Angels Among Us
by Anastasia Hanonick
Life can be a scary, confusing place. Whether we like it or not, corruption and suffering is inescapable.
However, there are times where life is nothing of that nature. As a matter of fact, life repeatedly taught me that despite its semi-occasional curveballs and humbling experiences, it is something that is profoundly wise, mysterious and beautiful. It has bountiful and infinite lessons to share with us, and while pain and suffering have its ends, unconditional love does not. Life is always willing to share these truths with us.
Our one and only job is to listen.
Life has its ways of giving up these wake-up calls. These wake-up calls will often find us during the difficult moments of our lives—moments during which we tend to lose all hope in ourselves and others. During these moments of pain, life will gently sneak in and remind us of who human beings really are: kind, loving, and caring souls.
I had a strange incident in my life a few months ago. I forget which exact day it was, but I can for a fact say it was a September weekend. I remember having an especially difficult day and desperately needing a moment to myself.
After class that afternoon, I hopped in my car and drove twenty minutes to a local thrift outlet in hopes of finding some antique gadgets. Once I got to the store and waved a quick hello to Miss Barbara(the supervisor) I got to work. I remember finding lots of good things that day, one of the items being a vintage 1970's branded Rum and Coke t-shirt. After about an hour and a half, I had a half-full cart and felt exhausted. I was about to head towards the checkout lane when I suddenly had an urge to check one last bin out.
That was when I met Pearl.
I parked my cart adjacent to the bin, where a middle-aged African American man was sorting through the items that he had already rounded up, visibly pleased with his finds. I gave him a polite nod and proceeded to sort through the items in the bin. After finding a couple more things, I decided that it was enough for the day, and that it was time for me to head home.
As I started to sift through my finds, the man pointed to my full cart and made a joke about how I had a "field day.” I laughed and teased him back, as his cart was quite full as well. He mentioned how he was not initially going to come here today, but something in him told him to do so. He pointed towards a memory foam cushion in his cart and mentioned to me how he had been looking around for one for some time with no luck. And as fate had it, today was the day he finally came across it.
I had no place to be for the rest of the day and he seemed kind, so I decided to ask him if he needed help finding anything else, to which he said he wanted to find pants for his seven-year-old son. I happily agreed to help, and so we struck up a conversation. We introduced ourselves.
Pearl grew up in a small rural town in Louisiana and moved to St. Louis with his mother and brothers when he was ten years old. He has remained here since, now working, and raising his young son. He proceeded to ask me about my background, to which I briefly mentioned that I was a student and estranged from my family. He nodded understandably and did not ask any more questions. We stayed silent for a moment.
"In order to hurt other people, you must betray yourself first," he said suddenly. I raised my eyebrow.
"I agree. What makes you say that?"
"Well, the only thing that can overcome the power of fear is the power of love. The second fear overcomes you, it becomes the ultimate betrayal. I learned an interesting way. God really had to show me."
"What did God show you?" I asked. I am not religious, but hearing about people's interactions with the divine always creates a feeling in me that I cannot explain or express. The best way I can describe it is one of solace.
"Let me tell you a story," he chuckled.
Of all the stories Pearl could have told, nothing could have prepared me for what he was about to share with me. To this day, it sends me into a state of pure wonder and interconnectedness.
"Some years ago, I felt a calling. It was telling me to go to a place called Paula White Church in Orlando. Mind you, I had no business down in Florida, other than an old friend I had not spoken to in many years. At first, I tried to ignore the feeling, but it persisted. Finally, I realized I could not ignore it anymore and that it was time for me to answer the call. I contacted the friend and flew down the following morning. He grabbed me from the airport, and we drove 40 minutes north to the church."
"When we got there, I didn't see anything unusual. The church itself was closed; I believe it may have been under construction. I will not lie to you, I was disappointed. But my friend and I decided to walk around. We traveled all this way. The church was in this beautiful open grassy area, with a small pine forest nearby. My friend told me he was going to go and check something out. I was tired after traveling, so I decided to wait. I watched him walk off towards the horizon and that was when it happened."
"I remember this clear as day," Pearl said with a slight shakiness to his voice. Without him even saying anything further, I felt chills up my spine.
