A Rapidly Expanding Realm of Belief
Once upon a time, I was proselyting in the foreign land of Japan when a very friendly young couple invited a colleague and I to dinner. We graciously accepted the invitation and enjoyed a meal with them, since there are few foods that taste as good as free foods. We enjoyed the evening with them and their 2 year old daughter. Over dinner, they shared their religious beliefs, as they belonged to a sect of Christianity that I was not familiar with. Their faith’s literature detailed the exploits of their founder, including his very real, literal battles with demons. My colleague and I respectfully listened as they talked about their beliefs for a while before dinner was finished and it was time to leave.
The husband asked if he could pray before we left. We said it was fine, as I personally believed (past tense) that a prayer of any faith carried a sort of universal light within it. Now, this was Japan and the couple were Korean immigrants. The language he spoke in that prayer was not English or Japanese. While I am by no means an expert in Korean, it didn’t sound like that either. As I knelt with my eyes closed, I felt a growing sense of unease as the alien language echoed around the room.
Something light started to physically push on my chest. Assuming it was the 2 year old daughter, I opened my eyes in order to redirect her to do something else. She was on the other side of the room, staring at a wall. The pushing sensation ceased. There was nothing in front of me.
I am a rather fervent skeptic. I simply rationalized at first that I was uncomfortable hearing an unknown language and felt a subconscious push against something strange. I put the feeling from my mind as we said our goodbyes and departed.
As my colleague and I walked away from their house, he was oddly quiet. He was a friendly, talkative, jovial guy that was usually impossible to shut up. After a moment, he looked at me and said, “Hey, I know this is kind of a weird question, but when they were praying, did you feel something pushing you?”
We quickened our pace, leaving the family to their demons.
The world is often far stranger than we give it credit for.