I’ve always been a scaredy-cat, and can remember when this fear set into my mind. I’m sure it was part of my upbringing that brought this on. This fear got ahold of my mentality and has stayed with me most of my adult life.

The fear came in different ridiculous waves from fear of small, yappy dogs, to fear of getting pistol whipped and, of course, scary movies.

When my sister Norma and I were in our early teens, our mother sent us out to buy hamburgers. We walked to the local fast food establishment, which was less than a mile away. On the way there we encountered a dog that viciously came at us. Granted, the dog was a Chihuahua, but it was meaner than hell. We were about a block from the restaurant when the dog attacked us. We both froze, and the dog smelled our fear and knew he could keep us captive. Norma and I huddled together with our fists to our mouths. This fear was real, but at the same time comical. I would speak to Norma is a low voice to explain an escape, but it was as if the dog could understand what I was saying. I’d take a step and the barks got louder and more malicious. All Norma would say was, “What are we going to do?” I am the older sister, and wanted to step up to the responsibility of protecting her but the dog was relentless. In broad daylight, on a normal street lined with homes on one side and Colton High School on the other, we were in prison for what seemed to be hours. Finally the stupid dog grew tired of his bullying and went home. Needless to say, this ruined our outing; by the time we got home with the hamburgers our mother gave us an ear full for taking so long. It was useless to try to explain that a bantam weight dog held us up for so long. Our mother would never believe the story either way.

The first scary movie I saw was “The Tingler.” I was seven years old when this movie debuted. In the movie the spine of a person would escape and kill people. In one part of the movie “The Tingler” escaped into a movie theater to get its next victim. My sister Jo and I had our legs folded on the theater seat so that “The Tingler” could not get us,  and we screamed the entire time. Little did I know that this was a prelude to the mother of all scary movies “The Exorcist.”

My mother read the book The Exorcist so when the movie came out she wanted to see it. Mike and I were living in Santa Barbara at that time. We drove to Colton to pick up my mom and then headed to UCLA where the movie was playing. We waited in a long line to get in. I never asked my mom what the movie was about, because I was caught up in the hype that the film created.

The movie scarred the rest of my life, I have never been so scared of anything since then.  I closed my eyes for a better part of the movie, but when I opened them, it was only to catch the most gory graphic parts. I wanted to cry, but I was in shock . Even today I cannot watch the trailer for this movie. This was in the early 70’s and we had a 240 Z two-seater car. I sat in between my mother and Mike. It was the longest ride home, and I thought for sure that either Mike or my mother were going to turn into the Devil. I never looked at them nor spoke a word, no one did.

The movie, The Exorcist, was captivating because exorcisms are real – so real that Pope Francis recently convened an exorcism workshop at the Vatican with 250 priests from 51 countries  in attendance. Exorcisms are in high demand because of the impact of the evil that has effected people.  People open doors to demons and they invite other evil spirits to join them; before you know it, the person is effected. Demons don’t need an invitation because people unknowingly  invite them in by viewing pornography, abusing drugs, alcohol, etc. This is just a small example of demons getting into your life. New Age and occult involvement is another big open door for Satan, he loves religions that make you a demi god. Satan is the master of all deception and is waiting for us to crack that door to come in.

Parents need to discern what their children are watching  because evil seeds planted can traumatize them. The Enemy’s plan is to get them while their minds are pliable and innocent.

Fear is not from God, and though I’ve known this for years, I still struggled with this phobia.

For the last 10 years Mike, my husband  has traveled for work. Sometimes he would be gone for several days. I suffered greatly whenever Mike traveled. I never got a good night’s sleep either. I broke this fear by praying the Rosary, and sleeping with a St. Benedict crucifix.

I no longer am a slave to fear, I praise God that I was delivered of this through prayer.

My Prayer: Dear Lord, remove all fear from us: fear of dying, fear of cancer, fear of divorce, fear of everything that is not of You. Your Word says that perfect love casts out all fear. Dear Lord, allow us to experience Your perfect love. Train us to say Your prayer, ” The Our Father” to deliver us from all evil. Touch those who are afraid of the unknown. Let them have complete trust in You.  Amen

From the moment I became a member of the Protestant church, I quickly learned of the Second Coming of the Lord. I was consumed with the idea of getting caught up in the sky, meeting Jesus. I worried about my unsaved loved ones. Would they go up in the Rapture? I have since returned to my Catholic roots.

