 Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar and this is a Chamber of Comments episode where I answer the emails that I've been sent recently. Sometimes it's just a nice complimentary email that I receive. Sometimes it's heart-brenching. Sometimes it's asking for advice. Sometimes it's a complaint. You can email me anytime about anything at darren at weirddarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. And your emails always come directly to me. I don't have an assistant or service for this. I do try to read every email that comes in, even if I don't reply immediately. And more often than not, if I like your email or if I think it's interesting, I will reply to your email right here in the Chamber of Comments. So if you don't receive an email back from me, be listening to the Chamber of Comments episodes. You might hear the reply here. Again, you can email me darren at weirddarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. We'll begin with an email from Todd. He said, Hello Darren, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy the Weird Darkness podcast. You are truly the best. Never worry about AI. It could never match you. Keep up the good work and thanks so much for doing what you do. Well, thank you Todd. I appreciate that. He's actually referring to something that I had mentioned in a previous Chamber of Comments about how artificial intelligence is changing things so much that there will be a time very soon where you're not going to be able to tell if what you're listening to is a real person giving you a podcast. The video aspect of it is a little further out, but they're still getting really close to making that completely realistic. But audibly it's almost unrecognizable or indistinguishable now. And it's not just a voiceover, but they can also do the artwork. They can do the entire writing of the script for the podcast. Just go to chat gpt or something and say I need so many words about this particular topic and type it up. Go. And you could use that and then just use the AI voice to put it on there. And boom, you've got a podcast within like five minutes. It's really spooky stuff. But what I had mentioned in that is I promise I will never do that to you. I might use AI a little bit for the artwork or maybe to come up with some script ideas and then clean up those scripts or something like that. Although I never have up to this point. I don't think I'd feel comfortable with it just yet, but I will never use AI to voice this. And I don't think it would still work anyway. Maybe for a regular episode where I'm not replying to emails or anything like that. But for this kind of thing, doing a chamber of comments or a fireside frights where I'm replying and responding to your emails, AI is never going to be able to do that. So rest assured, you don't have to worry about AI with weird darkness. This next one comes from Mike saying, Darren, I was listening to your podcast and you were talking about your health issues and your doctor disappearing. Okay, yeah, before I get into Mike's email. Yeah, I had a doctor just completely disappear on me. I've been going to him for several months for my migraine meds, for my depression meds, and also for my my biotea, my testosterone treatments. And so I had a lot going on this particular doctor. And he just disappeared on me, wouldn't return my calls, wouldn't, well, actually, I couldn't I couldn't even leave voicemail messages. His phone system never got went rang over to voicemail. I tried texting him. I tried emailing him, never got replies. I had I actually have his cell phone number, or at least the one that he used to have. I don't know if it's still valid anymore. Maybe that's why he's not getting it. But I left him voicemails there. Nothing, completely disappeared, totally screwed me up. So I went several months, well, two months, I will say several. I went two months without my migraine meds. And I almost ran out of the depression meds. Fortunately, I had enough of those to get through before I got to an older doctor that I could go back to and get those refilled. And it was just the other day that I finally got my migraine meds refilled. So that's what he's referring to. So he says, Darron, listening to your podcast, you were talking about your health issues and your doctor disappearing. I wanted to let you know I had the same thing happen to me, but my doctor retired suddenly. I had to go back through all of the testing for low T, that would be the low testosterone, which I'm getting treatment for, thyroid issues, etc. It is a total pain, literally waiting for the lab work and prescriptions to come in. Then you have to get leveled back out when you get them going again. No, you're not only going. No, that you're not the only one going through this. I've been a listener since you started and love the stories and the uplifting scriptures at the end. Keep up the good job and keeping you in my prayers. Signed Big Mike. Thank you, man. I really appreciate that, especially those prayers. I will never turn those prayers down. Yeah, that was exactly what I was going through. I did that blood tests. I was waiting for the results. I had to meet with a whole new doctor for a whole new game plan. In fact, I have yet to get my first low T treatment. That's actually scheduled next week. He's not a GP that I had