As a spiritual counselor, one can become overwhelmed by personal problems and the problems of others. I experienced that feeling in 1997. Things didn’t seem to be going well, so I began to question my role in life. Was I walking the spiritual path that God had directed me to walk? I went in to my prayer room, as I do every morning. As I prayed, I told God that I felt abandoned, and I wondered if angels really did exist.

My husband, Roger, and I decided to go to the movies. We arrived a few minutes early and went to browse through the nearby bookstore. I headed right for the religion section. There I noticed a tiny old man wearing a rumpled brown trench coat and a funny-looking brown hat. He was quite short, and a few wisps of snow-white hair had escaped from his hat and fell lightly on his shoulders. He looked unkempt, and even though it was warm outside, he was dressed in winter apparel.

The funny little man turned to me and smiled. He had the kindest face I had ever seen, and his blue eyes sparkled. He looked ancient, yet his eyes danced with the enthusiasm of a toddler exploring the world. He seemed to study me for a second, contemplating what to say. He started nodding his head “yes” as though acknowledging some sort of wisdom. Then he looked at me and said, “You know, there really are angels. Trust me, I know.”

I didn’t know what to say. I managed to nod my head in agreement. His grin broadened slightly and then he said, “You’ve been doubting if yours are still around. They are. They haven’t deserted you. God loves you very much. I know.”

How in the world could this gentle, sweet little man know that I was fussing with God and my angels, and had been questioning their existence that very morning? I started to say something, but he held up his hand and stopped me. “All humans have doubts. But there really are angels and they’re always around you, and God loves you. Remember that. Your guardian angel is always just a few feet away, if you should ever need him.”

All of a sudden I felt comforted, loved, and protected. I also felt ashamed for having doubted God. I wanted to cry and laugh all at the same time. With that, the man started to walk off, just as Roger was walking around the corner of the aisle. I felt the need to talk more with the man.

“Wait!” I shouted. I tried to follow him around the corner, but he was gone! “Roger, where is he”? My husband scanned the entire store, but the man seemed to have vanished into thin air. We were standing at the back of the store, so he couldn’t have slipped out the front door that quickly. I had been only a step behind him, and from Roger’s bird’s-eye view (he’s nearly seven feet tall) he could see the entire store, including the front door, but the man was nowhere to be found! We ran to the front door and looked up and down the sidewalk. We asked the people at the front desk if they had seen the little man in the trench coat leaving, but they just shook their heads “no” as though we were crazy.

I looked at Roger, and Roger looked at me. Then I laid my head on his chest and cried. I felt so blessed. I wasn’t worthy of what I thought I had just experienced. Then the Bible verse came to mind about being kind to strangers because you could be entertaining angels unaware.

I am completely convinced that my guardian angel appeared to me that day. Disguised as that little old man dressed in that shabby brown coat, he appeared just to let me know that he was around and that all I had to do was trust and believe.

(From “More Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul”, by Arielle Ford)