Episode Seventy-Eight: The Byte-Micah Burgess

Micah talks dreams in this episode. Hear how a terrifying set of dreams set him off on a course he never imagined-and? How those dreams bled into his waking life-turning on lights both in his room, and in his head.

Transcript

Welcome to episode 78 of Bite-Sized Blessings.

I've got a fun announcement this week.

I'm not sure how many listeners are listening all the way to the end of the episode,

But every once in a while,

I end the episode after the credits with a little Easter egg,

And this episode is no exception.

So for the theology nerds out there,

You might like the very,

Very end of this episode.

There's a little treat there right after the credits.

In this episode,

I get to interview a friend,

Micah Burgess,

And to say that he's just a husband and a father would be very reductionist.

He's also one of the kindest and most thoughtful people I know.

My friend Sparks,

One of the former guests on the podcast,

Died recently,

And because he was homeless,

He didn't have any money left for a burial or a coffin,

Everything that you need to end your life with dignity in this country.

I mentioned the fact that we didn't have a coffin and Micah was the first person.

He just stepped forward and he said,

I will do it,

And he did.

So when I say that Micah is kind and thoughtful and willing to do whatever it takes to make this world better for others,

That's a little bit of an understatement.

I do have to say that there is a trigger warning with this episode,

And it's a different kind of trigger warning this time.

If you are sensitive at all to the idea of demons or demonic presences,

Or the fact that these entities might exist in this plane or travel from wherever they might exist,

This episode might be triggering for you.

Micah and I do discuss what his dreams might have meant instead of actual demon visitation,

But I did want to put it out there that if you're sensitive to this kind of subject,

Please take care,

Don't listen if it's going to upset you.

Please take care of yourself.

So now,

Episode 78 of Bite-Sized Blessings.

They were weird and scary,

And I to this day have never been more freaked out as that period in my life,

That season.

I had a series or a season of dreams that I would describe as demonic.

They were terrifying.

I was engaged at the time,

Preparing to be married,

And I started having these dreams that I thought were real life.

Even after I woke up,

Could not shake it.

Like it was,

It just stuck with me.

I couldn't stop thinking about it,

And I was scared even in the daylight.

Scared to go to bed,

Didn't want to go to bed,

Because I knew I would just jump right back in.

You were talking about the dreams you were having.

Oh,

Yeah.

Why are you laughing now?

Oh no,

I'm laughing because they're a trip,

And they were weird and scary,

And I to this day have never been more freaked out as that period in my life,

That season.

I had a series or a season of dreams that I would describe as demonic.

They were terrifying.

I was engaged at the time,

Preparing to be married,

And I started having these dreams that I thought were real life.

Even after I woke up,

Could not shake it.

Like it was,

It just stuck with me.

I couldn't stop thinking about it,

And I was scared even in the daylight.

I'm scared to go to bed,

Didn't want to go to bed,

Because I knew I would just jump right back in.

The first dream,

I was in the house that I grew up in,

And I was walking down the street.

You know how dreams jump back and forth from your time,

So bear with me.

But then my wife,

We were married,

We had a kid with us.

We were asked to house sit for our neighbors down the street.

I,

Again,

In the neighborhood I grew up in.

Walked in,

They showed us the house,

They talked about the dogs and how to take care of everything.

We put our bags down,

And I was about to get in the shower,

And all of a sudden,

Three voices,

All at the same time,

Whispered into my ear,

And all the lights went out.

And I was like,

What was that?

And they whispered,

Where is your God now?

I was like,

Whoa.

I freaked out,

Flipped the lights back on and off,

And Corinne heard me freaking out,

And she opens the door so light enters the room from where she was,

And she's like,

What is going on?

And I was like,

Corinne,

I need you to get out of here.

I have to deal with something.

And I closed the door behind her,

But the light stayed in the room,

And then these voices from all around just start tormenting me,

And embarrassing me,

And insulting me,

And all this weird crazy stuff.

And the light starts shrinking down to my feet,

Kind of in a circle,

And the circle's getting smaller,

Until it gets just to my feet,

And I screamed out in the dream,

Jesus help me,

Because that's what I knew to say.

I don't know.

And that voice screamed brutally loud into my ears.

All of the lights went white,

And light bulbs started popping,

And I wake up,

And all of the lights in my room are on,

And they slowly turn off and dim until it's back to the normal setting in my room,

And I cannot move.

I'm like shaking and terrified.

I could tell that I had been breathing really hard,

And was trying to catch my breath again,

But I was frozen.

And then the last thing that happened was that this voice said my name,

And it said,

Micah,

I know who you are,

And I know where to find you.

And then it went away.

And I was like,

What happened?

What was that?

And I worked at the golf course at the time,

And I had to wake up at like 3 30 in the morning to go to work at 4,

And worked until noon,

And then generally took a nap,

And then went on with my day.

That was the first dream,

And it stuck with me,

And I'm like processing for days afterwards.

And then the next dream occurs,

And the next dream,

I'm like,

I'm still engaged,

We're not married yet,

I fall asleep.

I am at the church that my parents started,

And they started small and in a school building.

So we're in this big giant school building,

And for some reason there's this random chandelier that's hanging.

It's important later,

But it was there,

And I don't know why because it's a school,

But there's a chandelier.

And I see this person that I'm like,

I see this person that I worked with in Africa,

And I'm so excited to see them,

And they are massively pregnant,

Like about to pop pregnant.

And I'm so stoked to see them,

And I'm like,

Whoa,

I didn't know you were pregnant,

And they're like,

Yeah,

It just kind of happened,

It was weird.