before, so I had to go elsewhere to get the other stuff taken care of for like my diabetes, depression, migraines, all that. Fortunately, I had the other doctors that I used to go to that I could return to and kind of go go back hat in hand and say, I'm really sorry I left you. I don't think they cared all that much. But still, really open the bio T and also my change of diet is going to help in a lot of those areas as well. Crystal sent in something saying, Hey, there, I've been listening to your show nonstop while I work from as far back as 2018. I think it was. Wow, you've been a weirdo for a while, Crystal. I'm listening to January 2023 episodes now. So I'm catching up to current times. I must say, for the most part, I enjoy your episodes, but I fast forward every time you feel compelled to use a foreign accent or sound like a woman. It's just like nails on a chalkboard and one reason I'm not fond of the book narrating episodes. I guess like Weirdling Woods. I'd rather you just say it normally, but that's me. Another thing I've noticed is that the repeat episodes are frequent. I really did not need to start listening to older episodes because I've heard some things so often that I zone out when they replay or I go to the next episode. How often do you replay past episodes? Need to do that less. Again, just my opinion. But I love fireside frights, even if I've heard it before, and regular new episodes are awesome. Overall, I will try to keep listening and I'll just bypass the things that I don't like on the podcast, hoping that you'll maybe consider a few changes that should go forward so I don't give up on it altogether. God bless, signed crystal. Well, yes, that is actually part of that previous email. The reason you've been hearing so many archive episodes being reposted is because I have been feeling like crud. I've had no energy. I've had the migraines and everything else going wrong because my doctor disappeared on me. So that's the reason for quite some time now you've been hearing archive episodes. I'm starting to feel a little bit better today. We've got the new migraine meds. Well, the old migraine meds, like I said, I've had refilled, but we're also trying something new as sort of a preventative. So I won't get the migraines as often and if I do, they won't be as severe. Then next week, I get the testosterone treatment, which should also help things along. That should help me start to feel better and I can be able to get up in the day and start working on the podcast again and everything should return back to normal then. I am releasing some new content only because it's kind of required almost like the the micro terrors are always new and also the retro radio is always new. But then again, that's not a lot of voiceover stuff for that. That's just like an introduction and then it's the old time radio show that I insert there, but those are always always new and I'm trying to do new Church of the Undead each week as well. I know that's not part of the Weird Darkness podcast anymore, but it is something that I continue to do that's new and I have other projects that I need to start working on and including another podcast that I am coordinating with with somebody to do and we're hoping to start that in September. So I actually have motivation to get back on track and do things the way you're used to. Donna says, Hi Darren, of a meaning to write you for quite some time. Love your podcast. Look forward to hearing it every day. I may have become a 68 year old groupie. LOL. Please continue the great work and know how much you appreciated. Well, thank you Donna. I appreciate that. Glad that you've been listening. No matter what age you are, I'll take listeners of any age. Let's see here. This one comes from Matthew and he's specifically the subject line says June 12th episode, Greenbrier Road. Hi Darren, let me start by saying I love Weird Darkness. I work night shift and listen at work. Your podcast has gotten me through many long nights. As a Christian, I really appreciate the manner in which you do the shows and the light in the darkness at the end of the shows. Outstanding, such a rarity today, thank you. Last night I listened to the June 12th episode. The segment on Greenbrier Road caught my attention as I grew up in South Jacksonville and have been to Greenbrier Road numerous times. My father took me out there as a small child in an attempt to scare me. What it did was fascinate me and I continued to visit until I moved away in my early 20s. Although I never heard the story of the motorcycle rider being killed being the reason for the lights, the story I was always told was the lights were ghost lights of three sisters, the anhorn sisters who had grown up out there with a very abusive father. I almost always witnessed more than one light, never more than three. I've been chased by the lights. I've witnessed one light changing into two and then into three and then dance up and down along the road. I don't recall ever going out there that I didn't see the lights. I've on several occasions seen them during the day. I've seen my dad get out of the car and the light approach him as he stood in the road and just hover in front of him only to slowly fade out in the darkness. After I moved away, I returned for a visit and some friends and I decided to drive out there. We were in two