New Information on Ted Rice, Part 4/5, The Funniest Story in Masquerade of Angels
All Scripture
quotes are NKJV from biblegateway.com.
This hilarious scene was one of the funny parts of the book about Ted Rice’s life. In three previous posts, I shared the not-so-funny part. Ted had been receiving hypnotherapy from researcher Barbara Bartholic, who became a very good friend. Meanwhile, Ted’s friends, none of whom fully understood all the implications of what he was going through, would have terrifying and incomprehensible experiences whenever they would visit him and spend the night. The episode below was taken verbatim out of Masquerade, pages 215–217:
"Ted felt she [Barbara] was right, that abductions probably begin early in life, but it
didn’t make him feel any better about what had happened to his friends. And he
was miserably frightened whenever he thought about the things that had been
done to him, so much so that he could not bear to be in the mobile home alone
any more. After reliving the memories of his death and the cloning of a new
body, he feared the aliens might come back, as they had promised to do from
time to time, and perpetrate new outrages upon him.
"He asked his friend Larry, who happened to be black, to move
into the trailer for a while, at least until he had time to recover from his
shattered sense of reality. And even with Larry’s presence in the house, Ted
had trouble going to bed. In desperation, he
began to surround himself with religious objects every night before retiring.
He covered the bed with a total of eleven Bibles, he slept clutching a large wooden
cross for protection, and he kept a small night light turned on in the corner
of the room. Ensconced in the middle of all this paraphernalia, Ted fervently
prayed himself to sleep, but it was a fitful sleep.
"One particular night, when Larry had
turned up the heat in the trailer, Ted was so sweaty that he stripped the heavy
covers from his bed and went to sleep with only a sheet over his body. The
eleven Bibles were spread all around, the wooden cross was firmly in hand, and
overhead the ceiling fan stirred a breeze to cool him even more.
"He had finally drifted off to sleep, so
he was not aware when his cat, Grandma, came silently into the room looking for
a spot on the bed where she could curl up for the night. Grandma had always
slept with Ted, but since his return from Barbara’s the cat had temporarily
abandoned her usual space beside him at night.
"She must have decided to overlook his
weird behavior that night, because she was back. The cat looked around at all
the books on the bed, and unable to see a clearing, Grandma leaped over the
mess and landed right on top of Ted. 'Aaaahhh!' he screamed in panic, certain
that the aliens were back to get him. He flailed up from the bed, scattering
Bibles in every direction and brandishing the wooden cross as if it were a
sword.
"The sheet flew up and caught on the
rotating fan blades, circling like a spinning ghost above him, and Grandma
dived for cover. In the dark, Ted had no idea what was moving around him, but
he beat defensively at the unknown invader, slapping the cross down again and
again, rebuking in all directions, as the creature dived here and there trying
to escape the attack.
"'Aaaahhh!' he screamed again, and the cat squalled out in pain as the sheet swept back and forth across Ted’s bobbing head. The great commotion woke up Larry, who came hurrying down the hall toward Ted’s bedroom. He barged through the open door, and when he saw the ghostly sheet swirling around in the dimly lit room, Larry screamed out, 'Haints! Haints!'
"Pandemonium reigned, with Larry shouting,
Ted screaming, and Grandma squalling, all at the top of their lungs. Somebody
finally managed to turn on the light, and at last Ted could see just what had
invaded his sanctuary. Grandma saw her moment to escape and tore off down the hallway,
with Larry in hot pursuit. Ted hurried after them, still clutching the cross,
but it was quite a while before they could catch the frightened cat and make
sure she was not harmed.
"Things calmed down at last, and Ted had a
good laugh at himself and his paranoia. He and Larry cleaned up the mess in the
bedroom and tried to get back to sleep for the rest of the night.
"'My mama always said that white people were strange,' Larry shook his head, walking back to his room. 'She doesn’t know the half of it.'"
The Peace that passes understanding
My UFO studies have caused me to greatly
appreciate various passages in the Old Testament.
Psalm 3:3–But You, O Lord, are a shield
for me, my glory and the One who lifts my head.
Verse 5–I lay down and slept; I awoke,
for Lord sustained me.
Psalm 4:1–Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and
hear my prayer.
Isaiah 26:3–You will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
Notice a couple of keys in those
passages. David called on God in a time of distress. God is not a Force or a
movement. He is a Person, One of Three. Jesus called Him Father, and located
Him in heaven, which is a real place, not a matrix program on some cosmic
computer.
In addition, David’s mind was “stayed” on
God, meaning fixed, foremost in David’s thinking. The result of David’s faith
and obedience was that God was his shield. There are businesses today called
Home Shield or Car Shield or Legal Zoom, or there’s life insurance companies to
ensure that circumstances of life do not overwhelm their clients. Better than
all of that, God will be our shield in front and our rearguard behind us. We may
still suffer loss and misfortune, but we will never be alone.
In the New Testament, Jesus promised his
followers peace: John 16:33–These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you
may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I
have overcome the world.
This promise is for those who are IN
Christ. Getting free from demonic bondage can be a ferocious fight and may be a long process. We may not always be happy, but we can always have joy, and if our
circumstances are so wretched that joy seems allusive, we still have peace.
Just being in church doesn’t mean you are in Christ any more than sitting in
the garage makes you a car. Your baptismal certificate won’t guarantee that
protection when you are older and are walking away from the religion of your
youth. We are saved by grace through faith, but at some point, that faith needs
to be directing your choices in life.
We can never say that bad things don’t
happen to good or religious people. Our faith simply assures us that no matter
what circumstances assail us, we are in His hands. Our Father can turn all
things to a good purpose and make our lives meaningful.
For this reason, I strongly recommend
raising your kids in church and having them be baptized or dedicated early in
life. Taking them to Sunday School is important. It’s also important for
adults, because Christians who want to walk a perfect path but don’t have a
good foundation in biblical teaching can fall for the scams of those who can
quote Scripture, but twist for their own personal gain.
One more piece of advice. If you’re
shopping around looking for a church, avoid any that are steeped in partisan
politics. If you’re in one already, run!
There are more parts to come. Don't miss Part 5, The Final Stunning Revelation.
This story can also be seen at New Information on Ted Rice, Part 4, The Funniest Story in Masquerade of Angels | by Janet Katherine Smith | Nov, 2023 | Medium
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