When I doubt that there is a higher force behind my life, it is usually because things don’t work out the way I want them to or because they work out so well that I think I am the one who knows it all. Then, something comes along and shows me that there must be more to life.
The other day I was driving to the grocery store when I passed a bike rider. I remember him because he was swaying happily within the bike lane. I was a little irritated because I had to really pay attention so I didn’t hit him. It looked as if he might drift into the moving traffic. I came to a stop at the light. While I was waiting for the light to turn green, the biker knocked on my car window. He had my license plate in his hand! I rolled down my window, clapped my hands and shouted:
“Oh my goodness, have I lost my license plate?”
The guy laughed and said. “Yeah, I just saw it fall off and into the street.” With this, he handed me the plate through the window and off he went.
“Thank you so much,” I shouted after him. “You must have been sent by an angel!”
In the meantime, the traffic light signaled green and I, too, had to roll on.
I remember another incident a few years ago. I was driving to my workplace in winter. There was a lot of snow on the street. Nevertheless, I took a back road shortcut to save time. Sure enough, on the last steep hill I had to climb, my car broke down. I couldn’t get through because there was so much snow. This was not in the city but in the rural countryside. Before I could think of what I should do, a farmer who lived in the nearby farmhouse appeared around the corner and called out to me, “I will just go and get my tractor to pull you out!”
A few minutes later he was tying a rope around the hook on the front of my car. All he said was, “I’ll pull you all the way to the top of the hill. From there you should be fine on your own.”
With that, he sat on his tractor, and all I had to do was steer the car straight. At the top of the hill, we nodded to each other signaling job well done, bye-bye.
He must have been sent by an angel, I thought to myself.
On yet another occasion I was eating dinner with my family in a busy restaurant in Zurich. I remember having gone to the lady’s room to wash my hands. About two hours later, my sister also went to the washroom. When she returned, she showed me a ring she found and asked, “Isn’t this your ring? It really looks like yours?”
Immediately I grabbed my hand to see if my ring was on my finger. It was not!
“Yes, it is mine. Where for goodness sake did you find it?” I exclaimed.
“Oh, it was on the washbasin, “my sister answered.
There must have been dozens of women going in and out of that bathroom. But my wonderful gold signet ring was probably unseen and untouched until my sister found it!
Again, I thought that the ring must have been guarded by angels.
A similar event, even more surprising, happened to me as a teenager when I went to school in Zurich. One day I came home and as soon as I was in the house my mother asked, “Do you have your wallet?”
“Of course I have my wallet. Why do you ask?” I replied.
“Well, then go and see if it is in your handbag,” my mother insisted.
I was certain my wallet would be where I always placed it, in the inner side pocket of my bag. When I checked, the space was empty. My mother watched me search unsuccessfully and then presented my wallet to me explaining that a young man came to the door about an hour ago to return it. He found it in a phone booth and saw my address on my student ID. He was even kind enough to deliver the wallet himself. Not a single penny was missing!
Was this young man also sent by an angel?
There is one thing all these incidents have in common. Before I could even become worried the lost items came back to me or the problem was solved. The list could go on. The event with the license plate happened just a few weeks ago, and ever since I have pondered it and found so many more such ‘coincidences’ in my life.
My heart is filled with deep gratitude. Why does this happen to me? Am I just a lucky person? Is it serendipity? Is it to show me that there are still honest and helpful people around? Is it meant to teach me that I should be more careful?
This all may be true. I believe, however, that the real reason is to show me that it is not really me who is in charge but a higher force that is guiding and orchestrating my life. But most importantly, it is a power that I can trust.
I am convinced that angels are not as far away as we think. They are as real and tangible as you and me. In my examples, the biker, the farmer, my sister and the unknown young man who returned my wallet all played the role of an angel. I believe we are all used as angels more often than we think. Such might be the way the universe works.