, right in chapter 1, when Jesus heals the man with the unclean spirit? It’s the first big public miracle that Jesus performs, according to Mark–the demon is terrified of Jesus, and it tries to converse with him, but Jesus says to it: “Be silent, and come out of him!” Immediately it does, screaming and crying, and it goes away. All the people watching, as Mark tells it, were “amazed…saying, ‘What is this?…With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’”
My point here is to show that Jesus, and only Jesus, has authority over evil spirits. He demonstrates this all throughout the Gospels–tossing out demons like old shoes, and it doesn’t even require any effort for him!
I know that you likely have some strong reasons and deep feelings behind the notion of placing yourself in the hands of Krishna, Buddha, and Zoroaster as well as Jesus, simultaneously. I can only tell you from experience: it doesn’t work that way–and that is why the infestations keep returning. Yes, your approach seems to work, but only temporarily–and that’s the point. I think the evil spirits are more than happy to quiet down for a few hours to let you think that it’s working, only so you will do it again and again and empower them to dig in even deeper to your spirit.
I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with all of this. Like Peter says in Acts of the Apostles, Jesus is the only one who can give you the peace you’re looking for, “and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
So there you have it: I’m a Christian zealot! The cat’s out of the bag! I personally think that evil spirits have taken advantage of your interest in religious personages and of your natural, healthy desire for a strong spiritual life. Nothing is sacred to them, you know.
I would very much like to continue this conversation whenever you like. It’s a big subject, and it can be daunting, but I want you to find peace. My email is thatstrangestofwars at gmail dot com. I hope we can talk soon! God bless.