Peek behind the curtain

"I feel that life is divided between the horrible and the miserable. That's the two categories. …" (Woody Allen, Annie Hall)

Daniel 10 saves my faith. When the news stories get bad (which is always) and I wonder where God is and why He allows such suffering and violence and injustice, I remember this true story:

The Israelite exile was standing on the bank of the Tigris in Persia about 539 B.C. when an angel appeared and said something strange. He had been dispatched with a message from God to Daniel as soon as the young man had prayed, but was detained for 21 days by a demon, a "prince," who evidently exercised (still exercises?) influence over the kingdom of Persia (present day Iran). At this point a "chief prince" among the angels by the name of Michael came to the rescue of the first angel, who was finally able to deliver his message.

Reading this account is like being an archaeologist at a site where only shards of artifacts and fragments of lettered obelisks remain to piece together the life of a rich civilization. There is the hint of a teeming spiritual dimension beyond our sensate reality, replete with military structures and spheres of authority. We are tipped off that answers to our prayers may be delayed because events in the unseen spirit world have an impact on events in our seen world.

I put a hand over my mouth. I have spoken in ignorance. There is much behind the curtain that we do not see.