The following is an excerpt from our new book release, Castles in the Sand, the first novel ever written to expose the dangers of contemplative spirituality.
CHAPTER ONE
Run
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. Proverbs 4:26-27
March 2009
No one noticed the slender girl in the shadows pick up her backpack, tiptoe through the maze of bodies and slip out the back door. The other students were preoccupied as they sat cross-legged on yoga mats while images of Mary, baby Jesus, Celtic crosses, and a winged sun disc flashed across a screen in the darkened room. Two intern youth pastors lay on their backs by the incense station, their eyes glazed as if in a trance. One of them softly chanted a Latin phrase
over and over in time to the repetitive beat. The sound man had long since stopped changing the music and lay nearly motionless on the floor beside the control panel.
As the girl exited the room and let the door quietly swing shut behind her, candles flickered and a paper in the hallway floated to the ground. It read:
Thompson Building, Room 109
Welcome Flat Plains Bible College Students
EKSTASIS NIGHT
A WORSHIP EXPERIENCE
7:00 p.m. Friday March 27th
All First Year SPIRITUAL FORMATION Students
Required to Participate
*go deeper*make space for God*
She leaned against the back of the door for a moment, heart pounding. “Okay Tessa Dawson,” she whispered to herself, “you either just did the right thing or a very stupid thing. Now run!” While her panicked eyes quickly determined the nearest exit out of the building, she scooped up the paper, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into a nearby garbage can before racing down the hall. Her long brunette braids bounced madly behind her as she ran toward the stairwell. Suddenly, she heard muffled shouting in the distance, then footsteps coming down the flight of stairs above her.
Spurred on by fear, Tessa ran toward the nearest door, hoping desperately it would open.
Locked! She rushed to the next door and tried the knob.
Locked! She could barely breathe.
Keep going, keep going, she thought frantically. Turning the corner, she glanced over her shoulder. With furrowed eyebrows, she quietly turned the handle on the lecture hall door. The door swung open. Relief washed over her as she rushed in and quietly closed the door behind her. Inside, the room was deathly silent and inky black. Even the moon’s usual casting of long creepy shadows on its walls was missing, for the moon was hidden behind the churning, dark, and ominous clouds that filled the evening sky. Leaning against the nearest wall, the slightly built girl slumped to the floor and rested her head between her knees.
Exhausted and breathing heavily, she sat for a few minutes in the dark, trying to gather her thoughts. She had stayed in room 109 far too long.
Why couldn’t I break away? she wondered. Has this place turned into a prison after all?
Doubts had been brewing in her mind for some time, and now she realized there was only one thing to do. She must escape. They would soon be looking for her, she realized abruptly with a renewed sense of panic. There was no time to waste. (Click here to read the entire first chapter of Castles in the Sand.)
Book Information:
Release Date: May 29, 2009
ISBN 978-0-9791315-4-7
Retail – $12.95
Softbound 224 Pages
Illustrated
For more information or to order, click here.
