Ten Plagues

“A boy was pushing a smaller kid around in the lunchroom, and I announced to the whole room, ‘He can’t help himself. He’s possessed by a demon.’“

Keren rubbed her hands over her face. Paul could well imagine the fallout from such an announcement. “So did you get beaten up?”

She came out from behind her hands. “If only I had. Unfortunately, the principal came in at that moment.”

“Unfortunately?”

“Yeah. Instead of getting punched, which might have been the end of it, I got hauled into the principal’s office, and he called my parents. Then he called the boy’s parents. He thought I was being a little hard on the kid, I guess. It turned into a circus, because the bully’s parents demanded I apologize. So, right in front of his big,

nasty father, I said with perfect sincerity to this big, nasty kid, ‘I’m sorry you are possessed by a demon.’“

Paul couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“You can imagine how well that went over.”

Finally, he said, “You were pretty harsh.”

“I wasn’t trying to be. It was true. I thought they’d want to know. I’d never even said such a thing to my parents. Maybe the gift hadn’t come to me yet or maybe I’d never been near someone possessed by a demon before, but the whole thing was really unexpected by everyone. Me included.”

“Were your parents … how did they handle it?”

“They had a long talk with me and they supported me, believed what I’d said. And they got out the Bible and read 1 Corinthians 12 to me and talked about their own gifts. We had plenty of time for all this because I got suspended from school for three days. They helped me to appreciate my gift, but we decided I should maybe be a little more discreet about it. Then I got back to school and, well, let’s just say kids can be cruel. I’ve never … well almost never … talked about it again.”

“So you just ignore what you see?”

“No, but now I know better than to blurt something like that out in front of everyone. I’ve learned the art of thinking before I speak.”

“Some people never learn it.”

“Well, I did—the hard way.” Keren glanced at him as if she expected him to haul her up to his office and call her parents. “So anyway, that’s my gift. I discern spirits. I can tell when a demon has taken up residence in someone’s soul.”

“Every time?”

Keren seemed to give his question considerable thought. “I guess I don’t know if I can do it every time. I only know sometimes

I can. I assume God lets me see it because He wants me to know, either to help or to be careful.”

“That’s a beautiful gift, Keren. I’ve talked to a few people who believe they have such a gift, but it’s more subtle with them. They talk about being repelled by certain people, and they think that’s a sign that they have an evil spirit of some kind. But I’ve learned that people can be really bad without a demon being involved. Or at least God doesn’t always reveal a demon when I’m tangling with criminals. It’s not a well-understood gift.”

“I’ve never talked to anyone who claimed to have it.” Keren ran one hand back and forth over the steering wheel and seemed to be looking into the distance. “But then, I’ve never asked because I never talk about it.”

“You said you did one other time, outside your parents and that fourth grader. And it was bad. Tell me about that.”

Keren scowled at him. “You listen like you’re some kind of … of …”

“Pastor?” Paul smiled at her.

“Yeah.” She slumped in her car seat. “Just like a pastor.”

“Occupational hazard.” Then silence stretched, and Paul quietly prayed for her to feel safe with him, safe enough to tell what was obviously a very difficult story. And for himself to have some wisdom to offer. Wisdom didn’t seem to be one of his gifts when it came to Keren.

Apparently the silent treatment worked. Keren inhaled slowly and said, “I was engaged once.”

That caused a very basic, very unpleasant reaction.

Jealousy.

Paul was shocked at the strength of it. Now he was afraid to talk for fear of saying something stupid.

“What happened?” There, that sounded neutral enough.

“I had a lifetime of secrecy behind me, but I knew I really needed to be open with the man I wanted to marry. I kept putting it off more out of habit than anything.” Keren sounded guilty, like she blamed herself for the end of her relationship. “In fact, I put it off until the night he proposed. But he was a strong Christian. He was a decent man, someone I really thought God had chosen for me. It seemed so right.”

“It was obviously wrong.” Paul didn’t think he quite managed neutrality with that comment.

“Obviously.” Keren nodded. “I really didn’t think he’d be put off by it. He produced the ring and I said yes.”

Paul could hear the bewilderment and hurt in her voice.