Paranormal Phenomena: The Damned Thing

With a quick search of the internet one can find countless numbers of people relating strange and apparently inexplicable experiences. Yes, there are numerous sites devoted to the topic of paranormal phenomena run by researchers and New Agers . . . even people who claim to be demons or angels, but these hold little interest to me. I refer to blogs and discussion boards where people relate an experience by which they are clearly puzzled and even concerned. People who are not keen on sharing what they've seen or heard with friends and acquaintances for fear they'll be labeled weird or even Schizophrenic. People searching for answers.

I believe in extra-dimensional creatures called angels. Not just the feathered kind, but also the bat-winged demons of Scripture: fallen angels. I do not personally fear them, because as the book of Job reveals, believers enjoy special protection. Upon encountering one, however, I discovered there to be an aspect of devilry that I'd not considered: sanity. The events that occurred in our house were straight out of a B-rate horror flick-and they did give me pause-if I were to relate these experiences to others, would they think I'd finally lost it?

My best writing time is in the early morning after I've finished my second-shift factory job. Thoughts flow without distraction in the quiet house. One early morning, I sat building a now-extinct ministry networking community, when strange things began. First, the TV turned itself on. A short, I assumed. I turned it off and went about my work. Next, I heard a low growling sound nearby. Darn dog's having a dream, I figured and dismissed it. When it next happened I realized that our dog lay in the kitchen, asleep and snoring contentedly. This growling noise came from an entirely different direction. Hmmm. The TV turned itself on, again. Must be a power surge or something, so this time I unplugged it (and no, it did not come on after that). When I heard the rubbing outside the front door, I went to investigate. Is there a cat outside? Funny, nothing I can see. Strange events: on the morrow I'd best make some enquiries.

I'd come to the conclusion that something had invited this or these "entities." From my study of angels, they sure behaved like the fallen variety. It did cross my mind that perhaps some fallen angel didn't approve of my attempts to create an online community of Christian activists. The next day I began my investigation I asked the kids if they had brought an Ouija board or something into the house. I purposely did not mention the events of the night before. No, they hadn't. Well, that was their "official position."

A further event occurred that served to frighten one of the kids into 'fessing up. Under her bed, my step-daughter saw something move one Sunday morning. Fear quickly convinced her to change said position. She gave-it-up on the way home from church; she'd lugged home a book on witchcraft, tried to cast some spells, and stashed it under her bed. Still without knowing what I had experienced, the occurrences Allie described were very similar-rubbing on the vinyl siding outside the house, right where her bed sat inside the house, along with other inexplicable noises. Allie had witnessed other strange phenomena, for instance, one day after school she came home to find that her carefully arranged stuffed animal collection had been rearranged-still neatly set up but in different places and positions-and no-one else had been around.

Irony of ironies, the event that forced Allie's hand, the movement under the bed came to be the only explained occurrence-a mostly deflated helium balloon drifting in air currents.

Needless to say, I disposed of the book in short order. The girls were so scared that they wouldn't sleep in their bedroom. I explained, as best as I knew how, that evil isn't the opposite of good and fallen angels don't have God-like power. Just like Job, He only allows fallen angels limited abilities . . . and as long as we had faith in His will, who could stand against us? They weren't so easily convinced.

I began referring to the entity as "the damned thing" and it seemed that my disrespect, faith, and lack of fear either limited its power, or I'd hurt its feelings, and it was pouting. The rest of the household kept hearing rubbing, creaking and growling, but I heard things only when another family member was present.

The symptoms continued for six weeks, until we invited the pastor out. He came, we prayed together, God acted into time and space, and the fallen angel went quiet . . . for months.

Six months later, my father-in-law had a heart attack and came to stay with us. He was a superstitious man, so we kept quiet about the events. I've never figured out why the entity decided to pick up where it had left off. Again, everyone began to hear the same noises, except me. Then, one day while several of us were in the kitchen, even I heard the sound of irregular footsteps on the ceiling. There's no attic above that room, just a crawl-space.

A few days into Grandpa's stay, he was lying on the sofa-bed, facing the wall when my other step-daughter entered the room. Seemingly startled, he flipped up and over in bed, and Shianne apologized for frightening him. Grandpa replied that he wasn't startled-something had kicked him-hard enough to flip the old guy over! He insisted that we had a ghost and despite his health, left that very day. I don't recall that he ever visited us again.

This time an assistant pastor visited and again we prayed. This pastor was much more confrontational with "the damned thing" and we asked that either the fallen angel be shown to us or bound, according to God's will. And, that was it. No sparks, no groaning, no Linda Blair. No grand finale. We put our faith in the Lord and haven't heard from "the damned thing" since.

Funny thing is, as I shared these events with a few close friends, I heard similar stories. The damned thing became a ministry tool, and I discovered everyone has a story like this in their circle of friends or family. I've even discovered that the Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod has a full time "exorcist" pastor in the state of Indiana, and he's booked two months in advance.

So I leave-off with this thought: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. -James 4:7