vehicles, one behind the other. We'd driven maybe half a mile down the road and all of a sudden it was daylight. There were cops of some sort with spotlights everywhere in the woods, in the trees. We were surrounded. Needless to say, we were quite shaken. After some questions by a few of the officers, we were told to leave and that it would be best if we didn't come back especially at night. Well, we thought that was very strange. That was the last time I was ever on Greenbrier Road. Thank you so much for your podcast and that segment as it brought back some very good memories that I haven't thought of for quite some time. Keep up the good work and I'll be listening. Signed, Matthew. While Matthew, I should have saved that one for a fireside freight episode. If I hadn't read that in advance, I probably would have. Very cool that not only that you went out there on a regular basis, but you never had an incident or excuse me, you never had a time where you didn't see the lights. You saw lights every single time you went out there. That is something that you don't hear about a lot. Usually say, oh yeah, that place is haunted. And then so many people go, ah, nothing happened. It's just a story. I stayed the week there. Nothing happened to me. But yeah, I think that's the only time I've ever heard a story where somebody went somewhere several times and they always had something happen to them. So thank you for sharing that. I appreciate it. I received an Apple podcast review from Susie saying best paranormal podcast and she gave me five stars. Thank you, Susie. I absolutely love this show. The creepypastas are incredibly well written and terrifying. The stories are spooky and beautifully read. I also love that there are not guests or much preamble. I hate when podcast hosts chat for 20 minutes about other topics. Just get on with it. I'm with you, Susie. I'm not a big fan of those kinds of podcasts either. That's why I don't do that. I'll spend, you know, a good two, three, sometimes a little bit longer minutes setting up the show and telling you what you'll hear. But yeah, there's no bantering back and forth with a hot cat with another host or a guest or anything like that. Let's see. Brooke sent me an email saying, Hey Darren, so sorry to hear about your migraines and such. I've suffered from those all my life as well. I'm also bipolar and suffer from severe anxiety and I know it can be unbearable. Yet you still answered our emails, talked to your weirdos like family, always have a kind word, always say sweet things about your bride, and are just a good, good guy. You're so loved by us weirdos and will send prayers and positive vibes to you and hope that you get to feeling yourself again soon. Your podcasts get me through long workdays, teaches me new things, and warms my heart every time I hear your voice. God bless, blessed be big hugs for you, and I'm glad you exist. Wow, well thank you. Brooke, I appreciate that. Let's see here. Daniel said, Just listened to the Mystery of Flight 914 episode, and it sounds that the couple recorded in their house sounds a lot like clips from The Walking Dead. Just my opinion. Love your show gets me through my 10-hour shifts. Well now I'm going to have to go back and listen to that again. Daniel, you might be right. Although I think in that particular story, I think that took place before The Walking Dead was a thing. I'm not sure. Let's see, this next one comes from Mark. He said, Hi Darren, I wrote to you a while ago about the troubles I've been having both mentally and emotionally. Since then, nothing's really changed for the better. I've lost multiple jobs, fallen deeper into debt, suicidal thoughts have been coming back recently, and just the other night I started self-harming and well trying to push my friends away. Only positive thing really has been my found a boyfriend, but downside is he lives in England and I very rarely hear from him. The things I've been telling me has to be scared he's going to leave part of it. The things I've been telling me. So the stuff that you've been telling yourself, the lies you've been telling yourself, I've scared you that he's going to leave you or that he doesn't care about you, that you'd be better off alone. I've opened up to my parents about my mental health problems and my mom kind of understands my dad doesn't know what to think. I've tried therapy when I could afford it. Honestly, it didn't work. Do you have any recommendations for any other kind of help? I want to get rid of these thoughts and try to live a happy life, not feel like I'd be better off dead. Sorry about the long and depressing message. Hope you and your wife are doing well. Take care, signed Mark. Mark, man, I am really sorry that you're going through such a trying time. I am. Depression really is a monster. If therapy didn't work for you, what you're saying it didn't, I would highly recommend talking to a doctor about getting antidepressant medications. That's really the only thing that helped me. It sounds like you're still living at home, I think maybe. So if that's the case, I'd ask your mom, since she seems to understand the most, ask her to take you to a medical doctor or a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications. And then once you start getting medications, even then it might be a while before you find the right meds