a reunion.....

Whew!
It's been awhile...
So, this weekend I saw my old friend, Laurie.
She is one of my oldest and dearest friends that I have been out-of-contact with for 7 years because she had what some would call a mental breakdown but what I would call a dabble into the occult which resulted in her losing everything dear to her, including her mind.
To be honest, I NEVER thought I would see her again.
I had given up on all hope that she would survive the ordeal which cost her everything; her kids, her home, her art, her reputation, her friends and family.
She is the picture of what happens to you if your "seed" is scattered on the rocks and devoured by the birds of the air, literally.
How?
In April of 2001, Laurie called me to say that she had gotten saved that Sunday and she was to be baptized on Easter Sunday.
Hallelujah! My prayers had been answered. I was so excited! I sent her a bible and told her to start reading John and then suggested she get involved in a church.
She did neither.
Instead, she set about changing everything in her life. She was going to earn her salvation somehow and she started going down the road of self-improvement. I told her that God is in the business of changing our hearts and growing us into His image. I encouraged her to get to know God through His Word and through fellowship with other Christians, to no avail.
By that summer she was full into this new-age idea of cleansing oneself of all encumbrences that keep us from our full potential; she divorced her husband, gave away her belongings, fasted for weeks on end, and started communing with the dead.
She claimed she was a prophetess of "God" and she was given visions of the future, some which came true, most which were ridiculous, she claimed "God" loved the f-word and if you disagreed with her, she discarded you, hence, I was so discarded.
She took on a new name, Talia, which I did some research on and come to find out Talia is the english form of Tabitha, in Hebrew Sabean, which was the name of the maurading force that killed Job's family, in other words, Laurie took on the name of the demonic force used to kill Job's family.
Cooincidence?
I think not.
Anyhoo, to make a short story long, when we took Taylor, Laurie's daughter who spent the weekend with us, back to her aunt's house Laurie was there and she was civil to me. We chit-chatted, I kept it very light, and when we went to leave she followed me out and spoke heart-felt words of thanks for staying in touch with Taylor. An hour and a half later we left and she hugged me.
Huh...didnt' expect that.
I'm still processing it all but I can say with certainty that our friendship will never be the same as it was(we grew up together, went to school together, friends for over 30 years!).
I have needed to hear from her what in the world happened?
She was so awful to me...she said some things that haunt me to this day that play in my mind over and over...and yet, I know it wasn't her.
Does she recall the events that I believe took her soul????
And how does one emerge from darkness if not from the Light???
I sensed NO Light in her.
Is the darkness just under the surface???
?????????????
New territory for me, goodness, I have no idea what to do with it.
I will pray for wisdom and understanding and my eyes are wide open, this time.
I am without words.