Study Session 10: Exogenic Processes, Essay Example

For the past forty years, I have been the loyal and honest pastor of the Church of God and I feel that God has chosen me for a purpose, being that I have been placed on this Earth to help guide and comfort those who are lost in the void of unhappiness and faithlessness. I also firmly believe and testify that God often chooses certain individuals to test them in regards to their faithfulness and devotion to His word as found in the Holy Scriptures.

One night not too long ago, I was driving along US Highway 12 on my way to visit a sick parishioner at his home. As I proceeded down the road, there suddenly came a bright flash of light which temporarily blinded me, thus making my car swerve violently to one side and end up in a ditch besides a huge oak tree. At first, I did not know what had happened, but within a few minutes, I was able to open the window on the driver’s side of the car. What I beheld astonished me. There were two figures standing some ten feet distant. Both were dressed entirely in white with hoods that completely covered their heads and faces. One of them motioned to me with a wave of his hand. I then climbed out of the car and walked up to these mysterious figures. In an instant, I beheld a blinding flash of white light and felt my feet leave the physical ground beneath me. In a word, I was now suspended in mid-air with the two figures helping me along on each side. I then saw the full moon and it miraculously became bigger and bigger. In effect, I was being taken somewhere into the sky, a captive of these two mysterious beings whose destination at this time was completely unknown to me.

Was this to be God’s test of my faith and devotion to His word as found in the Holy Bible? Why was I chosen for this experience? These and other questions filled my mind as I moved through space and time as a captive of the two celestial beings in white. It seemed as if only moments had passed since being taken bodily from the Earth. But now I sensed a sort of slowness or a decrease in movement and soon found myself standing in a forest filled with beautiful trees, flowers, and singing birds. To say that I was afraid does not do justice to my emotional state, but I did feel as if I was in the protective arms of the Lord who possesses the power to protect those whom he loves and cherishes as his creatures upon the Earth.

My first impression of the two celestial beings dressed in white from head to foot was one of benevolence, but this changed rapidly when one of them removed what appeared to be some type of weapon and killed a beautiful animal that was standing next to what appeared to be a tree. The being gave no reason for this action. All that he did was smile at me and look around for something else to destroy with his mysterious weapon. Then I saw a large bird-like creature soaring above me. In an instant, the being aimed his weapon at the bird and killed it. When the body of the bird landed at my feet, the being smiled again and then aimed his weapon at me. I then knew that I was not in Heaven but in some type of purgatory or Hell in space and time. These celestial beings were not benevolent after all; they were barbarians and heathens, merciless heathens who took pleasure in killing.

I was now their captive. Escape looked impossible at this point in time. But then as if the Lord had reached out his mighty hand, I was lifted from the ground and found myself floating in the air. Moments later, I was back on Earth inside of my car lying in the ditch near the huge oak tree. Somehow, I had escaped from the clutches of those pagans, evil beings without feeling or compassion for their fellow creatures. Had I come under some kind of affliction at the hands of God Himself? Perhaps I will never know for certain, but one thing is clear–God had chosen me to experience something totally unreal or surreal in space and time, a sort of lesson that shall remain with me for the rest of my days.

This captive narrative mirrors that of Mary Rowlandson by including a number of references to God, His protective powers, and what Rowlandson refers to as an affliction or a type of testament that God uses in order to test and reinforce the faith of the chosen individual.