If an angel dropped a feather…
Angels and angelic intervention have always captivated me. I love hearing stories of miraculous encounters with these anonymous beings. The truth is that I use the word “angel” here because I like that word and all it implies – a loving being of light – all-good and all-powerful. I also use it because it has become a kind of short-hand for these inexplicable encounters.
The word angel though, is a religious one and I have no way of knowing if this man-made label is sufficient or even accurate. Some people prefer to think of them as invisible guides. Some people will settle for nothing less than God as the intervening entity. Some people believe that these energies are nothing more that the manifestation of our higher selves. I think that this brings us to the problem of labeling in general and one that I feel has dogged the so-called paranormal field forever. The lens through which one sees these things depends so much on one’s beliefs and beliefs are so sacrosanct; it makes a truly objective discussion of such things almost impossible to sustain.
Under the heading of “belief,” I also include the scientific view point which for many has also become fraught with dogma and self-containment. I feel that the scientific method is one of man’s greatest intellectual achievements but it’s limits don’t stretch very far beyond the material yet. In my opinion, this pretty much excludes everything in the paranormal and therefore the scientific take is also basically biased.
Do a little digging and you will find that these kinds of stories are not uncommon. Some are incredibly dramatic and awe-inspiring. Something seemingly outside of ourselves is yet so interfaced with us that it can turn the wheel of a car in a split second or carry a drowning child to the shore. It can lift the crushing weight of an engine block or it can simply calm and reassure an accident victim until human help arrives.
These stories leave us with so many questions. Why him and not her? Why this time and not that time? Like most paranormal incidents, they seem to imply that there is a greater purpose a bigger design to life than we can see from our human perspectives. I for one think that this alone is worth exploring and considering.
My very first paranormal experience was one that I would classify under the heading of “angel.” This is in fact, the very first fully sequential memory that I have. I have other single snapshots of memory that seem to float on a sea of formlessness – effects without cause. This one, however it distinct and immediate even decades later. It feels as if I was supposed to remember it.
My second angelic encounter happened many years later in adulthood. This was a classic “Where did that hero go?” situation. The only thing alerting me to the fact that I was in real danger was the sudden sense of panic that seemed all out of proportion to the situation. This time, in the mother role – a single mother and sole provider for my sick baby. The heightened stress was certainly in my lif