I Met an Angel

I met an angel. It happened to be at a No Kings Day gathering in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. But this is not about kings or politics. This about meeting an angel.

For most of my life, I’ve heard spiritual teachers and mentors say that there are angels in our midst. Not gowned, wing-flapping creatures, but ordinary people carrying extraordinary senses of service and love. Not people with degrees and titles and followers, but simple people, the kind often overlooked. Or avoided.

Stephen is just such an angel. In the milling about before the activities began, I came upon him sitting on a bench alone. He had soft eyes and and a beaming smile. He had a sense of innocence and curiosity about him. As I and a couple of others were headed for a seat on the nearby bench, I saw Stephen's eyes brighten, and he sat up straight, said “Hi, I’m Stephen!” He asked us if we knew what was going to happen, and we told him our best guesses. He nodded and smiled, then made an extraordinarily generous comment about the “king” in question. Everyone nearby quickly turned away.

I didn’t want to have a conversation with Stephen, but for some reason, I really wanted to sit on that bench. So I sat, but I didn’t engage with him. I did observe him as he spoke to others, and I noticed that he was awkward. That he didn’t seem to be in quite the same reality as the rest of us. That he didn’t appear to know exactly why we were all there, but he sure knew he wanted to be a part of it.

As I observed, I saw the earlier scenario with my friends repeat itself: “Hi, I’m Stephen!” - followed by a brief conversation, followed by a hasty retreat by whomever he was talking with. It was painful to watch, and I was beginning to feel badly for him. But suddenly I had a jolt inside me from all those voices of all those sages telling me to pay attention: there are angels in our midst. I turned and looked directly in Stephen's eyes, determined to really hear him this time, and somehow found myself lifted into another space that I can’t describe - except to say it was beautiful. Stephen was now being very careful with his words, but what he talked about was that love, acceptance, and grace are bringing us all together. He said that things in our world have come to a head so that we now can do that. I sort of snapped out of my trance as I heard him say “More grace - that’s what we’re all here for. That’s what I’m here for.” He smiled that beautiful smile, then quickly turned to the next passer-by and said “Hi, I’m Stephen!”

May we all share in the grace of angels.