Crossing The Street

     The corner of Broadway and Forty-second Street in New York City is one of the busiest in the world.  But one day a cat threaded her way along the sidewalk and came up to the curb.  She was holding a baby kitten in her mouth by the back of the neck, as cats do.  She wanted to cross the street, but she was confused and frightened by the roar of trucks and buses and cabs.  Several times she stepped cautiously off the curb and then came back.  It was just too dangerous.

     And then something happened.  The traffic officer saw her.  Immediately he put up his hands and stopped the traffic both ways, because of course he couldn’t know which way she wanted to go.

     Now when a traffic officer lifts his hand, it isn’t a request.  There’s power behind it.  Instantly all traffic stood still.  The cat saw her chance and darted across with her little one to safety.  And then the rush and the roar resumed.

     The cat never knew that she was the object of special care.  She never knew that a hand had been lifted especially for her—and that back of that hand was all the authority of the city of New York.

     We too, never know how often a hand is lifted for us—with all the authority of heaven back of it.  We are reluctant to think that God could be interested, even aware, of the needs of a single individual—especially of one on a tiny, seemingly insignificant planet such as ours.  We hesitate to speak of angel hands being lifted on our behalf—even if we have been told that we are worth more than sparrows.  We speak of coincidence and good fortune.

     Yet down through the centuries angels have walked beside the children of men—comforting, guiding, encouraging, delivering from danger.  Most of the time they have stayed in the shadows, only occasionally darting across our field of vision, dazzling us with their brightness, bringing us some message from the throne.  But in all times and in all lands, including our own, they have left the indelible marks of their presence and their care.  And we interrupt our wonder to exclaim, with conviction if not with proof, “It must have been and angel!”

     The story of the magnificent ministry of angels, those patient celestial beings assigned to us on planet earth, has never been fully told, Nor will it ever be.  But we can begin!

M.L.Lloyd