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A Few Words From Pastor Bryan
Strangers And Angels
(Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman)
There's a verse in the book of Hebrews that haunts me (in a good way!) from time to time. Hebrews 13:2 simply says,
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it."
Wow. According to this text, people we encounter in everyday life whom we don't know at all may actually be angels. They may even have been sent specifically to us for reasons beyond anything we'll ever know. I find that both wonderfully encouraging and a little bit intimidating.
On the wonderful side, I just love being reminded that God--the "Big Love"--is always working behind the scenes, in ways we don't see or know about--on our behalf. On everyone's behalf. For the sake of love and healing and everything good. To me that's one of the most beautiful things about being on a conscious spiritual journey. We can trust that the Deep Flow (remember as I shared in a sermon once that "Flow" is a legitimate translation of the root word "theo" as in "theology") is always moving on behalf of Love. In many ways all we really need to do is to try not to swim against the current. You know, try not to get in our own way. When we do, it's amazing how many things have a way of just "working out." Oh I know most of us could find reasons to push back against a statement like that, but I'm more and more convinced that most of what brings pain and suffering into the world and into our own lives has more to do with ways in which we humans are going against the Flow of Love than anything else.
On the disturbing side, I'm sure I've blown off more than my share of angels! Yykes. Times I've acted as though a stranger either didn't exist or was at best just kind of in my way. I love being with or around people who are kind to everyone and who are quick to share some kind of human contact with people we don't have to acknowledge at all. You know who you are. You're the ones who let people know you see them, and you appreciate their presence, even if you're just passing by each other. Those offerings of grace matter more than we'll ever know.
This verse also makes me think of how often some stranger has made a significant difference in my life. I could share stories of my own, but the one example I want to mention here is a stranger in the life of Howard Thurman. I read about this "strange encounter of the angel kind" this past week in Otis Moss III's new book, Dancing In The Darkness: Spiritual Lessons For Living In Turbulent Times.
Very quickly, Howard Thurman was a teacher and key figure in the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. Thurman's book, Jesus And The Disinherited, was hugely significant to King's life and the non-violent direct methodology of the Civil Rights movement. King carried 3 books with him at all times in his briefcase--the Bible, the Constitution, and Jesus And The Disinherited.
Howard Thurman grew up extremely poor in an area of the South where there were no schools for black children. He managed somehow to get an elementary school education, but in order to continue he would have to move to another state where a distant relative would take him in and allow him to go to high school. He had to take a train to this location, and to sum up the story, a racist conductor refused to let him and his few belongings on the train. 13 year old Howard Thurman went and sat down somewhere at the station and began to cry. All of a sudden he opened his eyes and saw a large black man who worked at the station standing in front of him. The man asked him what was wrong and why he was crying. Young Howard Thurman explained, and that man took Howard to the train, paid extra for his ticket, and let Howard Thurman know that he believed in his dream of getting an education and that nothing and no one should ever stop him. Howard Thurman went on to become, well, Howard Thurman. And he never saw that man who came to his aid again.
Years later, when he wrote his autobiography, Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman dedicated it to "the stranger in the railroad station who restored my broken dream 65 years ago."
Was that stranger and angel? Who knows. And it really doesn't matter. But here's to all the times the right person shows up at the right time in the right place and somehow makes a huge difference in our lives. Here's to all the angels and miracles that we encounter, usually without knowing it. And here's to living in such a way that we might actually be an "angel" for God to send to someone else who needs one. I wonder if more times than not angels don't even know they ARE angels. Maybe they (or we) are just people who are doing our best with the Spirit's help to offer love and kindness and hope as often as possible, and to leave all the timing and details and specific crossings of paths up to God.
Hope to see you in church this Sunday. You might even find yourself sitting next to an angel. :)
Pastor Bryan
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