Angels Among Us!

I'm surrounded by angels. Well, yes, we all are, but I'm talking about the earthly type. More than that, I feel very proud to be part of their quiet, understated army.

My first understanding of earthly angels came years ago, back in the early nineties. At the time I was working in Maine. I had attended an event at a friend's Unitarian Church. While I was there, I met an older man - I'm very embarrassed I cannot remember his name - who must have gotten me to talk about some of the pain in my life. He was a retired counselor who was recovering from cancer. He told me to come by his house and we could talk, since he could help me and I could help him by keeping his skills sharp. I did. I went several times. When I met my husband this man even adminstered the Myers-Briggs for us. That man helped me get to the next level of personal awareness in ways I cannot even begin to express in this blog. I may have forgotten his name over fifteen years, but I see his face always and his spirit has carried me through a lot.

I would even have to say he may have been the inspiration or model behind me finally getting my masters in counseling. Even when I was working the glam job on television that everyone admired, I was always intriqued by counselors. What secrets to the human psyche did they possess? How did one go about healing the mental/emotional pain of another. How fascinating!

This man had been the first real earthbound angel I encountered (at least that I recognized). He was not perfect. He had flaws just like the rest of us, but I realized that's what the army of angels are on earth. They are people, with scars and insecurities and personality quirks, who have a genuine interest in helping others. They may be firefighters or librarians. They may be the guy down the street that stops to help someone change of flat tire. More interestingly, an angel may be a homeless guy who keeps someone from burglarizing a home or the former convict that fights to keep kids out of jail. An angel has lived in the trenches in order to understand what it's like for others who are living in them. An angel is not the person who points fingers and accuses others of not living up to their standards. Angels have scars and have been humbled.

Angels don't do their work with any sense of entitlement or with an agenda. They just kinda do it. And for the most part they do it quietly. They might only do it once, but they're there at that exact time when someone really needs them. They may not even know that was their mission. They just knew helping was the right thing to do at that time and had the courage to do it. That's what makes them angels.

After spending two weeks at my practicum site, I realized I was surrounded by angels. These are just a bunch of cool ladies with their own flaws, personalities, expectations in life. They're just people making a living at something that is meaninful to them. Yet, they are so much more. They're in the trenches in a quiet sort of way. Little by little they help to extract people from their own emotional hells. They work hard to be "self-actualized". They just do what they can. I feel very blessed to be around these women and even more, to be able to learn from them.