Angels

I have heard that the vast majority of Americans believe in angels. While the concept of angels has been in my awareness for as long as I can recall, I’ve never really given them much thought. To be honest, I’ve spend more time musing over ghosts than angels.

A friend of mine told me a story about a man she and her children met on a difficult hike. My friends were having difficulty with the ascent and the man told them, “Don’t go until you can see all of your footfalls. Then go and don’t stop until you get there.” It turned out to be the perfect advice for them to conquer their fears about the technical climb and reach the summit. In addition, my friend and I were struck with how pertinent his advice was for life in general, not just for the moment on the trail. (I feel as if I could write a whole follow up to an earlier post of mine based on that quote!) As my friend spoke of the man she said, “He was an angel for sure.”

In my mind, a real honest to goodness “angel” is different from a human being who acts like an angel. I am certain the latter exists. When I think of human angels, I’m inspired by their impeccable timing mixed with generosity, compassion, and wisdom. When encountering people acting without generosity, compassion, and wisdom, it’s tempting to believe the natural condition of humanity is negative. At the heart of the matter, I doubt this is actually true, but can get disheartened by the news of the world.

I think that’s why I’m hopeful that “real honest to goodness angels” are active in our world. It seems we could use some help in the generosity, compassion, and wisdom front. If there are real angels, it shouldn’t take away our responsibility to make a difference. It should be a model for how we can operate in our world.

I would absolutely love to hear your personal angel stories!