Who’s
an Angel?
by
Frederick Borsch
“You’re an angel.” Has anyone ever said that to
you?
My
mother said it to me when I was a tyke, at least now and then. “My
little angel,” she smiled, patting my head. Probably once
or twice I actually was a little angel wearing my wings in a Christmas
pageant. Thinking back on it, especially when I was hurt or got
myself into some trouble, I believe she was my angel.
Now
we are older. Perhaps you have given up your seat to someone who
seemed burdened, or you have let another in a hurry go ahead of
you in line. “You’re an angel,” they said, just
touching your shoulder. Or maybe you stopped to listen and offered
some thoughtful advice. Or perhaps you only listened, while a friend
figured things out. Maybe there was a time when you helped a colleague
avoid a big mistake or enabled a young person to shape a career
decision.
Or
it has happened to you. Someone forgave you. Maybe they gave you
a smile one day when you weren’t feeling good about yourself.
Or some Samaritan has gone further and pulled you
out of a ditch you got yourself into. One day, out in the hot desert
of Southern California, I was on my way to the dedication of a new
church when my car conked out. Two tough looking young men tossed
my bishop’s regalia onto the truck bed and squeezed me into
the cab of their pick-up and drove me to the church on time. “Say
a prayer for us, padre.”
“How
can I thank you?” I asked.
“Just
pass it on,” they replied.
“You
guys are angels,” I told them.
They
looked surprised. But who knows? If what it means to be an angel
is to be a messenger from God, then someone who comes to our aid,
brings us the touch of God’s love, or perhaps offers us a
good challenge or an opportunity to do the forgiving ourselves can
be that messenger. And then we may pass it on.
And
who knows, too, if there are yet other emissaries? Probably Mary
did not blurt out, “You’re an angel” to Gabriel.
In the way of human events, maybe—at least at first—she
did not know for certain. Maybe only thinking back on it did she
realize for sure that she had been visited by a messenger of God’s
love and challenge.
Maybe,
in different ways, that happens to all of us.
Copyright
©2006 Frederick Borsch
|
