Deacon Jude Tam Tran

THE PSYCHIC

“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:31
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6

That morning, the young Vietnamese woman hesitated in front of the small shop for a long moment before opening the door. The sign in the window promised “Spiritual Guidance, Past Life Readings, and Communication with Departed Loved Ones.” The letters were written in dramatic purple ink, decorated with tiny painted stars and crescent moons. A faint smell of incense drifted through a crack in the door.

She wasn’t there out of curiosity or entertainment. She was there because her heart missed her grandmother.

Her grandmother had been everything to her growing up. She was the one who made soup when she was sick, who tied her hair before school, who told her stories of the old country, and whose gentle hands always seemed to know how to calm every fear. When her grandmother passed away, it felt like the world lost a little of its warmth. No matter how much time passed, the ache of that loss remained.

So, when a friend mentioned this psychic—someone who could connect people to loved ones on the other side—hope flickered inside her. Maybe I can hear her voice one more time, she thought. Maybe I can tell her how much I miss her. Maybe I can say things I never got the chance to say.

Inside, the room was dimly lit. Heavy curtains covered the windows, and a small round table sat in the middle, draped with a dark velvet cloth. The psychic sat on the other side, her eyes closed, her fingers resting lightly on the table as if she were already stirring the air around them.

“Are you ready?” the psychic asked softly.

The young woman nodded. Her heart pounded.

The room grew silent. The psychic’s eyelids began to quiver, her breathing deepened, and her hands lifted slightly above the table. A low moan escaped her lips as though she were tuning in to another world. Then, in a trembling voice, the psychic spoke:

“Granddaughter? Are you there?”

The young woman’s eyes widened. Her throat tightened.

“Grandmother?” she whispered, leaning forward. “Is that you?”

“Yes, granddaughter, it is me,” the voice said.

For a brief moment, emotion rushed over her. Goosebumps covered her arms. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. It sounded like a miracle might be happening.

But then something nudged her thoughts.

A tiny voice inside her, a voice of truth and memory, whispered, Wait a minute…

She studied the psychic closely and asked, “Grandmother, are you sure it’s you?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” came the reply.

The young woman paused, her brow furrowing in confusion. Then she spoke the question that ended everything:

“Grandmother… I have known you all my life, and I never once heard you speak even one word of English. So, tell me… when did you learn to speak English?”

The room went silent.

No moaning. No trembling. No floating hands. Just an awkward, hollow quiet.

And just like that, the spirit “departed.”

The performance was over. The lights came back on. The mysticism evaporated. And the young Vietnamese woman walked out with her money still in her purse—but something else in her heart: clarity.

It’s easy to smile at a story like that. It almost feels like the ending of a clever joke. But there’s a much deeper truth hidden inside it—one that reaches beyond psychics and séances and touches the ways we search for meaning, comfort, and direction every day.

When we are lonely, grieving, confused, or lost, we are tempted to look everywhere for answers. We look to horoscopes, fortune tellers, psychics, tarot cards, palm readings, or even just “signs from the universe.” We want some assurance that our loved ones are okay, that our lives are on the right path, that everything will somehow make sense.

But not every voice that speaks is a true one.

The Bible gives a very clear warning about this kind of spiritual deception:

“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:31

It is a command from God, identifying these practices as a source of defilement and urging people to seek guidance from Him instead

Jesus, on the other hand, makes a very bold and simple statement:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6

In other words, if we want truth, comfort, direction, and real spiritual connection, we don’t need a dark room and a trembling voice. We need Jesus—the One who conquered death, the One who hears our prayers, and the One who does not need theatrics to speak into our lives.

The young woman in the story walked in looking for her grandmother. Instead, she walked out with a valuable lesson: not everything that glows in the dark is holy, and not every voice that claims to be familiar is real.

And this applies to far more than psychics and séances.

We see it in life all the time.

Every day, we are surrounded by voices—voices of culture, fear, social media, opinion, trend, and even our own emotions. All of them claim to speak truth. All of them try to guide us. But only one voice is eternal, faithful, and trustworthy: the voice of God.