"It was like time came to a stop. I was suddenly no longer standing in front of Paula White church but of an old establishment. In fact, I could not even tell you that I was in Florida, I was instead in front of the ruins of an ancient temple. In awe, I looked down at my watch and noticed that the second hand stopped moving. Oddly, I was not afraid, as at that moment I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. And suddenly, I was overcome by this feeling of unconditional love—this pure, clear understanding of humankind and the world around us. And that was when everything hit me. The purpose of all this. The meaning of life. At the end of the day, there is no future or present, only the past from which we learn from. God gave us all the answers already, and it is do no harm—to love ourselves and those around us. No matter how difficult it is, no matter how nasty those around us did to us. Love was, is and always will be the way."
"When everything finally settled in, I felt my watch start up again. I looked back down, and sure enough, time was ticking again. What felt like an eternity was only about three, maybe four minutes. And that was when I saw her. The most elegant, graceful, beautiful white peacock sitting on a couple of stray bricks of what was Paula White Church again. She was so beautiful I probably never would have stopped looking at her if it were my choice."
"At this point, my friend was hollering at me from the car. I did not want to go, but he had places to be. As did I, because life goes on, even when the strange and unexplainable happens to us. But from that point forward, I knew that it was my job to spread the word of love. And so, I continue to do so. I do not care who you are--what religion, the color of your skin, or who you love. We have one job on this Earth, and it is to love one another, without reservation. Even those who hurt us--by all means leave them behind if they're all that nasty-- but the whole point is to do no harm. Otherwise, there is not anything that separates us from them. You understand?"
I nodded silently. There were tears pooling in my eyes.
"Be good, kid." He told me. "I know you have a good heart. Don't forget it."
We chatted for about an hour longer, with Pearl telling me about some more fascinating stories from his life. He always came back to his main point, that love prevails through all. The more we spoke, the more it made sense. I felt myself doing something I hadn't done in a while: regain trust in the goodness of humanity. Finally, we both decided to head our respective ways. He wrote me his phone number on a piece of paper with an "in the Name of Jesus" on the bottom. I keep it in my wallet to this day.
Just as I was about to walk away, Pearl gently called my name. I turned around.
"I wasn't going to say anything earlier dear," Pearl chuckled. "But I will say it because you’d get it. The real reason I am here is because of you."
"What?" I looked at him.
"Last night, a young blond woman came to me in a dream and told me to meet her here. Something tells me that was you."
by Anastasia Hanonick
Life can be a scary, confusing place. Whether we like it or not, corruption and suffering is inescapable.
However, there are times where life is nothing of that nature. As a matter of fact, life repeatedly taught me that despite its semi-occasional curveballs and humbling experiences, it is something that is profoundly wise, mysterious and beautiful. It has bountiful and infinite lessons to share with us, and while pain and suffering have its ends, unconditional love does not. Life is always willing to share these truths with us.
Our one and only job is to listen.
Life has its ways of giving up these wake-up calls. These wake-up calls will often find us during the difficult moments of our lives—moments during which we tend to lose all hope in ourselves and others. During these moments of pain, life will gently sneak in and remind us of who human beings really are: kind, loving, and caring souls.
I had a strange incident in my life a few months ago. I forget which exact day it was, but I can for a fact say it was a September weekend. I remember having an especially difficult day and desperately needing a moment to myself.
After class that afternoon, I hopped in my car and drove twenty minutes to a local thrift outlet in hopes of finding some antique gadgets. Once I got to the store and waved a quick hello to Miss Barbara(the supervisor) I got to work. I remember finding lots of good things that day, one of the items being a vintage 1970's branded Rum and Coke t-shirt. After about an hour and a half, I had a half-full cart and felt exhausted. I was about to head towards the checkout lane when I suddenly had an urge to check one last bin out.
That was when I met Pearl.
I parked my cart adjacent to the bin, where a middle-aged African American man was sorting through the items that he had already rounded up, visibly pleased with his finds. I gave him a polite nod and proceeded to sort through the items in the bin. After finding a couple more things, I decided that it was enough for the day, and that it was time for me to head home.
As I started to sift through my finds, the man pointed to my full cart and made a joke about how I had a "field day.” I laughed and teased him back, as his cart was quite full as well. He mentioned how he was not initially going to come here today, but something in him told him to do so. He pointed towards a memory foam cushion in his cart and mentioned to me how he had been looking around for one for some time with no luck. And as fate had it, today was the day he finally came across it.
I had no place to be for the rest of the day and he seemed kind, so I decided to ask him if he needed help finding anything else, to which he said he wanted to find pants for his seven-year-old son. I happily agreed to help, and so we struck up a conversation. We introduced ourselves.
