Guardian angels
The phrase “guardian angel” has such a comforting and reassuring ring to it for so many people. The word “guardian” often means “one who has the care of the person or property of another.” The word “angel” is familiar to almost everyone. It comes from the Greek angelos meaning “messenger; an attendant spirit.”
The Bible’s 91st Psalm declares this idea of God’s love for His children when it says, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” There are countless experiences and stories of those who have found those few words a wonderful answer in times of trouble and need for direction.
Just recently a friend told me of an experience where he found this idea totally relevant and practical to everyday life. He was driving across a long stretch of desertlike open highway. Suddenly he spotted a well-dressed woman walking along the road. He turned his car around and went back to her to find her sitting on a rock. Her husband, in a fit of anger, had told her to get out of the car while he drove to the next town about 10 miles away.
My friend who stopped to aid her couldn’t give her a ride because his car was completely packed. But the woman asked if she could use his cellphone. As my friend was standing there talking with her, he flagged down a car passing by. The husband and wife in that car agreed to drive the woman to the next town. With great sincerity and gratitude she said many times to my friend that he was her guardian angel.
Events like this probably occur every day in one form or another. We have either been helped, or have helped others, in trouble. The guardian angel event might be as simple as a few comforting words or an arm around the shoulder to lighten a heavy mental load or give confidence to someone stuck in a rut of indecision.
Even though comforting thoughts or a sense of assurance may be expressed by people, those angel ideas aren’t people themselves but messages from God. And those inspiring messages often come to us directly without any connection to people or friends. Those angel thoughts are always present through our individual spiritual consciousness, a divine capacity we all have as God’s children. How can you and I be even more receptive and responsive to those guardian angels? By turning to God, divine Love, for direction, inspiration, and comfort for ourselves as well as others. By keeping our thought open for divine Love’s help that is ever present and on site even along the open highway, or at the conference table during a challenging business meeting, or for a child on the playground who feels intimidated by an aggressive playmate.
Angel thoughts and comfort are as close as our thinking is to God. Turning to God, divine Love, does not take time, permission from someone, or previous experience. As quickly as we can turn to mathematics to make a quick calculation, just as quickly can we turn to God for His angel ideas that comfort us and bring us the help we need.
Turning to God brings quick and tangible results. Mary Baker Eddy explained what happens when we do. She wrote, “Then will angels administer grace, do thy errands, and be thy dearest allies” (“The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,” p. 129).
How wonderful it is that God’s great love brings those angels to our side to give us grace, accompany us on our desert highway journeys, be our allies to rescue us, and serve as our guardians.
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