Spirits & Faith
An Excerpt from Expect the Unexpected
I try not to mention anything about my work as a medium when I’m around my grandma, since she disapproves of it, but I felt such a strong presence from a spirit one day several years ago when she and I were at home that I couldn’t help asking her about him. I felt like he had a tie to each of us, but I had no idea who he was. I thought she might. I don’t normally bring up spirits with anybody who doesn’t want me to, but I felt this unknown spirit was as much a part of my life as he was of hers — as if there was a blood connection.
“Hey Grandma, did you know someone named Tim?” I asked. “A younger guy, maybe in his early twenties? Someone you never got to say good-bye to? Someone maybe related to us?” I knew nothing about my family history, so the name didn’t mean anything to me. But it did to her. I struck a nerve.
“How did you know that?” she asked sharply.
“How did I know what, Grandma?” I replied, trying to draw some information out of her about him.
“I had a cousin named Tim,” she said. “He went missing when he was twenty-one. We never found him.”
“I can feel him,” I told her with as much compassion as I could muster, hoping she’d open the door, a little bit, to who he was. “He is here with us.”
But she quickly slammed the door shut as she shot me an incredulous look. She knew that I knew something, and I could tell she wanted to say more, but she would have none of it. She darted into the other room to get her Bible while loudly repeating “No! No! No!” convincing herself there was no way Tim was present with us. Out of respect for her feelings, I let it go.
A Bible is always in close proximity to Grandma. Because of her religious convictions, she does not eat meat. She prays constantly. We always prayed together before meals when I was growing up. She used to turn on Bible-based cartoons when I was little. She is “old school” in many ways when it comes to her religion. She has led a very honest and truthful life and is a good person, one I have no doubt has a comfortable spot reserved for her in heaven. And as the Bible tells her to do, when it comes to communicating with spirits of the dead, she avoids it.
She has always felt that the devil has a hand in what I believe is my God-given gift. She believes not that I am the devil, as my dad once suggested, but that the devil is tricking me and using me by posing as spirits to infiltrate the lives of others. In other words, if I tell you that your grandpa is coming through to me, she would say it’s really the devil pretending to be your grandpa so that he can have easier access to your life. The Bible says, in a nutshell, that mediums are supposed to be avoided for that reason. But given my countless positive, firsthand, daily experiences with spirits, I don’t think the issue is so black-and-white.
I truly believe God gave me this ability, and the Bible says we are to use whatever gifts God has given us to serve others, which is what I try to do. When it comes to my gift, the result for the person I read for is a higher level of healing and/or a deeper faith in God and heaven. If the devil is posing as these spirits who are bringing so much peace and joy to the people I read for, then he really sucks at his job.
Are there evil spirits beyond this world? Yes, but I avoid them if I feel them and their negative energy coming through. They very rarely approach me, but when one does, I know it instantly. Is it possible that the devil is disguised as the spirits who come through to me? Again — yes, but because of my awareness of and sensitivity to that possibility, I won’t let the devil in. For example, I recall a time when I gave a reading to someone and I felt a negative spirit coming through that made me feel physically ill. I immediately stopped what I was doing to get away from that spirit. Everything I do in my readings is based on feelings and signs. I connect with only those spirits who are in a good light, those who come through in a peaceful manner and with positive energy, those I know are in a good and healthy place. If I receive one that does not feel right, I stop the reading, energetically disconnect from the evil spirit, and call upon archangels (through meditation) for protection until I know that spirit is gone. My decision to disconnect from them is no different than the choice anyone has between good and evil in other situations. If you know something isn’t right, or doesn’t feel right, your instincts tell you not to do it. So don’t do it. If you choose to do it anyway, then you have consciously chosen to let the devil in.
I try not to mention anything about my work as a medium when I’m around my grandma, since she disapproves of it, but I felt such a strong presence from a spirit one day several years ago when she and I were at home that I couldn’t help asking her about him. I felt like he had a tie to each of us, but I had no idea who he was. I thought she might. I don’t normally bring up spirits with anybody who doesn’t want me to, but I felt this unknown spirit was as much a part of my life as he was of hers — as if there was a blood connection.
“How did you know that?” she asked sharply.
“How did I know what, Grandma?” I replied, trying to draw some information out of her about him.
“I had a cousin named Tim,” she said. “He went missing when he was twenty-one. We never found him.”
“I can feel him,” I told her with as much compassion as I could muster, hoping she’d open the door, a little bit, to who he was. “He is here with us.”
But she quickly slammed the door shut as she shot me an incredulous look. She knew that I knew something, and I could tell she wanted to say more, but she would have none of it. She darted into the other room to get her Bible while loudly repeating “No! No! No!” convincing herself there was no way Tim was present with us. Out of respect for her feelings, I let it go.
A Bible is always in close proximity to Grandma. Because of her religious convictions, she does not eat meat. She prays constantly. We always prayed together before meals when I was growing up. She used to turn on Bible-based cartoons when I was little. She is “old school” in many ways when it comes to her religion. She has led a very honest and truthful life and is a good person, one I have no doubt has a comfortable spot reserved for her in heaven. And as the Bible tells her to do, when it comes to communicating with spirits of the dead, she avoids it.
She has always felt that the devil has a hand in what I believe is my God-given gift. She believes not that I am the devil, as my dad once suggested, but that the devil is tricking me and using me by posing as spirits to infiltrate the lives of others. In other words, if I tell you that your grandpa is coming through to me, she would say it’s really the devil pretending to be your grandpa so that he can have easier access to your life. The Bible says, in a nutshell, that mediums are supposed to be avoided for that reason. But given my countless positive, firsthand, daily experiences with spirits, I don’t think the issue is so black-and-white.
I truly believe God gave me this ability, and the Bible says we are to use whatever gifts God has given us to serve others, which is what I try to do. When it comes to my gift, the result for the person I read for is a higher level of healing and/or a deeper faith in God and heaven. If the devil is posing as these spirits who are bringing so much peace and joy to the people I read for, then he really sucks at his job.
Are there evil spirits beyond this world? Yes, but I avoid them if I feel them and their negative energy coming through. They very rarely approach me, but when one does, I know it instantly. Is it possible that the devil is disguised as the spirits who come through to me? Again — yes, but because of my awareness of and sensitivity to that possibility, I won’t let the devil in. For example, I recall a time when I gave a reading to someone and I felt a negative spirit coming through that made me feel physically ill. I immediately stopped what I was doing to get away from that spirit. Everything I do in my readings is based on feelings and signs. I connect with only those spirits who are in a good light, those who come through in a peaceful manner and with positive energy, those I know are in a good and healthy place. If I receive one that does not feel right, I stop the reading, energetically disconnect from the evil spirit, and call upon archangels (through meditation) for protection until I know that spirit is gone. My decision to disconnect from them is no different than the choice anyone has between good and evil in other situations. If you know something isn’t right, or doesn’t feel right, your instincts tell you not to do it. So don’t do it. If you choose to do it anyway, then you have consciously chosen to let the devil in.