By: John Minard
After driving north for several hours through sprawling greater Detroit, I was ready for a few days vacation in beautiful northern Michigan. But the TV that morning and the news on the radio were taking a toll on my normally upbeat disposition—more soldiers killed in Iraq, increased American hatred abroad, deeper intransigence in the Middle East, dire predictions about the US economy and poor job figures. Each story was weighted with negative commentary, doom and political finger-pointing.
As I entered the sparsely populated woodlands of northwestern Michigan, most of the radio stations were fading out, so I pushed the seek button. It sputtered almost all the way around the dial before settling on the one clear station available.
A rock song I'd never heard before filled the airwaves, and the words hit me like a message from heaven.
I need a sign to let me know you're here
'Cause my TV set just keeps it all from being clear
I want a reason for the way things have to be
I need a hand to help build up some kind of hope inside of me.
And I'm calling all angels
I'm calling all you angels
"Calling All Angels," by Train, spoke directly to me. At that moment, those particular lyrics were just what I needed to wake me out of the blue funk of commiserating over the world's problems.
The song called for a heavenly sign of hope, an angelic aid to help make sense of it all. But I also felt the song had another subtle message: that these angels of hope could be called forth within each of us. Finding my own inner angels would mean feeling the refreshing inspiration of pure goodness, of God, washing away any view I had of a declining material world. This was an inspiring idea to me.
It all made sense later, when I came across this apt description by Mary Baker Eddy: "The footsteps of thought, rising above material standpoints, are slow, and portend a long night to the traveller; but the angels of His presence—the spiritual intuitions that tell us when 'the night is far spent, the day is at hand'—are our guardians in the gloom." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures)
My "guardians in the gloom" were telling me something that night: I could play the devil's advocate by wallowing in the reported problems of the world, or I could be the angel's advocate by looking for some way to contribute to solutions.
I needed to call forth, within myself, more angel ideas, to see how to be part of the solution, even for worldwide issues. I started by consciously quieting my concerns and fears about the news, and opening my thought to hearing whatever divine ideas came. It was my way of "calling all angels." And they came!
One answer was to use the Internet to offer a constructive spiritual solution to a problem in the news. During the next few days, and on the trip home, I felt energized to write an article exploring a spiritual way to reverse dishonesty and corruption. It was later published on several Web sites for everyone in the world to read.
After I got home, I found a few Internet discussion forums relating to the Iraq war. With my contributions I attempted to turn the discussions from a tone of blame and criticism, to the more spiritual concept of harmonious coexistence between all peoples of the world.
Other angel messages suggested improvements I could make closer to home. I needed to be more loving toward my wife and our young son. I love them very much, but I learned I needed to express that love more overtly, in ways most meaningful to them. The answer came in such forms as more hugs, walks in the woods, more patient listening to my wife, taking the baby on little trips and errands, reading to him more, etc.
These little angel messages have never failed to bring good advice, and to lift my thought above selfish concerns. Yet, they only come when called — when my thought is quietly receptive to divine inspiration.
Perhaps this is how God works in our lives. God's thoughts, our inner angels, are always available, but we must call them forth — be spiritually receptive to hear and respond to them. And like a wise father they'll whisper just the right idea at just the right moment.
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