This episode I’m going to start things off a little bit differently. I’m going to read a chapter from my upcoming book of essays, Walking on the Edge of Crazy. This essay is titled “Of Demons and Angels.” I also want to say before I start, that I am open to all religions and belief systems. It does not matter to me what you believe, or whether you believe at all. If you are a good human being who is kind to others, then it’s not my, nor anyone else’s place to judge you.

The preacher stood at the pulpit with his sweat stained armpits cocked towards the heavens. His hands snatched at the air in a pleading gesture as he shouted of fire and brimstone, Hell and damnation, Sodom and Gomorrah. 

His striped tie was slung over his left shoulder like a noose and the veins in his neck surged fat with blood. With his deep red face on the verge of explosion, he spewed his verbal tirade without taking a breath. 

Hours had passed since the Revival began. I felt spellbound and at the same time terrified. My eyes were fixated on this strange, plump, gray-haired man with the southern accent as he hopped around the stage and made claim to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ himself. All around me echoed “Hallelujah’s!” and “Amen’s!”

One by one they formed a line to the stage; the young, the old, the rich, the derelict. All seemed to carry some secret internal pain that required cleansing. The preacher’s wife began to sing “Amazing Grace” in a sweet falsetto voice that could only be matched by that of an angel. 

My thirteen-year-old mind struggled to make sense of the scene before me. As each one of the lonely, the sad and the weary reached the preacher he would place his hand on their forehead and ask them to repent.  The congregation shouted “Thank you Jesus!” and he pushed them back into the arms of two burly men in dark jackets who laid them to rest on the cold tile floor…Read More on my website under the Show Notes tab: https://awomaninthewoods.com/show-notes-2/

Question of the Week:

Where do you find the strongest connection to your own soul? Is is it in a church? Through spending time with good friends? Alone in meditation? Maybe you find it while out on a hike in nature like I do. Wherever you find it, I would love to hear from you.

You can send your answers to me by email at: tracy@awomaninthewoods.com or record a message directly through your computer or mobile device at Speakpipe. The URL for Speakpipe is: speakpipe.com/awomaninthewoods.

**Hammerklavier’s gospel piano and organ by Timbre on Freesound.org

https://freesound.org/people/Timbre/sounds/85020/