for your specific needs or the right combination of medications. I started with one prescription and then tried a different one and then different strengths of different prescriptions. Eventually we landed on a combination of two different medications at two different dosages, one for evenings, one for mornings. And that seems to be what works best for me, at least at this point in my life. Things change as you grow. Just don't get frustrated. Don't give up. It's not going to help immediately if you do get medications. It's a process just like the therapy would have been a process if it had worked for you. But it's still well worth it once you figure out the right combination and dosage for you. I really do hope you can find a doctor to help you. I've never done it, but hey, if I were desperate, I'd walk into an immediate care clinic and talk to them about it if I had nowhere else to turn. So I hope that helps. Barbara sent me an email. Darren recently had a caller who reported a weird event where a person received a call with the ID call ID caller of a phone which was in a separate room on a charger. It's possible to send a call using a false name and even false number to appear as the ID. I frequently receive a call from a persistent spammer who uses a different ID with each call. He's used hospital names, insurance, and other names to catch my eye. He even one time used my own name and ID that he sent to me. Talk about weird thinking about getting a call from yourself. Signed to Barb. Yeah, that is strange. And I'll tell you, the spammers are out in droves now, aren't they? I would say in the last two months, the email spam and the calls, the texts, they've gone through the roof. I don't know what has happened. So I never answer the phone, ever. Unless I specifically know who you are and if I'm expecting your call. If those two categories don't come together, I'm not going to pick up the phone. That's why God invented voicemail. You can leave a message and I will call you back once I know for sure that's who you are and I know what you want. Otherwise, you're not going to get me on the phone, even if you're a family member. Again, unless I'm specifically expecting you to call. And the emails, I don't even know if emails, unsubscribing, probably the stuff even works anymore. I use Gmail for most everything nowadays. And even then, I'm like, all right, mark his spam or mark as a phishing message. I don't even know if that helps anymore. Yeah, I think we're all in that same boat. But that's weird. Yeah, you're right. They can, they can spoof with different people's names and phone numbers and everything. So it looks on your caller ID like it's something that it's not truly not. All right, I got a couple of more Apple podcast reviews. This first one came from, they call me Bing. It's five stars. Quality and quantity. This guy puts out an insane amount of content and I always find something that fits my mood and piques my interest. He's a multi-talented great voice for narrating and wide range of character voices. I also admire his heart and his advocacy for mental health. I can relate to the struggle. Although his religious views may differ from mine, I very much respect his presentation of his beliefs and his obvious reverence and devotion to them. Ten stars, he says. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. And yeah, you don't have to believe the same stuff I believe religiously in order to, in order to be considered a friend of mine. This next one, this other Apple podcast review comes from Evsemila. Evsemila. Anyway, another five five stars. I only read the five-star ones, but anyway, love his stories, love his voice. I still enjoy listening to Darren's podcast. He's a great storyteller. I got to meet him at America's Haunted Conference in Alton, Illinois and he was an incredible gentleman. Thank you. Well, yeah, that was a great conference. I'm glad that I went there. I've been trying to get to that particular conference for years. And so I'm glad that you met me there. It was a lot of fun. Steven sent me an email. I just listened to your podcast from April 21st, 2022. It's the podcast where you would fit to having problems with depression. My ears perk up when I hear the word depression. It was three days after you made the submission that my daughter committed suicide because of depression. I hope things are better now with you. But if you need to talk it over, I can be reached at such and such number. If I can't answer, then leave a message on my voicemail. Steven, wow. I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot even, I don't have kids, so I can't imagine what you had to go through and are still going through, I'm sure, when losing your daughter. But you know what? I greatly appreciate your reaching out. I'm fine right now. I'm doing well. Like I said earlier, I've got my meds back. I'm feeling a lot better. I have regular trips to the doctor now just to make sure everything is working as it should. But man, thank you very much for your heart, your caring soul. I really appreciate that. That being said, don't feel everybody that you're listening that you need to drop me an email and see how I'm doing. Because I don't know if I can, if I can respond to all of those. It's just it's really cool that you all care and I truly, truly appreciate that. Jane, excuse