If you've never heard of Derald Cochran before reading this article about him, don't feel bad. He isn't famous. But if Derald Cochran's story is true, his life was literally saved by an angel. Derald had been racing full speed down the path to his own destruction, abusing both alcohol and drugs after his younger brother Mike was murdered and set on fire in a drug deal gone bad. He was raging out of control.  "I had a lot of hate," Derald says.  "I reeked in hate.  It radiated from me.  My eyes were black, from what I've been told by people who knew me." After a five day non-stop binge of partying, Derald found himself "on my hands and knees on the floor puking up blood.  Then all of a sudden I felt a warmth, an incredible warmth all over me." From an incredibly bright light, Derald claimed that he saw the figure of an ethereal being emerge. Then he heard a voice say, "You have been chosen to be a light unto others."  Derald's reaction was fairly typical for a nonbeliever of the supernatural or spiritual phenomena. "I knew then I'd finally flipped," he said.  "I'd lost it.  Gone right over the edge. The next thing I remember was this incredible feeling of peace." Once upon a time, Derald Cochran had lost his own biological children to children's services. After his transformative experience, he became a foster parent and even adopted a child. Once an alcoholic and drug addict, Derald Cochran eventually served on the board of directors for BARN, the Bangor Area Recovery Network. Police officer James Owen, who knew Derald before his life changed, said, "He was a … [Read more...]