I took Sophy Burnham’s A BOOK OF ANGELS from the shelf again last night. I didn’t even get through the Introduction before I grew too tired to continue, yet I felt loved, warmed, stronger. If ever there was a down-to-earth book filled with stories about how much our guardian angels love and care for us, it is hers. I thought I’d share a few paragraphs, hoping they will make you feel stronger, too.
She has interviewed/received hundreds of accounts from regular people like you and me who were visited by angels. The way it happens is always the same:
- “They always say, “Don’t be afraid. Fear not. Leave everything to us.” They never say, “Look at the mess you’ve made of things now!” They never scold or criticize.”
- “Second, you are filled with joy. With warmth, light, a sense of safety. Of home. Or Mother—the mother of your heart. Indeed, so many people report this feeling and always in the same words that it’s worth noting.”
- “Third, you may not believe it happened—that an angel came to you—but you cannot forget it. And here’s another curious thing. The memory not only does not fade but it gets stronger with the passage of time, and this is unlike normal memory, or dreams, which fade with time.”
In the following story, Sophy learns about prayer. One day she was talking with her angels and asked a question. The answer was, ‘Pray;’ and she said to them, ‘You already know what I want. Why should I pray?’ The answer came at once, then divided itself into three sections.
- “So that we will know what you want, in order that we may bring you what you need.”
- Second, “Because when you pray—and you may be on your knees for fifteen minutes, but for only fifteen seconds of that time will you actually give in, surrender—for that instant you create a window through which we can fly to bring you the desire of your heart.”
- Sophy says she couldn’t have made up the third part in her wildest imaginings: “Because your prayers give us the energy to do our work [of serving you].”
She says if we’d like to know our own guardian angels, we need only to ask sincerely, expecting an answer, and they will make themselves known to us. I hope you’ll get to read this poignant book someday, too.
Notes Along the Path 