Angels among us

Angels among us

Sometimes a total stranger can have an impact on you that you’ve never thought was possible.  It can be as simple as a smile when you’re sad or as totally unexpected as money when you desperately need it.   When this happens it is often dismissed as a kind gesture rather than a message.  There are messages all around but we don’t always pay as much attention to them as we should.  When something needs to be really heard it will come through in an unexpected way to you. 

Imagine for a moment that you’re at the lowest point in your life and you’re ready to give up on everything.  You’re sitting on a bench at the park trying to figure out how you got to where you are.  Suddenly a complete stranger sits down besides you and says hi.  You mumble hello back but are annoyed this person even started talking to you.  The stranger continues his conversation with you and suddenly you listen even though you don’t know why.  

“It really is a lovely day today, isn’t it?  I mean it is cold but the sun is shining.   I see you’re not in the mood to talk and that’s okay but I get the feeling maybe I should keep talking because you need to listen.   My name isn’t important but I think I see where you are emotionally and I want you to know that you need to pick yourself up.  I mean, you’re young and have so much to look forward to.  Perhaps whatever is going on is a lesson.  I remember a time when I had a lesson about life that really sucked.  I was in my twenty’s and had a great job but one day the company just shut its doors and I was without a job.  Everything seemed to be going wrong and my car was on its last leg.  I lost my home and was living in my car because I couldn’t find a job.  I had about $5 in my pocket and that was it.  I remember that day I nearly gave up too.  My car was out of gas and it was freezing out.  I thought that I’d just go jump off a bridge into the river and end things because no one cared either way.   I didn’t have any family and no friends and my life seemed like it was over.  I walked in the freezing rain and snow to the bridge over the river and looked down.  I was crying and it was so cold out that my tears were stinging my face.  I looked up and yelled at God that it was because he had forgotten about me.  I started to climb over the railing and heard tires screeching behind me as a car crashed into the bridge railing about 100 feet away.   Something kicked in inside me and I ran to the car to see if I could help the person inside.  As I got closer I noticed a car seat in the back and heard a baby crying.  There was a woman in the front who looked badly injured.  I flagged down a car and asked them to call for help.   The woman had a black eye and busted lip and a cut on her forehead.  The child in the backseat was crying but didn’t appear injured.   I turned the car off and sang a lullaby to the baby while we waited for help to arrive.  When the ambulance and police got there I went to the hospital with them.   At the hospital a man showed up angry with a bruised and bandaged hand.  He grabbed the woman roughly and demanded he see his child.  He kept saying it was her fault and she caused everything. Something kicked in for me and I pushed him away from the woman and stood between them.  The police seemed to notice what was going on too and an officer asked her if she needed help.  She said she had been trying to get away from him with her child because he had been hitting her.  He was arrested and she was okay so I thought I’d slip away.  She called me her angel and asked me to help her get home.  She felt safe now that her man was in jail.  Well, that turned out to be what changed my entire life.  That moment on the bridge and my decision to help.  It was what helped me find my way.  You know I’ve been through hell and back but that night will always serve as a reminder that life is precious.  So remember your life is precious too.  Have some faith in that and it will guide you to the point of turnaround for you.  I see the potential in you.  So let me be the first to tell you - I believe in you. Trust that.  Believe in yourself.  Things will get better.  Have faith.”  

Then the stranger is gone. You never got his name.  You never spoke to him other than to grumble hello.  But you remember every word he said.  And you heard his message. Have faith.  Believe in yourself. Trust.  Seemed almost too simple but it was like a wake up for you.  And like that your entire outlook is different.  You got the message loud and clear. 

There are angels among us.  There are people who we meet for a moment who have a huge impact on our lives.  Sometimes we don’t even realize it until much later in life.  And sometimes we are the angel for someone without even knowing it.  A kind word or gesture can go a long way for someone who is hurting.  Sure there are those that give money to someone to help get them in their feet or give someone a job or even those people who leave this world but donate their organs for others to live.  You never really know who they are or maybe you have known them all your life but there are angels among us.  The most important message they have is to remember you are loved by so many even if you don’t realize it.  Your life matters.   Have faith, true and always believe in yourself.  

I believe there are angels among us and we encounter them every day.  Heck, maybe we have an angel as a friend or maybe it is a total stranger that just starts talking to you. Over the years I have encountered people who have changed my life with simple gestures.  I think we all have but maybe we don’t think about it.  Perhaps we all need to take a moment and be an angel for someone - just to remind us that we are all capable of being an angel to someone else.  

Love to you all.