me, never eat dairy before recording. Jane said, hi, my name is Jane, blah, blah, blah. Excuse me. She lives in Erie, Pennsylvania. I did recently send you an email to share an experience I had. I hope you had a chance to read it. But I wanted to send you a separate email if that's okay. I wanted to send you a big thank you. A friend of mine has suggested that I would enjoy listening to some podcasts. She is a big fan of True Crime and had given me a list of some True Crime podcasts she thought that I would like. I did find them and loaded them on my tablet and while I did truly like them, I went on to look for more links. I like True Crime, but I also like the creepy and supernatural stuff. It's actually pretty funny. I don't come off as a person who is a horror buff. Most people think I'm a romantic comedy or chick flick girl. I guess in a way I am. I do try to be a good person and always be there for people, but I do love a great horror or creepy story. So I was looking for links to that on my tablet and I came upon your podcast. So I downloaded it actually just last week. I absolutely love your podcasts. I am off for the summer, so I spent this last week listening to your podcast. They got listened to about 20 so far. My girls are teasing me, telling me I'm attached to my tablet, but I'm truly enjoying them and can't stop listening to them. I just wanted to let you know that you have a new fan that truly loves your talent and really appreciates what you do. Also can't wait for the horror movie watch party this Friday. That would have been of course the other day. It's my birthday that day and I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday. Thank you again so much, Jane. Jane, I remember you being in the in the in the chat, so it was great to have you there on your birthday. I'm really glad you found the podcast that you like what you're hearing. Addicted to your tablet though. I mean, that's a lot better than other things you could be addicted to. I mean, here's an idea. Take away your girl's mobile devices. The aquitly they realize they're also addicted to their own mobile devices. There you go. Okay, I've got two left. I'll say the really long one for the last. So yeah, we'll go with this one. And I'm just going to say this person's name is Tank. Hey Dee, I'm a 45 year old combat vet. I delivered for FedEx in West Louisiana and East Texas. Been a listener since 2019-ish. Can't remember. I just want you to know I listen every day and I've heard so many different things that made me want to email, but at this time I'm blank. I've been through almost everything you can imagine. Our childhood, due to mom being gay and having abusive lovers. Being bullied all through school. Moving so much, I never started the school year and finishing that year at the same school. Never really had a best friend. No dad. Lived in three different states by the time I was 16. I was always called husky, but we know that means fat. Dropped out of high school, had to get my GED. Lived at home until I was 18 to 22 off and on. Needless to say, now I'm 45, did 20 years in the army as a tanker. The last 10 years as a tank commander. Two tours on Iraq as well as being a drill instructor at the youth challenge program. I guess I'm just writing this to say I'm not in a good spot. I have two teenage boys, divorced. Not a lot's going well. Could be worse, but still holding on. I look forward to your podcast and even listen to older episodes when my route is long and I'm not asking for anything, I just want to thank you. You have no idea what your podcast does to help us escape the hell on earth that some of us live 24-7. Thank you, Darren. Thank your wife as well because she is fighting the good fight as you do. Bless your brother. You truly are light in all the darkness. I don't care if you share this, it's up to you. Just keep doing what you do. Love. Hey tank, again that's the name I'm going to use since you did not leave a name and since you were a tank commander, I figure that works. Tank, I am so sorry to hear about your current circumstances. Sounds like, yeah, life truly has been a rough road for you. But I also see some positive things in your email. I know you're suffering from some depression right now and that might be tainting the way you look at life, but you've served your country bravely and unselfishly. And I thank you for that. You brought two new lives into this world with your boys, both of whom I'm sure you love very much and you're doing your best as a dad to provide for and model what a good man is. You helped other youth by being a drill instructor at the youth challenge program, so you've actually done a lot more than many people have, all to make the world a better place and to help others do the same. So give yourself a bit of a break there. While you didn't have a father of your own in your home, you can now be the father you always wish that you had had. And of course, while you did not have a flesh and blood dad to mold you, guide you, teach you, you do have a heavenly father who loves you very much and considers you his son. I don't know what your spiritual life is, Tank, and maybe spend some time with God, ask him to reveal to you what it is that you are supposed to be doing, either now or down the road. Ask him to point out areas where you need improvement, habits you