Angels

"No, I never saw an angel, but it is irrelevant whether I saw one or not.  I feel their presence around me."   -Paulo Coelho

Angels have been on my mind lately.  The word angel has several origins, the most common being the Late Latin "angelus," meaning "messenger from God."  I've found that as I go through a day, however mundane, I usually have an angel drop by.  

My angels are sometimes visible, in human form, as when someone says just exactly what I needed to hear at that very moment, whether I knew it or not.  The hairs on the back of my neck tingle and travel down my arms to form goosebumps. It is hard to ignore something as visceral as that.

I find that angels are also present in forms I can't describe.  Events are orchestrated and outcomes happen for the best through no machinations of my own, even though I sometimes only see those in hindsight.  I have felt angels' guidance in times of great difficulty, when the path I am to follow is so crystal clear it might as well be a yellow brick road.  When I am graced with a certainty too strong to be ignored, I have learned to follow.

Would that I had the ability to conjure up a Bean-friendly angel whenever I felt the need for guidance, life would sail smoothly along.  It doesn't seem to work that way.  I am graced with angels on some other-worldly timeline I can't begin to comprehend.  While it would be nice to have my own personal angel on call as needed, I've found that expecting or trying to force that to be a frustrating exercise in futility.

What I can do is try to recognize and acknowledge angels' presence in my life, and try to heed the messages I am given when they come.  It is as simple, and as complicated as that.  I try to maintain a state of readiness and willingness, and then get out of the way so I hear the message instead of the jumbled cacophony of my own mind.