She answered, "Yes."

So he shot her.

Dead.

Those who have stood on the brink and faced eternity, through violence or accident, and have lived to tell the tale, never forget the experience. At that moment of truth, in most cases, one does the right thing or one dies. Many who have stood upon the precipice can imagine the temptation of Cassie Bernall. Poor Cassie Bernall had to do the right thing anddie.

On April 20, 1999 evil came to a high school in Littleton, Colorado.

Satan had chosen that day to call home two of his earthly minions - but he had a final chore for them. He wanted them to come home bearing a harvest of souls as proof of their fealty. And not just any souls. He commanded of them to bring him the choicest souls of all - those of Christians who had denied their faith in their Lord.

It was not to be a good day for Satan.

Satan's minions obeyed his commands with unspeakable relish. They shot and they killed and they laughed as they slew. They reveled in the Satan inspired illusion that the power to murder was the power of God. For a few short moments in their lives they held absolute power and its attendant corruption.

Amidst the smoke and the deafening blasts and the screams of pain and horror stood a terrified Cassie Bernall and the other Christian students she so wonderfully exemplifies. Cassie Bernall's moment of truth was near to hand, but Satan had to set one final trap for her. First Cassie had to watch another girl plead for her life, and in an apparent act of mercy, be spared.

Almost all who have stood upon the precipice speak of the heightening of perceptions and a slowing of time. This is, in fact, a misreading of a surge of adrenalin and an increase in the speed of thought as the brain races to find the best possible survival strategy. Time seems to stretch into infinity. In most cases this is a blessing, in Cassie's case it was probably a curse.

Because Cassie had time to think.

Satan had gone to great pains to take Cassie and her Christian friends. His plan was to strip her of all options except those of his choosing. At this he succeeded. First he deprived her of the physical option. The natural reaction to imminent death is fight or flight. The apparent slowing of time aids in the selection and execution of the appropriate response. Cassie could do neither. Nor could she use reason. A maniacal monster on a killing spree was holding instant death in his hand as he screamed, "Do you believe in God?" There was no option for a rational discussion on theology or comparative religion. Satan had Cassie right where he wanted her - isolated on the spiritual plane.

And thus began the temptation of Cassie Bernall.

In the distorted time of that instant Cassie surely weighed her options. How strong was her faith? Was there really a God? Was she ready to die for Him? Would denying Him save her? The shooter had shown 'mercy' once. But if she was spared would it be at the cost of her soul? What if she denied her Lord and died regardless?

Without words, Satan gave her the same temptation he gave to Jesus. "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."

He offered her a false hope of life in exchange for her soul.

When Cassie left for school that fateful morning no one could have guessed that she and her friends were about to enter into the epic battle of God and Satan. Satan had come for a harvest of souls but the Christians held true. Each time Cassie and her friends answered the question, "Do you believe in God?" with a "Yes" their voices surely re-echoed to heaven itself as the words of Jesus, "Get thee hence, Satan." With each affirmation of faith did the heavens sing.

It was not a good day for Satan.

Cassie Bernall and her friends now stand in honor at God's side. And surely they devote their time to praying the Lord will ease the pain and grief of their parents and loved ones, and of parents throughout the nation and the world. Surely they pray that people understand that on April 20, 1999 Satan came to Littleton for the souls of Christian children, but thanks to the children's faith, he left wailing with only his minions in tow.

The children of Littleton had won.

"Do you believe in God?"

She answered, "Yes."

So he shot her.

Dead.

And shortly thereafter they both stood before St. Peter.

Copyright 2001, Entropy Squared.