It’s that time of year again…the most wonderful time of year…Christmas! My tree is up. The lights on the outside of my house are lit. And I’m dusting off my Holiday Blu Rays and watching a different classic each night. I’ve already flown through Scrooged, Home Alone, and Die Hard 1 and 2 (yes…these are considered Christmas movies). Last night I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. And I found myself rewinding Linus’ final speech a few times and really listening to it. You know, the one where he quotes from the Book of Luke…
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”
As I watched and listened to this scene over and over, I tried to put myself in the shepherds’ shoes (or sandals). How would I react if I ever came face to face with an angel? And then I wondered if I ever had. Personally, I agree with the song lyrics from one of the greatest country bands of all time, Alabama, when they sing, “I believe there are angels among us.” I believe there are angels among us. Figurative ones and literal ones. And I don’t think we will or even can always recognize the difference.
I’ve had these magical encounters, and I’d bet you have too. The ones where someone shows up right when you need him or her the most. These aren’t coincidences. These are divine interventions. God using actual angels or God using average everyday people to help out others. I’ll never forget one of my more prominent meetings. It was the Spring of 1993. A buddy of mine and I had driven to Key West for Spring Break and were driving back to school, Radford University in southern VA, at breakneck speed. We weren’t speeding to get home just because we were young and dumb. We were trying our best to beat the weather. The worst blizzard in years was set to hit the area and odds were that we were not going to make it back in time. But we took the Han Solo approach… “Never tell me the odds.”
Despite some driving skills straight out of Cannonball Run, we made it about fifteen miles from our exit and a state of emergency was declared, shutting down Interstate 81. The snow was coming down in full force and there were already about three inches on the ground with another four or five feet expected. The State Police were nice enough to direct us off of the highway and show us where the nearest churches and schools were located. They were taking in weary travelers and giving them cots and meals for the night.
But we weren’t weary travelers. We were road warriors who had not come this far to not finish our journey. In our infinite wisdom, we drove away from the church and toward our college campus. If the cops were going to stop us from taking the main road, we’d simply improvise and take a back road. Now, if the interstate was not deemed safe for travel, you can only imagine what the back roads we were on were like. Fast forward less than five minutes and we had slid into a six foot ditch with no hope of recovery. We couldn’t even trek back to the church. It was miles away and all we had on were cut-off jean shorts and tank tops (yes…these were in style back then). Plus, the sun had gone down now. We would have frozen to death before we found shelter. So we did what any responsible college students would do. We procrastinated. We cranked up the heat and decided to try and make it through the night and figure things out in the morning.
We awoke bright and early the next day when we felt a jolt. Our car was being pulled out of the ditch. We looked back to see a group of burly bearded men who had chained the back of our car to one of their trucks and were slowly pulling us to safety. When our car was securely back on the road and these mountain men were unhooking our car, we decided to get out and thank them. They didn’t say a word. In fact, they didn’t even smile. They just stared back at us. There were six of them and two of us and all of the sudden, I was having flashbacks to Deliverance. Then one of them motioned ahead. “Roads are clear enough to get to the Interstate. It’s reopened now.” And with that, they got back in their trucks and drove away, I assume to help the next person in need.
I’ve never forgotten those guys. They were out intentionally looking for people to help. They weren’t doing it for recognition or even a ‘thank you’. In fact, acknowledging them seemed to make them uncomfortable. These guys didn’t work for the state or the county. They were just a bunch of dudes, who I assume could have been at home in front of a fireplace, warm and cozy, but made the conscious decision to brave the storm and help others.
And this is just one of millions of stories exactly like this. There are angels out there every day, helping others in their darkest hours. Like I stated earlier, I believe there are literal and figurative angels in the world. This Christmas season, I’m going to make a concentrated effort to be one of the figurative angels. I’m going to try and go out of my way to help others. Whether or not I’ll be successful remains to be seen, but I’m going to give it a shot. I encourage you to join me. Look for ways you can help others in need this Holiday Season. We all have gifts to offer. Some of us can help with finances, some with talents, and others with time.
And because it’s the Christmas season, I’ll close with a quote from one of my favorite holiday authors:
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. – Charles Dickens
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