A Story about Good over Evil

Satan is ecstatic. His plan is working as more and more people turn against each other...

The people with generators or battery-operated radios discovered that the electricity across the United States, Canada, and Mexico was out. No reason was given for the outage, and because they did not know why, they could not tell when it would come back on.

Slowly, the reality of what a gift electricity was began to sink into everyone’s mind. Most of our water comes from municipalities that pump the water from the source to the treatment facility and then out to the homes, businesses, and buildings. The backup generators will run for a given time until the stored propane or fuel set aside for these emergencies runs out.

Then, the water is no longer under pressure, and none comes out of the tap. Toilets won’t flush without water.

Many homes had standby generators, but they soon ran out of standby fuel. Now refrigerators and freezers are useless, and food is already in short supply.

Stores without electricity cannot operate, cash registers need juice to run, and the stores cooling systems for cold and frozen foods become useless as their standby supply of fuel runs out.

Many city dwellers realize that their toilets are backing up because the pumps are not moving the wastewater to the treatment facility.

Vehicles run out of fuel (gas or electric) and sit dead.

Homes have no lights, no heat or air conditioning. People who are on some medical equipment begin to die as standby sources of fuel run out.

There is no reason to go to work as there is no way to transport or make the goods. The economy has hit a brick wall, and people are now desperate.

Satan is ecstatic. His plan is working as more and more people turn against each other. Stealing and mobs swarming over anyone hoarding water or canned food are sought out. No one is safe or has any means of hope for tomorrow.

Art rode his bike to see Fr. Joe at the rectory. Art said the Blessed Mother told him that Her Son wants everyone to pray for Jesus to help them.

Fr. Joe sighed and said, “How, Arrow, no one is here but a few faithful in front of the Tabernacle. How can I get to most people without help from the media and electronics!”

Arrow said that Fr. Joe must not lose faith. Begin with one and have the one tell another so there are two. Two become four, and so on.

So, Fr. Joe gathers his faithful and tells them the good news from Arrow, that Jesus is asking for prayer to help all the people. Fr. Joe’s faithful go out and tell others they know are loyal, and soon there are many praying for help.

Now Damien and his minions are living fat and happy as they have stored enough of everything they need. Damien has no platform to preach from as all electric devices lay dead without power. But Satan advises Damien to get out and speak up against the hope that some of the people are preaching about, or their cause will die. Satan has North America on the ropes at this point with no food, water, or hope.

As the word of the few faithful began to spread like wildfire, churches and places of worship began to reopen, and people flocked in for group prayer and worship. The religious leaders began instructing the people to ask for forgiveness and the Catholics to confess.

Satan is now in a state of shock at how fast people are abandoning his false promises of hate, ego, and pride. Material wealth is worthless when you are thirsty and hungry. Hope begins to spread wildfire, and people are starting to share whatever they have with those who have nothing.

Religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim and other denominations pass the word about instructing the faithful to worship God and pray for those who are leading them astray.

Jesus sees that there is genuine sorrow for walking away from Him and tells His Mother that the time has come to fix the electric problem.

Blessed Mother tells Art that Her Son will turn on the electricity that Satan turned off. Arrow tells the religious leaders who pass the word to all their people who have returned to their faith. This is all done by word of mouth from home to home.

Electricity comes back on after 90 days of being out. Some wisest men and women remark on how fast a civilized society can crumble to chaos and hate.

After three months of electricity returning, factories are running, food is being processed, and life is returning to normal.

Church attendance has been overwhelming, and many younger religious leaders were pushing to have the places of worship enlarged to accommodate the crowds. But wise, older members suggested that we should wait to see if attendance holds.

Six months after the return of electric power, normal is back in full swing. Attendance of religious service begins to wane and fall off with the older generation.

However, Fr. Joe and others see a difference as the younger generation brings their friends to church. The number of men applying to the Seminary has maxed out the space to house and teach the new seminarians. Young faithful with husbands and children are fulling the pews and are engaged in the faith.

Parents of school-age children are suggesting changes to the parish's religious education programs. They would like to see more Bible studies and the history of our religion replace coloring and pasting projects.

The younger faithful are not going to let Satan put us in harm's way again in their lifetime.

Note:  I was walking on a beautiful July 19, 2024, day, looking at the blue sky and green trees and listening to the birds. I was thankful for all that God gave me: a wonderful best friend and wife, children, home, food, and safety. Then, as I walked along, I began to think how Satan could take it away, and the story above was created.

However, those who lived through the four days without electricity during the Northeast Power Outage on Thursday, August 14, 2003, which even took out much of Canada, know how quickly no electricity can create a problem. Now think about 90 days without power!

Say a prayer of thanksgiving for all that God has given you and I.

David Tay

Men of the Sacred Hearts