When I was about 12 years old, I remember laying under the covers in my bedroom one night. I was feeling scared because I heard something that sounded like footsteps right outside my bedroom. I kept hearing a soft “thump”…”thump”…”thump”.
In my mind, I just knew there was a masked robber in the hallway about to come into my room and hurt me. As the thumping got louder (or so I imagined), my heart began racing wildly. I tried to remain as quiet as possible, and the thumping continued. I finally yelled in desperation, “Mommy!!” My mother came running into the bedroom and asked what was the matter. I told her about the thumping sounds I had been hearing, and asked her what they might be. I hoped to hear that there was some less scary explanation for the sound.
My mother looked at me with a calm expression and ran her fingers through my hair. She sighed and said, “It’s okay, honey. It’s probably just demons.” JUST demons? Here I was, terrified of a physical person entering my room. At least in that scenario, I have a chance; but a supernatural being that is invisible? I definitely don’t stand a chance! I was horrified beyond belief.
Then, my mother offered me the solution to the problem. “Here, play these gospel hymns tonight on your tape player, and it will chase those demons away!” I was thrilled to know that there was a way to get rid of the demons, so I eagerly played the music, snuggled under the covers and tried to go to sleep. As soon as my mom was out of sight, however, I realized that I could still hear the “thump”…”thump”…”thump”. Why was it still there?
The fear I had felt before was intensified so strongly that (I am sure you can imagine) I got NO sleep that night. The next morning, when I was able to get the courage to get out of bed, I went into the hallway and noticed I still heard the thumping. It didn’t seem as scary in the daytime, so I went closer to the source of the noise. The noise led me to our air conditioner which was at the end of the hall. It was the air conditioner that was making the thumping noise. I had solved the mystery…but the damage done to my mind in the room the night before had already been done.
I have no doubt that my mother meant well that night and really believed that what she was doing was trying to help quell my fears and provide a solution. The presence of demons in everything from television sets to cabbage patch dolls is quite a big deal in IFB churches, and there is much preaching about them there. But as a mother, I just can’t fathom saying anything even similar to my children, even if it were true.
Just for the record, I do believe in the existence of demons. I just do not believe that Christians should live in fear of them -nor do I think that the first conclusion that we jump to when something weird is happening is that it is a demon.
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