We’re all called to pray for all living and dead, however odious, at times, that may seem.
In this regard, one thinks of Jeffrey Epstein (deceased) and his partner Ghislaine Maxwell (living)—both tied to a massive underage trafficking scandal dominating headlines.
Pray also for the many prominent people who were associated with them and are hiding in plain sight.
And of course, above all, for the victims: The most well-known of these, Virginia Giuffre, killed herself just weeks ago, after unusual complications from a car accident. She is one of at least four suicides associated with this case. (It is claimed that Epstein and an associate in Paris also killed themselves, though Epstein’s cause of death is a matter of debate.)
But here’s the point: besides the obvious, and beyond the conspiracy theories, was there a hidden spiritual side?
One thing that comes across is how frightened of Epstein many were.
Take legendary editor Tina Brown (The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and the Daily Beast, which had been investigating him).
She says Epstein once showed up uninvited to her office and sat in a seat in front of her desk, having somehow evaded security. “It was a very chilling experience,” she related on a recent podcast. “I mean, it was scary, actually.”
“I stood by the door, and I said to him, ‘Jeffrey… what are you doing here?’ He said, ‘Just stop.’ And he looked at me with this kind of snake eyes, cold, and it was menacing. It was really menacing. And he pointed his finger and he said, ‘Just stop.’”
More chilling was what investigative journalist Vicky Ward, who was writing Epstein stories for Vanity Fair, and also worked at CNN, experienced.
At one point during her investigation, Ward was pregnant with twins.
“I have to say that was when I really felt that he crossed a line that nobody I’ve reported on has ever crossed before or since,” she says. “He then made threats about having a witch doctor place a curse on my unborn children. He wanted to know the exact hospital that I was giving birth and when, and it was upsetting that he had a dossier compiled on my husband and threatened that he could get my husband fired. These are not things that someone who’s pregnant really wants to hear.”
“Then I went into labor very, very prematurely. And I have to say, as my babies were there, fighting for their lives, all I could think of was that he had won.”
Praise God, he had not.
And let us continue in prayer for the other victims, and for our nation.