need to walk away from. I know, easier said than done. Directions maybe, ask him to give you directions to take in order to follow him or maybe to help others who are in need, which is also in a way following him. At the lowest point in my life, I was a man in his early 20s, I was suffering from severe depression and loneliness, and I was fortunate in the fact that I had a friend ask me to get involved in a church with him, and it gave me a reason to get up in the morning. I may have hated my job at the time, had zero social life, but suddenly I had a purpose. Eventually, that purpose did lead to a good job. It led me to getting into Christian radio back in 1990, and I've been in radio ever since. It also led to my great social life because I am now married and have been happily for 28 years. I'm not saying the church is the answer for you, but I'm saying find something that you are passionate about and plug into it. Commit yourself to being a part of it, spending time in it. That sounds like you have a heart for kids, just as an example. So maybe there are places you can volunteer in your area where you could be a blessing to kids and their parents. And how old are your boys? You didn't mention that, but can you help coach their sports teams or get involved in their lives more than you are? My dad lived for his boys. Just a thought. So I'll be saying a prayer for you today, Tank, and I truly do hope that God gives you some wisdom in where you do go from here. And one final email, saving this one for last because it's a long one, both the original email and my reply is going to be long. This is one of the few that I actually did read in advance and have already replied to because I could see just from the beginning that it was going to be something I needed to put some thought into. But this one, I'm not going to use her real name, so I will just call her Sarah. All right, we'll just use Sarah. Hi, Darren. I just discovered your podcast, Weird Darkness, through the mention of it by Moe and Joss of Frightlife. Well, hey, Moe and Joss, thank you, guys. I appreciate you talking about the podcast. She was listening via one of their episodes describing meeting you at the Oregon Ghost Conference. They spoke ever so highly of you. And so I checked out your podcast on Spotify. I listened to your The Neverglades Mysteries episode and loved it. It reminded me of so many stories I drew up loving, especially my childhood desire to be a part of Mrs. Peregrine's home for peculiar children kept coming to mind. I'm excited to keep listening to all of your work. Sorry in advance, this text part got really long and please bear with me as I may ramble a bit. I do have to say, though, it was really, really special to me that you left us with some white at the end of the episode, Isaiah 25, verses 7 and 8. Totally unexpected and such a pleasant surprise. Thank you for doing that. As I was looking up your contact info, I found somewhere that you had Christ follower in your bio description. That made my heart so happy. I too love Jesus. I met Jesus when I was six and have never looked back. I was hoping I could maybe ask you some questions or more like pick your brain as a fellow Christ follower and paranormal enthusiast. I haven't encountered many who have feet in both places. Quick synopsis, I've always had a weird connection to the supernatural and paranormal. I'm definitely an empath, usually associated with the living, but I think my first experience with empathizing with the unseen was probably my pre-teens. Staying overnight at a friend's house feeling extremely uncomfortable and aware that we were not alone in her basement when we were sleeping. Every time I go back in my memory and relive that experience, I feel more and more sure I was picking up on something more than just the spooks kids get at a sleepover. I had a heavy bout of poltergeist experience and demonic oppression when I was 15 to 18, but my relationship with Jesus simultaneously remained strong and ultimately grew stronger through my experiences. My last encounter with something of that nature was about eight years ago. Without going into great detail, it was a very hard time in my life and I felt very alone, except for the presence of Jesus. There really is power in His name. I can personally attest to that truth. Now I'm 31 and hopefully obsessed with learning about the paranormal, hearing about the paranormal, and following along with others and their experiences with the paranormal like me and very strong in my faith and in love with Jesus, but can the two coexist? I personally feel like yes, absolutely. I'm living it right now and have been living it since I was very young, but I've kind of always been told no, absolutely not. If you believe in the paranormal, then you don't believe in Jesus. My parents were always afraid of and against the paranormal outside the realm of angels and demons. I was raised Christian and I've always been taught that there's far more to life than what meets the eye, a battle unseen versus good, the Lord and evil Satan. My parents have always been very verbal about this and very serious about being mindful and on guard to keep an awareness that there is an ongoing battle higher than us being fought. However, ghosts were lies, demons, a foothold for the devil, etc. I've been realizing more and more as I'm now