The Rapture was introduced as a commentary footnote by John Nelson Darby in 1827. Cyrus Scofield  added this theory to his reference Bible and other popular Bibles scholars followed suite (in the footnotes of the commentary) to their publications. Books like “The Late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey and the “Left Behind” series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins gave the theory more fuel, and the fire spread throughout the Protestant believers. According to this doctrine, believers will be taken up to Christ in Heaven, and non-believers will be left behind to endure the tribulation with the Anti-Christ.

Second Thessalonians was written because the Thessalonians believed that the Lord return was very near. The apostle Paul had to instruct the Thessalonians to occupy until He comes. (Luke 19:13)

2 Thessalonians 2:2 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Great Apostasy

2 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

In California we just experienced a magnitude 7.1 earthquake; we felt it strongly in our home. So I ask you this? Are we living in the Last Days? If you had asked me this 30 years ago, the answer would have been an emphatic yes! Today my answer has not changed but I’m not so consumed or fearful of the inevitable.

As I experience more growth in The Lord, my spirit has shifted. I have developed a more monastic approach to the things in life. I witness the direction of many paving a clear path to Hell. I don’t turn my head away from their sin, I but have learned to operate in prayer. Believe me, I want to scream at the top of my lungs, “For the love of God, stop sinning!” But I would come across as judging or as holier than thou. So, instead, I turn to prayer, a lot of prayer.

When someone knowingly is involved in sin, you can’t talk to them about their transgressions because they cannot see through the clouded distortion of their sin. The sin has already made its comfortable place in their spirit, and they are sold out to their immorality. The only thing left to do is to pray for them, really pray for them, doing spiritual warfare. Use all the weapons God has given you, and you will see victory. Never ever give up! God will see you through this.

The earth cries out with birth pains and the Lord of us all grows tired of the same sin. God is in control of all earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes and all other natural disasters. Not even the most seasoned scientist can answer the deep causes of these phenomena. Only God can!

I recently watched two separate documentaries, one of John Lennon and the other of George Harrison. In my perception, these two gifted musicians (Beatles) were searching for “a god, a higher source.” John thought he found it in Yoko Ono. George, after taking acid (hallucinatory drug) said that he heard a whisper saying, “yogis of the Himalayas.” George Harrison said this subliminal message remained in his head. He continued his search until he found peace with Hinduism. George believed in the New Age god Hare Krishna, hence the song he composed, “My Sweet Lord.”

John Lennon went on to write his greatest and most popular song ”Imagine.” The lyrics of this song start with, “Imagine there’s no heaven.”  The message is not by a man influenced by God, but rather a woman who neither knew God nor cared to know anything of God.

There is a heaven, and one day we will all meet our Maker.

Philippians 3:20-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

²⁰ For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

I was on the phone with my sister Norma when I felt the earth shaking. I told Norma, “We’re having an earthquake! The Lord is coming soon!” In a panic I ran outside to check the pool and videotaped the water spilling out onto the patio. I ran upstairs to check on Mike. I asked him, “Why didn’t you check on me?” Mike looked at me with a questionable look and said, “I knew you were fine.” His calm, soothing voice comforted my nerves. I, on the other hand, turned into Chicken Little, believing “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” I called my daughter Sonja, and my daughter-in-law Jenny called to check on us. Praise be to God, we were all fine.

We are told to be prepared for “the big one ” with an earthquake kit, water, food, flashlights etc. But are we prepared for the Coming of the Lord or the day of our deaths? There will be no ” save the date card” to prepare you for these events. So my advice to you is to rid yourselves of all the unnecessary baggage of sin. Leave it at the foot of the Cross, where God Himself will consume it with fire and finally set you free.

Matthew 24:42-43 New King James Version (NKJV)

⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

Our country was founded on the love of God. The American Flag is our banner of unity, One Nation Under God. I will not be influenced by anyone or any mega corporation that choses to desecrate our Flag. I wrote this poem in honor of  our beautiful Flag:

Old Glory, you are a symbol of pride

We need not ignore your meaning or what you imply

I salute your banner waving high

Your colors and stars polish the blue sky

Who in this land cannot notice the freedom for which you stand

You’re an anthem of courage and are still in command

Liberty weeps at the thought of those who defy your side

She bows her head at the great divide

Your roots are deep and you honor those who strap on their boots

They fought for us to keep us sound and to them you are profound

© Lynda Ciriza

God Bless our beautiful imperfect country! Happy 4th of July!