Robert and Ben were raised in a fundamental Christian environment and held a firm belief in the existence of Satan. Any supernatural occurrence outside of their understanding would be placed at Satan?s door, as a manifestation of evil. The cynic may say that Satan formed the archetype of their ignorance, yet to these friends he was the spiritual architect creating the fabric of this, our reality.
Robert believes that Satan is ?the spirit of the air? (according to his understanding of scripture) and therefore all that we touch and imbibe must be tainted by Satan?s celestial breath.
Satan is to Robert a master of fashion and simply uses the creative expression of human artwork at any given moment in time, as the vehicle to mislead. Thus, the flying ?saucepans? of the 1950s have now transformed themselves into sophisticated and sleek objects for the year 2000.
One day these friends were returning from a meal out, walking together down a long and dimly lit lane towards home. There was a flash of light just ahead and they were both staggered to see what they later described as a UFO.
The UFO hovered amidst the clouds, emitting an ethereal glow. Shaped like a tuning fork and illuminating the road ahead with a splash of brilliant white light it remained suspended for approximately 30 seconds before vanishing without a trace.
Both friends turned towards each other; jointly acknowledging the vision.
Robert knew within himself that Satan was putting him to the test. He reasoned that Satan was attempting to mislead him into a belief system involving extraterrestrial life forms, as Robert had an interest in science fiction and therefore Satan must be using this facet of his imagination against him.
Ben, whose faith had been wavering of late, instantly dismissed the tuning fork as nothing to be concerned about, although accepting that it was indeed a strange event.
To Robert, Ben manifested fear and chose ignorance as a shield against the truth. By Ben?s reaction, the confirmation of Satan?s presence was profound and Robert had little doubt in his mind that this was a sign for him to increases his activity towards Christ; perhaps helping people like Ben to firm their faith.
Both friends eventually drifted apart and several years after the ?tuning fork? experience they met once more to share tales and past experiences.
Robert still asserted that the UFO experience was Satanic, while Ben refused to talk in any detail about the event and had assigned it to his vault, never to be reopened.
What strikes me about this experience is the subjectivity involved.
If Robert and Ben were bought up in a secular environment and were perhaps influenced by contemporary science, rather than religious dogma, would they have reacted in the same way?
I think not.
It is more than likely the event would have been defined as a natural phenomenon without a clear explanation, considering the objective nature of this age.
However, this experience propelled Robert into the distinctly mystical, thus leading him to a so-called religious experience?
It is always fascinating how subjective these events become depending upon the predisposition of the spectator(s) involved and as this is always the case; we are never any closer to a determination of actual truth.
These events often promote a feeling of awe and this fits rather snugly within a religious context. There is a heightened sense of awareness and often this will be interpreted as a quasi-spiritual experience. A man may be struck dumb with fear, or temporarily overcome by emotion and to a man like Robert; this will be his road to Damascus.
To the ?conspiracy freak? this will no doubt confirm that technology is being withheld and those pesky scientists are playing with new toys in the sky.
To the Hindu, this manifestation may well be defined as a demon or one of the many Gods that form the greater reality that links us to Brahma.
To the atheist this may well confirm that there is life upon other planets and if there is life on other planets then our uniqueness diminishes and the power of the Bible?s central doctrine weakens.
And so, truth as ever is obscured by the fog of subjectivity and one?s head continues to bounce from theory to theory.
Robert?s world is a comfortable realm of boxes that are clearly defined. There is one God, one Devil and one saviour. Our life depends upon obedience to the Bible laws and our faith in Christ. Robert is far more self-assured than I and he lives a life ignoring other possibilities and has a greater share of that elusive commodity, contentment.
It is easy to sneer at Robert?s explanation of this reality, but ultimately he may be as right as the next man.
Who is to say?
As a tuning fork performs the task of clarifying a particular note to the musician, this tuning fork clarified Satan within Robert?s mind, yet to me, the note I heard after hearing the tale was indistinct.