Some on the Left want to make this story into a bad thing. After all, while they are willing to use religion as a crutch to support their otherwise indefensible policy proposals, they don't actually BELIEVE in any of that spiritual stuff. So to find out that a conservative politician actually believes in the tenets of his religion and practices them is somewhat scandalous to them.

Which brings us to this story.

Strangely, I found myself repeating the Hail Mary until it became a chant. Being a recent convert to Catholicism, I had yet to accept the Catholic doc­trines concerning Mary and considered any form of Marian devotion to be idolatry. Though I had never before prayed a Hail Mary in my life, I suddenly found myself incapable of any other form of prayer. Somehow, Mary's intercessions allowed me to find peace during that long night; I knew that I had sur­vived the worst and that I would exit with my faith intact. It terrified me to recall how close I came to turning away from Christ out of fear.

The crucifix had a calming effect on Susan, and her sister was soon brave enough to bring a Bible to her face. At first, Susan responded to biblical pas­sages with curses and profanities. Mixed in with her vile attacks were short and desperate pleas for help. In the same breath that she attacked Christ, the Bible's authenticity, and everyone assembled in prayer, Susan would suddenly urge us to rescue her. It appeared as if we were observing a tremendous battle between the Susan we knew and loved and some strange evil force. But the momentum had shifted and we now sensed that victory was at hand.

While Alice and Louise held Susan, her sister continued holding the Bible to her face. Almost taunting the evil spirit that had almost beaten us minutes before, the students dared Susan to read biblical passages. She choked on certain passages and could not finish the sentence "Jesus is Lord." Over and over, she repeated "Jesus is L..L..LL," often ending in profanities. In between her futile attempts, Susan pleaded with us to continue trying and often smiled between the grimaces that accompanied her readings of Scripture. Just as suddenly as she went into the trance, Susan suddenly reappeared and claimed "Jesus is Lord."

With an almost comical smile, Susan then looked up as if awakening from a deep sleep and asked, "Has something happened?" She did not re­member any of the past few hours and was startled to find her friends breaking out in cheers and laugh­ter, overwhelmed by sudden joy and relief.

This story chills me to the bone -- mainly because I participated in something similar to this twenty years ago, praying over a friend who was clearly afflicted with some malign spiritual presence. Based upon my studies during my seminary career, I'd call what we each witnessed to be cases of demonic oppression rather than full-blown possession. But regardless, the events described (and those in which I participated) were clearly REAL -- and the underlying reality of a greater spiritual battle between good and evil is real as well.

But since the Left wants to make a joke out of this, I'd like to offer photographic support for my nomination of a candidate for Jindal's next exorcism.

Posted by: Greg at 12:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 559 words, total size 4 kb.