Be An Angel Today... please?

I don't seem to hear the phrase quite as often anymore, but I remember being younger and if an older person needed me to do something for them, they'd often preface their request with "Be an angel and do this for me..." Sometimes that phrase would freak me out a bit, especially when I was little, since I think, like most children in my age group, we were raised with the stories of angels basically being dead people who had been allowed to go to heaven and who had been successful in "earning their wings". I, for one, didn't like the idea of dying, so I didn't want to be an angel yet and I certainly wasn't ready to have to earn wings or play harps. Of course as I've gotten older, I understand the phrase as simply a reference to what "being an angel" has come to mean.

Angels... messengers of god, beings of light, guardians sent to protect us... these are just some of the ways that people thinks of angels. Of course there are legends and religious writings regarding the hierarchy of these heavenly creatures. There are your everyday, run of the mill angels... and archangels, throne angels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, and the seraphim and cherubim. There are good angels and evil angels. Most of the world religions account for these other-worldly beings in some manner and form, but for all of the works created about them, like so many other creatures, we have no proof of their existence... at least some of us don't.

I like the idea that angels exist and I personally believe I've encountered a few of my own. One time in particular that comes to mind was a morning in March about 15 years ago. My ex (then husband) and I had just dropped our oldest off at school for marching band practice and were heading in to work together. Back then, I wasn't always careful about wearing a seat belt, and that particular morning, even though I was driving, I hadn't put mine on...until... we were about a half a mile from the high school and stopped at a light when plain as day, I heard a feminine voice say "Karen, put your seatbelt on." Plain and simple... no demand, no fear, only a voice saying those few words. So I did... 20 minutes later, heading down the freeway, our car was hit from behind by a local tv station van carrying about 30,000 pounds of equipment and traveling about 45 mph (it was rush hour, thankfully, or he would have hit us even harder). Needless to say, our car was totalled, and had I not been wearing my seatbelt, the chances are good that I wouldn't have been sitting here writing this today. Have I had other experiences with my angels? Yep, although none stick out in my mind quite like that one did. I also have heard many, many stories from friends and acquaintances of "strangers" who had stopped to help them out and then disappeared before they could thank them, or like me, a little voice directing them to do something that later proved that divine intervention shouldn't be completely ruled out!

I'm grateful for my angels, whatever they may be... and I do my best to listen to their words of caution and hope...and I also try to pay forward the sense of helpfulness that their watchfulness inspires in me. It can be something as simple as holding a door for someone when their arms are full, or helping a mom struggling to keep track of an elusive child, or even smiling at someone who's having a rough day. There are just so many ways to be an angel on earth!

I'd love to hear your angel stories - whether it's an angelic intervention that helped you in some way, or some small thing that you do to "be an angel and help out"!

You guessed it - Etsy is FULL of angels and angel-themed items... and the ones you see here today are just a small sampling, so be sure to check out their creators and then head on over to Etsy and type "angel" under search terms and see what there is to see - you'll be amazed!

Thanks to these shops for allowing me the pleasure of posting their angelic items!

SPARKLING BLUE ANGEL - Original 4X4 Collage Swarovski Crystals OOAK ZNE - LDphotography
Faith Angel clay wall sculpture - judyking
Gina Plays the Guitar - LyonsCreations
ARMS FULL OF LOVE Angel Earrings with Citrine - mysticwynd
MADE TO ORDER ANGELS - eshkarclayart