an adult that it's actually been very confusing for me my whole life to have been told there is more than what meets the eye, a greater battle being fought, but also all the things surrounding the paranormal are essentially a gateway into Satanism. Insert eye role here. Oh, the dramatics. Get also knowing I've been truly and genuinely experiencing things myself. I grew up feeling really confused, like unless not have a strong enough relationship with Jesus to be experiencing these things. Thankfully, the older, dare I say, wiser I got and the closer I grew to Jesus, the more I knew that was not true, that that was a lie. And actually, the deeper I've gone down the rabbit hole of embracing my experiences and intrigued with the paranormal, the more I've seen, believed, and understood the power of Jesus. Anyways, sorry for the rambling. I guess what I'm getting at is how do you interact with the two? Clearly, a great deal of your identity is in Christ as it's in your bio. And also, you must have some part in the paranormal. Weird darkness, the Oregon Ghost Conference. Lately, I've been really thinking a lot about how the two co-exist. How the fact that there is more than meets the eye is more complex than I think I was taught to me as a child. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're willing to share. If not, I so understand. It's all very personal. I fully recognize that. Ultimately, what I'm truly getting at here is thank you. Thank you for shining the light and also giving a little spookiness. Best to you and cannot wait to keep listening to weird darkness, signed her name, which I'll call her Sarah. Sarah, thank you for the novel. Goodness gracious. Yes, there is always a battle around us at all times, whether we realize it or not. Okay. Yeah. All right. I am a born-again Christian, but I also believe in the paranormal at the same time. Now, I'm not going to say that I believe in everything paranormal, nor do I believe the same about paranormal subjects as most others do, but that does not change the fact that yes, the paranormal is real. Now, you've already touched on one aspect of the paranormal, angels and demons. So if you believe they exist, then you believe the paranormal is real, at least to that extent. Once you go past that, that's when people start to freak out about various aspects of the paranormal. You being sensitive to the spirit world might be a blessing from God. You very well could have the spiritual gift of discerning the spirits. First Corinthians 12 verses 7-11, I had to look this up. Now, to each one, the manifestation of the spirit is given for the common good. To another, gifts of healing by that one spirit. To another, miraculous powers. To another, prophecy. To another, distinguishing between spirits. All these are the work of one and the same spirit, and he gives them to each one just as he determines. So the gift of discerning spirits, that's a spirit given ability to distinguish whether the source of what is presented is of the divine, human, or demonic origins. It might be in an atmosphere, an encounter, an event, a prophetic message that's set your way. So, Sarah, it sounds to me that you were feeling a presence of evil or demonic activity around you as a child. You just had no way of defining that at the time. You might be, you might as an empath at your words, empath, discern that someone is being dishonest with you perhaps, or has ill motives, or maybe is under a demonic influence without even knowing it. I think the trouble your parents and others might have is you're using the word empath because that does have some negative connotations to it, especially for religious folk. You might want to begin thinking of yourself and expressing yourself as the one with the gift of discerning spirits. It's a bit more wordy, but it's probably more accurate anyway. Now, and I make the distinction the distinction between the two because some people may seek to become an empath. We're told by God, though, not to do that kind of thing, along with we're not supposed to be going into fortune tellers, we're not supposed to be trying to speak with dead, etc. But one who has the gift of discerning spirits, they don't seek out this ability. It's given to them. It's gifted to them. That's why it's a gift of the spirit. Most likely, they get it at their conversion to Christianity and acceptance of Jesus. And you mentioned that you found Jesus when you were six years old. So I'm guessing that's about the time that the weird just began in your life. Am I right? So your poltergeist slash demonic oppression experience as a teenager sounds terrifying. But I also love that you that you said you leaned into your faith and came through it. So so many people might have crumbled into a ball and just given up on life during a trial like that. Which was probably the point by the enemy. I mean, I can already see God preparing you, Sarah, for something in your future as what you've already experienced and come through. You've come through stronger. That could help somebody else that you come across who might be struggling with those same issues. For example, you don't you don't want counseling about being successful from somebody who is a failure. You want advice from somebody who is successful. Well, you are that success when it comes to poltergeist and demonic oppression. You've