A Halloween Story

Do you like scary stories? Since it’s Halloween season I thought I’d give homage to my pal, Rod. He passed away almost 10 years ago but his memory lives on. He was a lawyer who had so many talents, he played lead guitar, composed music and wrote terrific prose — he even wrote his own musical play. Halloween season reminds me of Rod because he told the scariest stories. I wanted to share this before but I just didn’t know how to describe it in paper. I figured I’d attempt it now. I welcome your proof reading corrections.

A gathering of wide-eyed friends were huddled around Rodney as he told this original “true story” (yeah, right!):

MARIA’S WALK HOME
by Rod G

Maria was on her way home from school. School was located at the East side of the village while Maria’s home was at the other end, on the West the village. In between them was the village cemetery (this is a horror story so of course there had to be a cemetery). Nobody took the shortcut because it would mean passing beside the cemetery. (You know where this is going, right?)

But this one night … this one lunar night … Maria was exhausted from overtime schoolwork. She wanted to go home to relax in her warm comfortable bed. “Forget this superstitious warning! I’m going to take the silly shortcut!” (Oh noooo!)

Maria walked alone under the late evening moon. The claps of her wooden sandals echoed with the crickets and frogs of the night. As she approached the entrance of the cemetery, something moved. It was an old shrouded woman sitting quietly on the ground and counting white pebbles. Maria glanced over her shoulder. It was too late to walk back. She had to move forward. She walked cautiously as she passed the woman. But that’s when the woman noticed her and stopped counting. Maria couldn’t look at the woman’s face because it was covered with the shroud but when she looked down at the pebbles … they weren’t pebbles. They were human bones.

“Screeeam!!!” Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! — went Maria as she dashed for home. Her wooden sandals flew in the air as she ran barefooted.

The faster she ran, the faster the footsteps behind her. The woman covered her face with her left hand but she swatted furiously to grab Maria with her right hand. Wooosh! Wooosh! Wooosh!

“Come here!” Wooosh! “Come here!” Wooosh! Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! — went the woman behind her.

Up ahead, just a hundred yards away, Maria could see the light from her home. “Mama help me! Mama help me!!” Maria shrieked in terror. Maria doubled the pace … but so did the old woman.

Then Maria heard “Wooosh – Wooosh!” Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! “Wooosh – Wooosh!” Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! “Wooosh – Wooosh!”

Two hands were now closing in. The shroud no longer covered the face. The snarling face was haggard and wrinkled with sharp and dirty teeth that matched her sharp and dirty fingernails.

“Screeeam!!!”Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter! “Mama! Mama!”

Wooosh – Wooosh! Wooosh – Wooosh! Wooosh – Wooosh! Wooosh – Wooosh!

“That’s odd,” thought Maria, “there’s something different with the sound. What happened to the Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!?!? … Oh no! … it can’t be! … the old woman’s feet no longer touched the ground. The witch was AIRBORNE! Screeeeeeeeeeeeeam!”

And that was the end of the story. And all my angry friends knocked Rod off his chair. We laughed because we knew he made it all up but we enjoyed being scared.

I loved Rod. Despite his brilliance, Rod lived a troubled life. I felt his pain. He was a proud and stubborn man. Prayed for him for years. When I shared the Gospel with him, he thought I was trapping him and was not open to new teachings. He was very defensive. Who was I to preach to a lawyer? He planned to come and visit me in California and he bragged about it and I was thrilled to be able to spend more time with him. But that opportunity never came.

My cousin called me. Rod had a stroke so I dropped everything and took a flight to be by his deathbed. That’s how important this was to me. The apostle Paul reminded us that “it is by faith and not of works that one is saved” so I prayed with him just in case there was still some cognitive activity. They pulled the plug two days after.

Thanks Rod for the jokes, the Halloween stories … the memories.

Have a good Halloween weekend my friends. TGIF!

Raoul

Joke of the Week

Parting Shots

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Found these

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Do You Believe in Ghosts?

WARNING: Move to the jokes if sensitive about spiritual ideas.

“Your room is haunted,” declared Tata.

Tata is my Dad’s caregiver in our ancestral home in Dalipuga, Philippines. She, like many locals in the area, believes in multo (ghosts), dwende (elves), mangkukulam (witches), kapre (dark, hairy tree giants), and a host of other feared denizens of the night.

We were having dinner and I asked her if she heard the shrill of the neighborhood dog around 2am. It was as if it was being bludgeoned to death. To my surprise, Tata said that howling happens often. According to Tata, the dog is seeing a ghost of a young girl who was murdered years ago. The girl keeps going back to the scene of the crime. That’s when Tata opened up about the spirits around us.

She pointed at the far side of the garden and she said that’s one of the ghost’s favorite haunting spots. She said the upstairs guest room (where I stayed) was haunted. She often hears strange sounds coming from there even when no one was inside the room. She pointed at the rocking chair outside the guest room. “One time,” she said, “the rocking chair was rocking like someone was on it.” That’s why she doesn’t like to go upstairs. “Really?!?” I said with delight — “I’d love to meet that ghost.” You should have seen Tata’s bewildered expression. She didn’t think it was funny.

(Do you believe in ghosts? I don’t. I believe there are supernatural beings but not ghosts. I believe there are demons who pretend to be ghosts. Am I afraid? Nope. In fact, I don’t get scared watching any horror movie. They’re all Hollywood silliness to me. My God is greater than any of that.)