But I look into their eyes,

And their eyes are completely black.

Like their irises had taken over everything in their eyeballs.

It was very creepy,

But I just kind of kept going,

And all of their responses weren't,

There was no joy,

And it was all,

And this person is the most joyful person you will ever meet.

But they start talking in that voice,

And that's every answer they give me is in that voice.

So I'm like,

Hey,

How have you been?

How are things in Africa?

They're not great.

Things have happened,

You know,

And it's this like three or four voices in one talking to me.

And I'm just going along with it.

I'm not really thinking about it at the time.

And then I ask a question that I guess triggered this thing inside of her,

And she grabs me by the throat,

And throws me up into the chandelier,

And is holding me in the chandelier.

And the same thing happens.

She says,

Where is your God now?

And all the lights go out.

And then I'm like,

Everyone's trying to help,

And grab me off the chandelier,

And pull her away from me.

And then I look down,

And her stomach is freaking out.

Like something is inside of it.

Finally,

I'm like,

I know what to do.

And I yell at everyone,

And I'm like,

Get out.

I need to handle this on my own.

This is not yours to handle.

So everyone's like,

Well,

Okay.

And they leave and run away,

And I pray to me because that's all I knew what to do.

And she screams again,

And the lights pop,

And I wake up,

And the lights are on again in my room.

But this time,

I have to go and turn the lights off in my room.

But my experience was that this thing turned the lights on in my room,

And I had to go turn them off.

So then I'm talking to my parents about it,

And I'm talking to pastors at the church about it,

Meeting with them,

With my fiance.

People are praying over me,

And a few months later,

I'm married.

We are on our honeymoon and in the hotel room,

And the third dream occurs.

And there's a ship out away from the dock at this lake that we used to visit when I was a kid.

And me and my wife are there,

And this ship is sinking,

And there's children on it.

And I'm freaking out.

And I'm like,

Okay,

Everybody call 911.

I'm going to go out there and see if I can start bringing kids back to the dock.

So I'm swimming out there.

They find a paddle boat,

So my family paddles out there,

And I'm handing kids off to the people on the boat.

Then I go inside of the boat,

And I'm calling around.

And again,

It's filling with water,

So water's like up to my knees.

Calling out,

Anybody else here?

And there's this figure in the corner that's shaped like an old woman with long,

Drabby hair.

Clearly not the woman that would have been with these children,

I don't think.

But I was thinking the best,

And I was like,

Hey,

I'll help you out.

Come,

You know,

Can you come to me,

Or do I need to get over to you?

And she says,

Where is your God now?

In those three voices,

Again.

I froze,

And there wasn't anything I could do.

And this is where the sleep paralysis got really real.

She grabs me by the throat and shoves me into the water,

And I can't move.

I can't scream out.

Nothing.

I wake up just at the point that I was about to die,

Because I couldn't scream or pray because I'm underwater.

I wake up and am choking,

And it felt like something was holding me by the throat,

And I can't catch my breath or breathe for what felt like a long time.

And Corinne,

I'm awake,

Corinne is holding me by the arms,

Shaking me,

My wife,

Shaking me,

Asking me to wake up,

And I'm awake,

But I can't do anything.

It got to a really uncomfortable point where I thought I was going to die,

Until I was finally able to breathe,

And the spell or whatever lifted.

I don't know.

And there weren't any marks on my throat or anything like that.

That was definitely the scariest of them all,

Because I was being,

You know,

Choked while I was awake by something that was happening in my dreams.

That's the end of that series of dreams.

That's the end of that series of dreams.

I still to this day don't know what to think of it.

And I've talked to a lot of people,

Spiritual leaders and pastors,

And all of their answers are very cliche,

And oh,

Well,

I've talked to this person,

And they experienced a similar sleep paralysis,

And then it turns out they were just eating cheese before they went to bed,

Or they were possessed by demons,

And,

You know,

We prayed for them,

And then the demons left,

And they stopped having these dreams,

And seeking help felt worthless to me.

What I did get from these dreams was that I needed to separate my spirit from the church,

Quote unquote,

And make my spirituality my own.

Thanks for listening to Episode 78 of Bite-Sized Blessings.

I think it's important to note that even though Micah felt that he was surrounded in darkness,

He was absolutely always surrounded by light in the end.

So no matter what the dark stories are for our lives,

Where those shadows lie in our houses and our heads,

Remember that there's always light,

Always,

And if you seek it,

It will come to you.

I need to thank Micah for being so open and generous with the stories of his dreams,

And I need to thank the creators of the music used,

Frank Schroeder,

Chilled Music,

Alex Productions,

Sasha End,

Music L.

Files,

And Alexander Nakarada.

For complete attribution,

Please see the Bite-Sized Blessings website at bite-sized-blessings.

Com.

On the website,

You'll find links to books,

Music,

Film clips,

And playlists.

I think we'll lift and inspire you.

Thank you for listening,

And here's my one request.

In the deepest,

Deepest darkness of your life,

Be like Micah.

Always look for the light.

Always look for the light,

Knowing that eventually it will find you.

Being radically loving is difficult right now.

Yeah.

Oh yeah,

Absolutely.

That is a very interesting response,

And I'm grateful for it.

It's probably the more,

No one else has used eschatological,

Eschatology.

That word,

I can't,

It's one of those words that always trips me up.

I'm like,

I always want to add extra,

Like,

Letters,

Syllables.

Yeah,

Eschatology.

There is another one that's like epitome.

Epitome?

Epistemological.

Epistemo- Epistemological.

Something like that,

Yeah.

Anyways.

Why can't these words be shorter and have less letters?