A Main Street Angel

They're my guardian angels and I know they can see

Every step I take, they are watching over me

I might not know where I'm going' – The Judds

I don’t think about the subject of angels very often unless I am encountered smack dab in my face by one.  Last Friday night, I encountered an angel-- a messenger of the Divine. 

He was dressed in a crisp blue uniform that said Argenta Security.

Indeed he does provide security- the Real kind.

Some people are truly filled with a different spirit- -mysteriously kind, wise, and compassionate – that was him- his name is Spriggs.

I don’t know anything about him other than the most important thing-- He’s full of goodness and kindness and treats strangers like they are neighbors. He cares.  He’d never seen my face before nor I his.

I was at my wits end- trying to find a parking space the night of the James Taylor concert that was the same night of a traveler’s game. I had 5$ cash. That’s it. But some old friends’ I had not seen in months were down in Argenta for a quick meal and beer and instead of moping alone at home; I'd impulsively decided to go see them. Not thinking about  parking dilemmas or the fees that accompany them. Just desperately needing some familiar faces to remind me that I am not alone.

He sensed it---my trepidation, my anxiety, and my sadness bordering on despair. He must have; why else would he have waved me down in the middle of Main Street?   Feeling guilty, I stopped thinking I was in trouble. He said, “ You need a parking place- don't you?”

“Yes” stumbled out of my mouth.

“Back right up” he said smiling the widest white-toothed smile I’d ever seen.

What? Where? Why?  I was a bit skeptical and incredulous but I did it anyway.

I got out and walked over to him asking him if it was a real spot as it was only 6 feet away from the place my friends where my friends had gathered.

“It’s the mayor’s spot. But he’s not here tonight and his secretary isn’t either and it’s okay”, he reassured me.

“Thank you so much, you must be an angel.” I ran across the street and inside the tavern.

After a few hugs, quickly catching up, I said good-bye to my friends. They were dispersing to the concert. I was not. I was going home.  Alone.  Grateful to have a home and even more grateful that Milly the Dog would be there to greet me happily but still a bit sad….

The tall dark man walked over to my car and stopped me.

Yes, I am emotional and intuitive, and yes some days I cry a lot. I knew he sensed something about me other than the fact that I had needed a parking spot. Immediately tears started rolling down my face as his kindness overcame me a surely as the sun that had begun to set. He was real and gentle not some made up figment of my imagination.

“You believe in God, don’t you Ma’am?”

I nodded my head up and down and trembled out a Yes.

I do believe in God. I also believe that life is not always easy, in fact there are times where it is horribly painful and difficult.  That doesn’t make me doubt there is a God. It just makes me cry out more for help. And cry, but that is  okay.

But back to the angel….

“What’s your name?” he asked me gently.
I felt like a little lost child as my trembling lip said “Holly”.

“You must remember this- He said:

“The lord is my light and my salvation- whom should I fear?

The lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?”
When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh, these enemies and my foes themselves stumble and fall.

Though an army encamps against me, my heart does not fear; though war be waged against me, even then do I trust.

One thing I ask of the Lord: this I seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life….

He went on to recite by memory- not by reading out of the bible but from his heart--- and finished with “Wait for the lord, take courage; be stouthearted, wait for the Lord!”

I wept. And I wept. And he stooped down to give me a hug while I wept. My almost despair was all gone. These were tears of joy and deep appreciation.  Thank you Spriggs. Thank you God.