Doug Tales 119: Spiritual Shielding, Part Three

Doug Mendenhall learned quite a lot about the metaphysical world by experimenting again and again, and then asking questions of Christ about what happened. He talks about various experiences with spiritual shielding—both personal and historical—in Conquering Spiritual Evil, Volume One (2012), on pages 76-79:

Here are a few more examples of spiritual shields. We live in a rural area where the reception from some radio stations is hard to get at our house. So one winter evening I drove outside of town to get good reception so I could listen to a football game. I had turned the car off and was sitting there listening to the game when I noticed that all the windows had fogged up. But I could see something flying by the windshield. The city lights were off in the distance and made it easy to see this phenomenon. It was going from North to South, or from my left to right. It looked like “ghosts” or spirits flying by. If it was spirits, our city was being invaded by millions of them, I thought. I was soon to find out that I had jumped to the wrong conclusion.

I re-parked the car so that I could see the city lights out of the windows to my left, front, and right side. Whatever it was that was flying by was going around the car and not into the city as I had thought. Sitting there dumbfounded and amazed, I wondered what in the world it was, so I started praying and asking.

The Spirit told me, “As if by fire.”

“What do you mean, Father, as if by fire?”

My mind was directed to several scriptures. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi and his brother Lehi were cast into prison and had an astonishing experience.

“And after they had been cast into prison many days without food, behold, they went forth into the prison to take them that they might slay them.

“And it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi were encircled about as if by fire, even insomuch that they durst not lay their hands upon them for fear lest they should be burned. Nevertheless, Nephi and Lehi were not burned; and they were as standing in the midst of fire and were not burned.

“And when they saw that they were encircled about with a pillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage.” (Helaman 5:22-24)

I realized that I was seeing a spiritual shield that looked like “white” fire encircling the car. Was it a “pillar of fire” around the car? There are many instances of “fire” or a “pillar of fire” in the scriptures.

“And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.

“And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them.” (3 Nephi 17:23-24)

And once again:

“And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

“And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.” (3 Nephi 19:13-14)

The Spirit helped me remember three men in the Old Testament named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were cast into the fire by Nebuchadnezzar and were not harmed as they and the “Son of God” walked around inside of the furnace. Was it possible that a spiritual shield made it so that “the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” (Daniel 3:27)

During another time I was listening late at night to the radio outside of town, the shield was there but not swirling around the car. It looked like a fire from the fireplace. In fact I could see its reflection in my glasses while looking in the rear-view mirror. It looked exactly like I was sitting in front of a fireplace, even had the yellow-gold color of fire. I watched it swirl one direction, then the other direction, then stop and not swirl at all. It is actually quite fun to watch.

A great story is related by L. Taylor Hansen in the book He Walked the Americas (1963):

“The city of Caba Clos first saw the Pale God when He stopped the tempest and jelled the sea for His ship’s landing, then easily walked across the waters. They remembered His strange magnetism for before Him the fiercest animals lay down and allowed Him to caress them.

“For His One God, the Divine Spirit, they built a temple. Then He left them to teach other nations, promising to return to dedicate the temple.

“Alas for man and his jealous priesthood. The Sacrificers were again in power when once more the Pale God, Sume, returned. The priests had busily told the people that this was a demon who had bewitched them. Accordingly when Sume returned along the highway in His long white mantle and His great staff, keeping His promise to the people to dedicate His temple, warriors lay in wait behind the bushes, their arrows already strung in their long-bows.

“The puzzled people, led by the black-robed Sacrificers came forward. Then at a signal from the Head priest the warriors sprang out of the foliage and a rain of arrows went toward the Prophet.

“Standing atop a slight mound, Sume raised His palms high over His head and called aloud in a foreign language.

“Then a curious miracle happened. A curtain of flame, fiercely whirling, came down upon Him from the heavens, clear up to now with a bright sun shining. This curtain circled all about the Healer. The arrows of the Caba-Clos warriors could not penetrate the curtain. They glanced off as if from hard rock and struck again through the bows which had sent them, burying their shafts deep in the breasts of the senders.

“When the people saw this they were stricken with terror, and the priesthood fell down sobbing.

“In the center of the curtain Sume stood waiting, and when it lifted He turned his back upon them and walked away sadly along the seashore. His footsteps were pressed deeply in the wet sand, where none have ever been able to erase them.” (pp. 147-148)

What a great story about the Savior shielding Himself against an attack with what apparently looked like fire. It is also a great reminder that He has proclaimed that what we give out to others will come back to us, though sometimes sooner than we expect.