come through it. You survived. You actually became a stronger Christian through it. I believe that because you were a born-again Christian and discerning of spirits, I think the enemy may have targeted you and tried to beat you down and walk away from your faith during that trial so that you would not be the positive influence to the world that the enemy knew you could be. But as Joseph said to his brothers who had tried to kill him, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50 verse 20. And I certainly agree with your parents about avoiding the paranormal and not to go out seeking it. In fact, you should not even pray to angels. They are themselves. They're only created beings just like us. You should pray only to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' death on the cross allows us that direct access to him. And there are parts in the Bible where the existence of ghosts is mentioned, but it's taught to not seek them out. In the Old Testament, we can read the story of King Saul. And he asked to speak to the Prophet Samuel. Saul made the connection through the Witch of Endor. 1 Samuel 28. That is a big no-no, but he did it. God allowed the experience. God didn't approve of the experience, but he did allow it. He's not going to work against us in our own free will. God allows us to do what we're going to do whether we think whether we know it's the right thing or not. I mean, otherwise, Jesus would never have been crucified because Judas would never have betrayed him. God allows it. Well, anyway, upon reaching Samuel, so Saul is talking to the Witch of Endor. He's asking the Witch of Endor to communicate with his dead Prophet friend, Samuel. Samuel then comes in and he asks, why have you summoned me? And then he and King Saul, they discuss the kingdom and Samuel critiques the king. And Saul asked for advice. God allowed it through his deceased servant, Samuel. We are cautioned, however, in Deuteronomy 1810, not to seek out sorcerers and witchcraft. It says, don't you dare sacrifice your son or daughter in the fire. Don't practice divination, sorcery, fortune-telling, witchery. But the passage in 1 Samuel shows it is possible for somebody who has passed to revisit earth and even speak to us. So ghosts exist, but they are never to be sought out. And I can hear it right now. I know a lot of people are getting really ticked off at me about fortune-telling and witches and how I am completely wrong. I am just saying what the Bible says. Believe it or not, I don't care. In the New Testament, we also read about the rich man in Lazarus. Lazarus, not the Lazarus from betraying Jesus. This is a different Lazarus. Luke 16, verses 22-26, records the story of how this rich man looked up and saw a poor man, Lazarus, at peace in heaven. Now the rich man, he is in hell. And he realizes too late after being in hell his mistake in not believing and not caring for the poor folk who journeyed through with this life. So he asked Abraham to send Lazarus as a witness to his family, to warn them before it was too late. Abraham in heaven. I am sorry, I said Lazarus is in heaven. I am sorry, Abraham is in heaven. But the rich man is asking Abraham to send his friend Lazarus, who is still on earth, to go witness to his family and warn them of his demise. Kind of like Scrooge. You are learning your lesson and you want to go tell everybody, hey, don't be like me because you are going to end up in hell. But Abraham, even though he was able from hell to talk to Abraham in heaven, Abraham declined the request. But this passage underscores the fact that as a deceased Abraham did converse across the spiritual divide with Lazarus, somebody in hell spoke with somebody in heaven and had the other way around. So those who suffer in hell can look upward. Is it not possible under God's tutelage for the reverse direction for people in heaven to look downward? Very possibly, but again, this is God's doing. It's his timing, his prerogative. It's not ours to try and make happen or to seek out. And these last few points I actually have made come from an episode of Church of the Undead that I recorded back in April of this year entitled, Can the Dead Come Back and Visit? Now, if you're not familiar with the Church of the Undead, it's a separate podcast from Weird Darkness that I started up in order to talk about this kind of stuff from a more Christian slash Biblical perspective. And I'm usually narrating articles and studies written by other people, but in this particular episode, Can the Dead Come Back and Visit? I personalize it quite a bit. A few other Church of the Undead episodes you might find helpful, Sarah, would be Demon Possession 101 or Lose on Wanted Devils with Exercise. The dangers of demons and the devil and what to do about them. If aliens are real, can I still be a Christian? What does the Bible say about Bigfoot? Is it time for Christians to embrace Halloween and Jenny the Teenage Witch? I know that I went through that really fast, so I will put a link to all of these in the show notes so that you can find them. I hope all of this helps somewhat, Sarah. God bless, I guess. And looking forward to hearing back from you. And again, if you have a question for me, comment, whatever. You can send it to daron at weirddarkness.com. Daron is D-A-R-R-E-N. And I'll see you back again in the podcast.