Eyes on the Unseen Prize
Page 29
***
The next morning, Piper struggled to find the right words to describe her nightmare to Nick. She knew the words she was using couldn’t quite capture the intensity of the nightmare or the way the dungeon chilled her, as it was devoid of all love. Trying her best, she was able to convey some of its key aspects. Perhaps in the years to come she would be able to give him a much more comprehensive picture of her incomprehensible nightmare.
Nick appeared as if he were still trying to digest all she had told him. Eating his omelette in a slow and methodical way, he appeared deep in thought. After some time, he said, “Remember how you said your family makes fun of you about your spiritual experiences?”
“How could I forget?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that. You’re not the only one having those sorts of experiences as I’ve had several myself. I’ll bet that everyone has a spiritual experience at some point in their lives, yet many fail to realize it because their eyes are closed to the possibility of another realm. Their minds have become too desensitized to the activities of the unconscious portions of their minds or the spiritual events in their lives. They simply can’t see all that is going on around them. You know, they say we use about ten percent of our brains. Don’t you wonder what we’re missing by not using the other ninety percent?”
“Of course.”
“Piper, I wonder if your dream was meant to help you reconcile what you know about the war between God and Satan from the Bible with the world’s contemporary issues and problems. You’ve always wondered why someone would choose hell over heaven and your unconscious mind provided an example of a woman who did just that.”
“That’s interesting, Nick, that you think I created this all in my mind. It seemed so real.”
“Piper, I don’t think you created this in your mind. What I think is that you tapped into your unconscious mind to see it. Maybe one day you’ll instead dream of heaven. Remember the Bible verse, ‘the Kingdom of God is within you?’”
“That would be a dream! But for now, the dungeon nightmare is all that I can think of. It was smelly and angry and cold in that dungeon. And what was particularly disgusting was the way they said they’re capitalizing on our complacency.”
“Of course they are. I’ll bet they’re capitalizing on each and every one of our human sins and failures. We’re in enemy-occupied territory here on this earth.”
“Nick, I know you and I are safe, as the Bible says that the Devil flees from strong Christian believers. What’s frightening is that we know so many people who aren’t safe. We have so many complacent friends and family. That’s what concerns me, and what keeps me up at night.”
“That’s why God put those people in our lives.”
Piper reflected on that thought for a while. “Did I ever tell you about the pastor on the plane?”
“No, Piper. You haven’t. What happened?”
“When I was in college, I planned a trip to visit my roommate in New York. I was getting ready to board a plane when I saw a tall, distinguished man with wavy gray hair standing nearby. Nothing about his facial features or body stood out. In fact, he would have blended in well with any Northern American-looking crowd. But instead of blending in, he stood out in a kind of surreal sort of way. He radiated kindness. Something about him was angelic. I was surprised when that angel of a man and his wife were assigned the two seats next to mine on the plane.”
“I’m not surprised,” Nick said.
“We struck up a conversation and for reasons I can’t remember, I told him that I was doubting my faith, and that I was reading books on spirituality from all sorts of religions, especially the Eastern religions. I needed answers to the big questions of life. He was easy to talk to with his soothing voice and reassuring words. His wife sat next to him, closest to the window, and read her copy of Christianity Today while we talked. I noticed a cross on her wedding band. When he told me he was a pastor, I wasn’t at all surprised. Then he asked me if I believed in Jesus Christ.”
“What did you say?” Nick asked.
“I sort of quivered, because I wasn’t sure, but I said ‘yes.’ I was spiritually starved at that point. He told me to read the Bible daily as it had all of the answers to my questions. And he told me about Isaiah 53 and how he had shown that passage to an atheist who identified the person in the passage as Jesus Christ.”
“Love that passage,” Nick said.
“He was the one who told me to read C.S. Lewis’ adult books, Mere Christianity and The Great Divorce.’ Nick, I know you love C.S. Lewis. Remember the part about the Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven. Holy be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven…”
“Of course.”
“Well, the pastor was the first to tell me about the way C.S. Lewis analyzed the words: Thy will be done versus thy will be done.”
“That’s in Mere Christianity.”
“The pastor’s name is David Miller. The strange thing is that David Miller is the same name of the man who attacked me in my car. Isn’t that a weird coincidence?”
“Very.”
“How is it that one of the worst humans I’ve ever encountered shares the same name as one of the best humans?” The forces of good and evil were differentially represented in two men who shared the same name. It made Piper think of the complicated interplay between good and evil, something difficult, if not impossible, for humans to comprehend. Then she recalled a few words from her mother. “Darkness can never overcome the light, hatred can never overcome love, doubt can never overcome faith, and evil can never overcome goodness. Look for the light, my dear, which will always guide you along the narrow pathway to heaven.”
It was time to tell Nick about the dark spirits. She trusted him. At the very least, he needed to know about the first demon that she had encountered when she was questioning her faith.
“I can see the dark spirits Nick. They can’t hide from me.”
“Dark spirits?”
“The first one I saw attacked me in my bedroom, late at night. It came out of a closet in a chilly black shadow and hovered over me for a few seconds. Then it pounced on top of me and tried to suffocate me and get inside of me. I couldn’t breathe. Evil, angry, cold. It sent chills up my spine. I froze in my bed like an ice cube wedged in a tray in the freezer. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.”
Nick’s sat frozen in his chair and stared at Piper.
“Guess how I got rid of it?”
“How?”
“The Lord’s Prayer. I said the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary over and over and over until I could feel the demon being pulled from me. Scariest moment of my life, but also one of the greatest, since it proved to me that God is an active loving God, not a passive part of nature.”
“Have you ever told anyone else about this?”
“I tried to tell my family, but they laughed and made fun of me. So I let it go. You’re the only one I trust with this. Clearly, this isn’t an experience that normal people have, so I’ve kept it hidden from everyone. Don’t tell anyone. They’ll think I’m crazy.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy, Piper.”
Piper smiled. “Hey, I should tell you something else. Remember Chase’s texting friend, Oren?”
“Yeah,” Nick answered.
“Sir Oren was the one running the show in the dungeon. Weird, huh?”
“Whoa! Oren is kind of an unusual name.”
“Sir Oren. Just a pompous fool!”