The next day, monsoon rain was coming and the wind started to shake the plants and trees. At the shaded area in the far side of the garden I imagined the “ghosts” were having a little party. That’s when a practical joke formed in my head. I took a picture and doctored it up a bit. And showed the picture to Tata. “Here is your ghost!” I declared.

Tata stared at it. I could tell what she was thinking — “Finally! Proof!” It was interesting to see her reaction. She tried to act calm and cool about it.

Then I told her it was fake. I even showed her the real photo but it made no difference. She still believes in ghosts and all the other silly superstitions. She didn’t see how gullible she was.

It bothers me that some apparitions have turned locations into holy shrines. Why do they venerate something they do not understand? Why do they worship shapes and faces in trees or in dripping ceilings. Please forgive me for what I am about to say. I do not mean to be insulting but this is a genuine question: Isn’t it possible they may be praying to demons? Shocking, huh? And don’t take comfort in numbers. A lot of people can be wrong. I realize some of you may be into these kinds of practices (so no disrespect) — I’m just hoping you’d consider a perspective few talk about.

How do you differentiate demonic from angelic activity? Take a hint from scripture. Every time miracles (good things) or apparitions occur, the angels and holy men refuse to be worshiped by man. Instead they all point to God, the true source of power. Only the one true God is to be worshiped (the very first commandment). It’s an insult to give reverence to anyone else. Let that sink in.

“Most people don’t really want the truth. They just want the constant reassurance that what they believe is the truth.” — Anonymous

“The reason you don’t know you’ve been lied to, conditioned and brainwashed is because you’ve been lied to, conditioned and brainwashed.” — Anonymous

Next time you see a man’s face in your toasted bread … just eat it.

But this is just me. TGIF people!

Raoul

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Garie of Paranaque, Philippines

Video of the Week

Thanks to Wyne of Mandaluyong for this outstandingly funny and clever video.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA

Outstanding Halloween Costumes

I love Rodney’s sense of humor

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with these.

The post Tickets to NASCAR appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Turn It On!

[This article is a little religious so skip to the jokes if it makes you nervous please.]

Some look at the world today and it can be really doom and gloom. It’s COVID, it’s politics, it’s the environment. I was just on a zoom session with some friends in the Philippines where COVID is still spreading unabated. However, instead of sadness, they were laughing and joking around and sharing experiences from their corner of Manila.

“How can you be so happy?” I asked.

They looked at each other and then one of them said, “what else can we do?”

It’s the old wisdom from the pub: “In heaven there is no beer, that’s why we drink it here,” right? Indeed, what else can they do? I love their positive attitude and I’d probably do the same thing if I were there: Do what you can and just wait. But if you had the power to correct the troubles of this dark dark world, where would you start?

According to the action-packed book of Mark, Jesus waited to start His mission when he was already a grown man and one of Jesus’ first call to order was removing a demon from a man inside the synagogue. Why? I imagine Jesus looking at a scene from a horror movie. The world from His spiritual glasses was dark, misty, gloomy, and sickeningly polluted. He needed to start cleaning up the mess and he started where the pollution was oozing out. Ironically, it was coming from the synagogue, the Jewish house of worship. Instead of a factory of beautiful angels, it was churning evil. It was so bad that a demon had no qualms about being in there. It’s possible he was the priest in charge. In fact, the demon-possessed man said: “Hey, I know you! You’re Jesus, the son of God! What brings you to my place of business? Wanna buy a watch, Joe?”

“Whatever!” — Zap!! And the demon screams out of the man.

The zombie onlookers go: “What’s the buzz man? Is this a new teaching? Was that in the program?”

The cleanup campaign had begun. And it was one synagogue after another. The city was lighting up. Crowds followed Jesus with curiosity and left with new hope. How cool was that? And this all happened in Chapter 1 of the gospel of Mark.

Two words caught my attention — “demon-possessed.” How do you tell if someone is demon-possessed? I’m thinking of some politicians and tycoons who seem to fit the description. I did a little research and Jeremy Myers (I don’t know who is) made a lot of sense in his article: What are the signs of Demonic Possession?

“There is no sure and certain list by which to determine if someone is possessed by a demon, nor is there a step-by-step guide to follow if we think someone is possessed … instead of worrying about a demon behind every corner … we should be filling our minds on Christ … look for signs of God at work in the lives of others.” And he ends with this: “Look for glimpses of glory shining through. Look for evidence of grace, mercy, and hope. Look for healing, redemption, and forgiveness. As we look for these signs in the lives of others, we will inspire them to live in these ways, and in so doing, expand the rule and reign of God on earth.”

Sure, it’s a broken world we live in but living in fear and desperation is exactly what the devil wants. Let there be joy. Let there be hope … a real hope founded in the light of the Gospel.

Let’s get out our cell phones and turn on that light. All together now! “This little light of mine … I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Oh, (praise God!) let it shine.”

Of course, this is just me … hope you agree.

TGIF people!

Raoul

Joke of the Week

Remember my college buddy Rodney from Alexandria, VA? I mentioned him last week. Here’s one of the jokes we always laughed at.

Delightful Video of the Week

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood. This may be the solution to all our problems.

Parting Shots 

Thanks to Debbie of Moreno Valley, CA

Thanks to Mel of Washington, DC

Thanks to Jeff of Pasadena, CA.

Thanks to Peter Paul of South Pasadena, CA

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