Spirituality
If You Don’t Believe in Angels, This Could Change Your Mind
Three distinct encounters turned me into a believer in defying rational explanations.
I wish I had an angel story every time Chicken Soup for the Soul emails me with requests for stories about personal encounters with angels. It seems to be a popular topic with Chicken Soup, and because I’ve sold them a couple of stories, I’m on their writer’s list.
But I’ve never had an encounter with an angel, at least not the supernatural kind. And for Chicken Soup, people who act like angels don’t count. It needs to be the real thing.
A few years ago, I was a skeptic. Since we’re more inclined to believe what we’ve seen or experienced, the absence of a personal angelic visitation left me doubting.
I never doubted the existence of a supernatural world beyond what we can perceive with our five senses because too much in our world is mysterious and inexplicable. But when it came to angels, I didn’t believe what I hadn’t seen.
If they really existed, why hadn’t I seen one? Even my dreams had been devoid of ghostly apparitions, winged cherubs, or anything resembling what I supposed an angel would look like.
But then I heard several stories, and the people telling them were trustworthy. They weren’t delusional. They were practical, sensible, logical people.
Nancy’s Story
The first person to tell me an angel story was Nancy, an engineer. She’s one of the most intelligent people I know, and we’ve been friends for more than 25 years. She has experienced several supernatural incidences, so I’ve come to believe the veil between this world and the next is thinner for her than it is for me.
One of those mysterious incidences occurred years ago when her newborn grandson was diagnosed with a severe, congenital, incurable illness. It was touch and go, with one doctor blatantly stating, “He is not going to make it.”
The infant’s family hovered in intensive care near his incubator, praying over the tiny, sick newborn. He was so helpless, hooked up to wires and tubes with monitors beeping and blipping every few seconds.
Only two people could be by his side at one time, so my friend paced the hall outside his room and waited anxiously for news. When she saw a slender black man with a shock of thick, white hair emerge from the room, she rushed forward, assuming he was a doctor or nurse. But before she could ask any questions, the man said, “Your grandson is going to be fine, Nancy. He will leave this hospital and grow up. Don’t worry.”
Then he padded quietly down the hall and out the door.
When Nancy’s husband and daughter emerged from the hospital room, Nancy said, “I was so relieved to hear the man who was with you say everything is going to be okay!”
“What man?” The others looked baffled.
“The black man with white hair. The one who was just in there with you,” my friend insisted. “The man wearing scrubs.”
“We were the only ones in the room. They only allow two adults in at a time.” Her husband and daughter were perplexed. No one else had seen the mysterious man.
Nancy’s grandson did leave the hospital and is now a young man who has outlived the doctor who predicted he wouldn’t make it.
Nancy was convinced the black man with white hair was an angel.
Barb’s Story
Another friend with an angel story is Barb. We’ve known each other for ten years and have been close friends for the past five. Despite having many health issues, including Crohn’s disease, she has an upbeat attitude and a great deal of empathy for anyone going through a hard time.
She’s told me about some of her hospitalizations and setbacks, but she only recently told me the story of the time her appendix burst. It happened decades before I knew her, and she almost died.
Barb had been rushed to the hospital with a burst appendix and sepsis, and for a week, she hovered between life and death. She only remembers bits and pieces of her ordeal, but one part stands out. As she grew sicker, an especially compassionate nurse began visiting her at midnight. This nurse would touch her forehead gently and whisper, “Don’t worry. You’re going to be alright.”
This gave Barb hope as the days dragged on, her condition worsened, and her fever spiked. Then, one night, the nurse came with a different message. “You’re about to get better. I won’t be visiting you anymore.”
Barb’s fever broke the next day, and in two more days, she went home. But she couldn’t forget the kind nurse, so when she recovered, she returned to the hospital with flowers and candy. “I want to give these to the nurse who came every night at midnight to encourage me,” she told the staff at the nursing station.
“No one came by your room at midnight,” they said.
Barb described the nurse, but nobody on staff fit that description. The nurses who had been on duty during Barb’s illness were puzzled when they heard about the mysterious midnight visitor. They said Barb must have been hallucinating.
But like Nancy, Barb was convinced she had an encounter with an angel.
My Daughter-In-Law’s Story
The third incident is probably the most mysterious of all. My daughter-in-law told me this story.
She and her husband (my son) had just moved to a new town, and she decided she wanted a part-time job to help make ends meet and get out of the house a few days a week. She saw an ad for a position that sounded perfect. A local chiropractor needed an office manager. His office was only two blocks away, the job paid well, and it was part-time.
My DIL began having second thoughts as soon as she saw his office. A crooked sign hung haphazardly on the door, and she could see through the window that boxes were piled high in the office. She stepped inside to an empty waiting room as dark as a dungeon.
A burly, bearded man in a sloppy, soiled shirt emerged from behind closed doors and said abruptly, “Follow me.”
My DIL, ignoring the goosebumps that had risen on her skin, followed him down a narrow passageway to an office where he motioned for her to sit across from him, a desk between them.
Trying to sound normal and unafraid, she told him why she wanted the job. But instead of asking about her qualifications or talking about his practice, he said, “I’ve done some terrible things. How do you feel about that?”
My DIL glanced toward the door, evaluating her chances of a quick getaway, but the man who claimed to be a chiropractor moved between her and the door.
“My last assistant didn’t last long,” he said. “She wasn’t cooperative. Now, I’m going to show you the basement.”
My DIL sensed evil and danger but didn’t know what to do. Should she make a run for it? Try to get past him to the door?
Before she could move, a sudden pounding startled them both. Cursing, the man said, “You stay here,” before lumbering toward the door. Instead of staying where she was, my DIL followed him.
A woman standing on the other side of the door looked past the man to my DIL. “Go. Now,” the woman commanded. “Now!”
My DIL didn’t need additional urging. She lurched past the man and fled to her car. A few days later, she drove past the office, but no sign hung on the door. A For Rent sign was propped in the window.
My DIL was convinced the woman at the door was an angel.
Conclusions and Takeaways
I’ve heard other stories like this, but these three stood out in my mind because the people telling them are reliable witnesses who are 100 percent convinced they encountered an angel.
Just because I’ve never seen an angel doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Some people appear to be more attuned to supernatural experiences than others. We’re all wired differently, and the universe sends us messages in different ways. I believe we should be open to those messages, whether they are bold visitations or subtle nudges.
I read many stories about angles. For example, the story of Dr. Yildiz a few years ago reflected his perspectives from a different angle. As a scientist, he reframed metaphorical angels appearing in his life as “unique souls.”
What do you think? Have you ever encountered an angel? Do you feel there’s a more pragmatic explanation for these stories, or do you believe, as my friends and DIL do, that an angel visited them?
Thank you for reading my story.