She smiled in return at me and said, "I love sharing this job with you Elon!"
"I love sharing it with you Zora!"
More time passed by before Zora asked, "Do you see that kind of changeover in churches often?"
I shook my head no, "No, such outpourings are rare. Not because the Spirit of God isn't willing, but rather because the Spirit of God isn't pursued in order to bring revival. People settle for the substance of a cracker when they could've had a whole meal."
Zora nodded, "I was talking to one of the pastors and he was saying that for many believers their faith has come down to attending church a few times a year most notably at Christmas and Easter."
I nodded grimly at the sad revelation of faith in America. I had seen it all before, but America at one time had been a special place. It was hard to see a path of return to that former glory, but nothing was impossible for God.
I glanced at Zora, "That sad revelation aside something that really bothers me is that the two religious events that these people choose to attend are the most mixed up of all. Christmas should be celebrated in September when Jesus was actually born. It was moved to December by the early church to coincide with a pagan holiday. Their hope was that by giving the pagans a chance to still be able to celebrate something that more of them would convert to Christianity. Whether that worked I'm not sure, but the paganistic symbolism of the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, which translates back to a Babylonian god all muddy up the birth of Jesus in a way that I do not like. Easter in my opinion is an even worse tragedy."
"How is Easter a tragedy?" Zora exclaimed.
"Well for starters it shouldn't be called Easter, but instead it should be called Resurrection Day. The holiday like Christmas was moved to line up with a pagan holiday. Resurrection Day should be celebrated several weeks earlier than it typically is in much of the Christian world. Remember the name of the demon I wrestled with at Flint's house in Italy?"
"It was Ishtar wasn't it?" Zora said hesitantly and I nodded in confirmation.
"Ishtar was a woman in early Babylonian times who set herself up to be worshiped as a fertility goddess. She was a witch and like any time when someone delves into the dark magic or the occult they expose themselves to being possessed by demons, which become the person's familiar spirit. A familiar spirit is a demon that can manifest the persona of the person it inhabits as well as having access to that person's memories and thoughts."