Pearl grew up in a small rural town in Louisiana and moved to St. Louis with his mother and brothers when he was ten years old. He has remained here since, now working, and raising his young son. He proceeded to ask me about my background, to which I briefly mentioned that I was a student and estranged from my family. He nodded understandably and did not ask any more questions. We stayed silent for a moment.
"In order to hurt other people, you must betray yourself first," he said suddenly. I raised my eyebrow.
"I agree. What makes you say that?"
"Well, the only thing that can overcome the power of fear is the power of love. The second fear overcomes you, it becomes the ultimate betrayal. I learned an interesting way. God really had to show me."
"What did God show you?" I asked. I am not religious, but hearing about people's interactions with the divine always creates a feeling in me that I cannot explain or express. The best way I can describe it is one of solace.
"Let me tell you a story," he chuckled.
Of all the stories Pearl could have told, nothing could have prepared me for what he was about to share with me. To this day, it sends me into a state of pure wonder and interconnectedness.
"Some years ago, I felt a calling. It was telling me to go to a place called Paula White Church in Orlando. Mind you, I had no business down in Florida, other than an old friend I had not spoken to in many years. At first, I tried to ignore the feeling, but it persisted. Finally, I realized I could not ignore it anymore and that it was time for me to answer the call. I contacted the friend and flew down the following morning. He grabbed me from the airport, and we drove 40 minutes north to the church."
"When we got there, I didn't see anything unusual. The church itself was closed; I believe it may have been under construction. I will not lie to you, I was disappointed. But my friend and I decided to walk around. We traveled all this way. The church was in this beautiful open grassy area, with a small pine forest nearby. My friend told me he was going to go and check something out. I was tired after traveling, so I decided to wait. I watched him walk off towards the horizon and that was when it happened."
"I remember this clear as day," Pearl said with a slight shakiness to his voice. Without him even saying anything further, I felt chills up my spine.
"It was like time came to a stop. I was suddenly no longer standing in front of Paula White church but of an old establishment. In fact, I could not even tell you that I was in Florida, I was instead in front of the ruins of an ancient temple. In awe, I looked down at my watch and noticed that the second hand stopped moving. Oddly, I was not afraid, as at that moment I felt like I was in the right place at the right time. And suddenly, I was overcome by this feeling of unconditional love—this pure, clear understanding of humankind and the world around us. And that was when everything hit me. The purpose of all this. The meaning of life. At the end of the day, there is no future or present, only the past from which we learn from. God gave us all the answers already, and it is do no harm—to love ourselves and those around us. No matter how difficult it is, no matter how nasty those around us did to us. Love was, is and always will be the way."
"When everything finally settled in, I felt my watch start up again. I looked back down, and sure enough, time was ticking again. What felt like an eternity was only about three, maybe four minutes. And that was when I saw her. The most elegant, graceful, beautiful white peacock sitting on a couple of stray bricks of what was Paula White Church again. She was so beautiful I probably never would have stopped looking at her if it were my choice."
"At this point, my friend was hollering at me from the car. I did not want to go, but he had places to be. As did I, because life goes on, even when the strange and unexplainable happens to us. But from that point forward, I knew that it was my job to spread the word of love. And so, I continue to do so. I do not care who you are--what religion, the color of your skin, or who you love. We have one job on this Earth, and it is to love one another, without reservation. Even those who hurt us--by all means leave them behind if they're all that nasty-- but the whole point is to do no harm. Otherwise, there is not anything that separates us from them. You understand?"
I nodded silently. There were tears pooling in my eyes.
"Be good, kid." He told me. "I know you have a good heart. Don't forget it."
We chatted for about an hour longer, with Pearl telling me about some more fascinating stories from his life. He always came back to his main point, that love prevails through all. The more we spoke, the more it made sense. I felt myself doing something I hadn't done in a while: regain trust in the goodness of humanity. Finally, we both decided to head our respective ways. He wrote me his phone number on a piece of paper with an "in the Name of Jesus" on the bottom. I keep it in my wallet to this day.
Just as I was about to walk away, Pearl gently called my name. I turned around.
"I wasn't going to say anything earlier dear," Pearl chuckled. "But I will say it because you’d get it. The real reason I am here is because of you."
"What?" I looked at him.
"Last night, a young blond woman came to me in a dream and told me to meet her here. Something tells me that was you."