Vampires, werewolves, wizards, shape-shifters—why are people so fascinated with these characters? Are they just flights of fancy or something more sinister? It turns out that they are, in fact, front men for the biggest supernatural "wannabe" in history!

Not surprisingly, in a recent interview in the Children's Books section of About.com, Kim Patton, president of the Young Adult Library Services Association in America, described the continuing trend in 2011 of teen fascination with supernatural themes and vampires, ghosts and zombies. Maybe you've been overly transfixed with those subjects too. If so, then you might like to know that they're all supernatural counterfeits!

There's a tell-all book, high on the Vertical Thought recommended reading list, that reveals a great deal about actual supernatural beings. It contains amazing true stories about real angels and demons. The latter, by the way, were once holy angels, who rebelled and are now fallen angels called demons. They're not friendly. And their leader—the supernatural wannabe himself—bears the title of Devil, which means "accuser" or "slanderer." He's got other names too, none of them good.

This terrific book is principally concerned, however, with the ultimate good guys—the supernatural divine Beings. It reveals the God family, comprising God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Plus the book recounts all sorts of adventures of people like you and me who directly communicated and interacted (sometimes well, sometimes badly) with these great, divine Supernaturals.

That interaction is going on at this very moment. And this book—the Holy Bible—tells us how we should interact, revealing the divinely directed way of living based on love for God and love for neighbor. Unfortunately, most of humankind have ignored or outright rejected this way of living, tuned themselves into the evil way of the supernatural wannabe Devil and are now, as a global civilization, beginning to suffer a new and frightful round of consequences.

Those supernatural consequences include the recent natural disasters that have befallen the planet. With recent droughts in China, Australia, southern Africa, Texas and elsewhere, combined with too much rain in parts of Europe and North America plus the most devastating tornados in the U.S. in many decades, mankind is hurting. This comes on the heels of the devastation in Japan. Ocean waves are beautiful, but a massive tsunami is not. When the crust of the earth is calm we don't often think about it, yet how terrified we become when it shakes and quakes!

Take some time to muse on this issue of VT. With the topic of earthquakes in mind, consider the creative power of the God's supernatural forces at work around us today as you read "What's Shakin' Terra Firma?" by Mario Seiglie.

And please realize that as a Vertical Thought reader, you're already involved with the supreme good guys and their divine supernatural power that created and sustains the universe. In fact, as another of this issue's articles explains, God has a plan, and you're a part of it. Keep thinking vertically!