Angels in the Snow and Rain
We get chances, opportunities for clarity about our path, and they come to us again and again until we see them for what they are and take hold of their wisdom — and there are angels among us who help in this by showing up with a map into our inner awareness. Eventually and at last we awaken to those opportunities — some might say, in the nick of time.
But what about these angels? How do we know if we’ve met one?
We usually don’t until later, often not until they’re gone. It’s more than likely they share our space and life for just a short duration, yet in that time we are in some way transformed.
Angels Appear
Sometimes an angel appears for little more than a few minutes. One very snowy New Year’s Eve, my windshield wipers stopped working. I managed to get to a garage but it was closed, as was almost everything else. There was no way I was going to make it home in the dusk. It would be dark by the time I crossed the bridge over the river and I would be unable to see where I was going. It was also very cold outside, and my efforts to fix the wipers were futile. Suddenly a man walked around the corner and came over and asked what the trouble was, and when I told him, he opened the garage and got tools to fix the wipers just enough that I could drive safely the eight miles home. He wouldn’t accept payment. He had been about to leave work, he said, but came out back for no good reason — unaware I was there. I never saw him again. Though I went back to the garage more than once to thank him, he was never there.
That’s one way you know if it’s an angel — you never see them again, but they show up when you need them as a gift from the Universe.
Angel Messages
Often angels show up to offer us another way of seeing, and by a word or action bring us a spiritual message we need to hear and make a part of our own life.
I remember vividly arriving in southern California after a cross-country car journey and staying with a couple who took in my son and me (and our golden retriever!) on no more authority than the word of a friend back east. For three weeks they helped us, getting a receptionist’s job for me, taking my son deep sea fishing, giving of their home and all its comforts. I got settled in a town an hour down the coast and we never saw them again. It was as if we had crossed paths so that my son and I could begin to make a life in what was to us an exotic and marvelous new country of experience. And then the link was gone, as if its purpose was complete. I’ve never forgotten their kindness and unassuming generosity, and ever since, I have been aware of the need for us to share what we have without expectation of a reward. They were wonderful teachers — truly angels.
Gifts of Life
I’ve had many such encounters.
I’m guessing so have you.
It’s one good reason to see everyone who crosses your path with some measure of careful attention.
And who knows — it may be that you are meant to be an angel for someone whose path you cross for even just a little while…
(Do leave a story about your encounter with an angel among us — I’d love to read it, and others reading this post would as well — a gift of the heart.)
Amazing post, Regina, thanks again for sharing your experience and inspiration. Last week when I was about to leave the supermarket with bags full of groceries, I decided to go back and see if I needed anything else, albeit I have never did it before. I didn’t know why I went back and I didn’t buy anything, but I met an old women near the bread shelf who was desperately counting money. I asked if she needed help and she told me that she can’t afford to buy a loaf (the prices raised last month). I bought that loaf and give her some cash and happily and at the same time sadly go home. I go to the same supermarket almost every day but haven’t met that woman again… there are many other instances when someone was an angel to me and I’m to someone. But we rarely notice it. Thanks Regina, it’s incredible reminder
The story about the wiper blades was the one that caught my attention. That is one for the books and a reminder that our experiences sometimes defy explanation. Sometimes breakthroughs in thinking come when least expected but that is not the same as a physical intervention.
Back in the eighties, I ended a destructive relationship that was both personal and involved a business. The business account had substantial fees that I could not afford to pay in order to close it. In the mail. I received a check from my workman’s comp policy for overpayment. It was the right amount to settle with the bank and completely unexpected. Some things are so miraculous that they stay with you for a lifetime.
I had an encounter with an Angel. I had had to file bankruptcy and do a short sale on my house. All this despite working 3 jobs! I was selling everything I had except the essentials, bedroom set, TV, computer.
I was having yet another yard sale and was becoming more and more upset selling off all I had worked so hard for since my divorce.
A small, Mexican lady came up the driveway. Her name was Maria. She said she lived in the neighborhood behind me. We talked for a while. I don’t remember if she bought anything, but she gave me a small book.
When she left, my neighbor said to me, “you became so relaxed when you saw her”. She was right. There was a peace I hadn’t felt in quite a while.
I found a label with an address on it. I wanted to let her know how much her visit meant to me. I found the house, knocked on the door, no answer. I went back a couple more times. No answer. Never did speak to her or see her again. ?