Visited By An Angel

 Remember the popular CBS television show, Touched by an Angel, starring Della Reese, Roma Downey, and John Dye? I especially enjoyed the show because of its decisively candid religious theme. Angels from God visited humans on earth in a variety of roles. The angels brought hope and inspiration to those at the crossroads of life or facing tragedy with the message to "turn to God." The show started a fad of angel pins wearers.

 I had learned about angels in Sunday School. I knew angels served as messengers from God in the Old and New Testament. Sometimes, the angels appeared directly or in dreams or spoke from heaven. The biblical accounts most familiar to me were:
. the angel calling out to Hagar in the desert, with her son, fleeing Sarah
. the angel annunciation of the Christ child to Mary
. the angel annunciation of the ressurection of Jesus to Mary Magdalene and the other women

 I knew some angels were cherubims and seraphins whose role was to glorify and worship God. Others brought warnings and recompense. I learned that I had a personal guardian angel whose job was to guard and protect me.

 In 1997, when I retired from the V A Medical Center, the wife of a veteran gave me an angel pin as a retirement gift. The pin remained in its original wrapping until May 2004. Earlier in May of that year, I had attended a "Blessed Among Women" Conference where each woman was presented an angel pin in an Angel Pinning Ceremony. So, I asked myself, "When were you visited by an angel?"
Four experiences came to mind:

 During my sophomore year in college, my mother warned me not to ride with a boy, named Joe Lowery. Joe had returned from the Korean Conflict. One day, Joe arrived on campus, between classes, during Spring Quarter, and invited me for a ride. Immediately, on to Highway 79 North, Joe accelerated to a high rate of speed. The tires hit the gravel on the right shoulder. The car flipped upside down, blocking the highway in both directions. I could smell and feel oil, fuel, and sand falling in my hair. The impact of the crash had thrown me into the rear of the car. My first thought was, "I'm trapped, there is going to be an explosion." I pushed against the right rear door and it flew open. I had no injuries. My guardian angel had been on duty and protected me.

  While a social work field placement student at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, I took the El for a patient home visit. I got off at the wrong station. Suddenly, and out of no where, a white man rushed towards me to attack. Two white women pelted him with rocks and he fled. My guardian angel was on duty.

 On July 5, 2000, I was transferring betweeen flights at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, from the D
to the C Concourse. When I stepped on to the UP Escalators, people ahead of me suddenly began to fall backward, with their luggage, like a house of cards. It seemed surreal. My mind sensed the
danger although I was calm. I fell backward and could not get us. There was no escape. I thought I would be crushed. In a flash, a big man rushed on the scene, picked me up, and carried me to safety.
My guardian angel had visited me.

 The Bible teaches that angels watch over God's people (Luke 15:10). "For he will command his angels to guard you in all your ways." (Psalm 91:11)

 I also recall a time of extra- sensory perception of danger. The feeling suggested grave danger was present. This was in 1975 when my husband and I were attempting to engage a taxi, during the early morning hours at the airport in Monrovia, Liberia. We had flown to Monrovia from Nairobi. I said to Fred "If we go in this taxi, we'll never be heard of again." We got out of the taxi and reboarded the Pam Am plane to Ghana. My guardian angel was on duty.

  Perhaps, we do not give enough credit to our guardian angel or thank God for the ministering work of the angels.