On my way home from the gym tonight, I was listening to David Dye on Live At The World Cafe interviewing Paul Simon about his most recent release called So Beautiful Or So What?  Paul’s interesting take was that the CD was unintentionally spiritual (but in my perception, not at all preachy) and exploratory of some of the most profound inquiries we human beings can pose. One of the songs is called Questions For The Angels.

A pilgrim on a pilgrimage

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge

 His sneakers torn

In the hour when the homeless move their cardboard blankets

And the new day is born
Folded in his backpack pocket

The questions that he copied from his heart

Who Am I in this lonely world?

Where will I make my bed tonight?

When twilight turns to dark
Questions for the angels… Who believes in angels?

 Fools do… Fools and pilgrims all over the world
If you shop for Love in a bargain store

And you don’t get what you are bargain for… Can you get your money back?

If an empty train in a railway station Calls you to its destination Can you choose another track?
Will I wake up from these violent dreams? With my hair as white as the morning moon?
Questions for the angels… Who believes in angels?

I do… Fools and pilgrims all over the world

Downtown Brooklyn

The pilgrim is passing a bill-board And catches his eyes

It’s Jay-Z He’s got a kid on each knee

He is wearing clothes that he wants us to try
If every human on the planet

And all the buildings in it

Should disappear

Would a zebra grazing in the african savana

Care enough to share one zebra tear?

Questions for the angels…

I have long been fascinated by angels. I accept that they are every bit as ‘real’ as flesh and blood human beings. Messengers from the Divine, I have felt them around me since childhood.  I am attracted to books that describe their intervention by invitation, and have enjoyed movies and tv shows that portray them as willing guides for us. Favorites have included It’s A Wonderful Life with the memorable line “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”, Touched By An Angel which teamed up a tone deaf angel  named Monica with a belting out songstress supervising angel named Tess, and Angels in the Outfield with the reminder “It could happen.” I have immersed myself in books by Doreen Virtue and have taken workshops with Candy Danzis on angelic energies.  I have had what I can only describe as angelic encounters with folks who show up at the right place and right time, to deliver a missive and then literally disappear when I have turned my back or in one case, stuck around and then when I returned to the restaurant where this one had worked, pushing a broom to clean the floor and inquired about him, no one knew who I was referring to.

Even though I have a GPS, I often use what I call the AGS (Angelic Guidance System) to get me to my destination. There are times when I have no clue where I am going and then I ask them for information. Which route would be the best?  While on a long distance trip, I query where to stop to eat. Should I keep driving a few more miles on turn into that particular rest stop?  I ask them to ride along with me. Not sure if I can count on them to fasten their seatbelts. They are definitely back seat drivers who set my wheels in motion. Lately my inner GPS has been taking me on voyages of the imagination, whimsical and practical, being my Bliss, writing and speaking, being what I call “God’s Typist”.

Tonight while on the elliptical at Planet Fitness, I was watching So You Think You Can Dance?  (fitness oriented shows motivate me to stay longer and sweat more) and was amazed by this brother and sister who performed. What was so miraculous went beyond their obvious talent, but that 6 weeks earlier, the pair had been in a serious car accident in which she was uninjured and he was considered DOA, and lay in a coma for 3 days with all kinds of broken bones and lacerations. He emerged, not only walking, but with the ability to dance with such grace and beauty that it brought goosebumps.  So, my questions for the angels are “What intervention took place that allowed this miracle to occur?  Were y’all there with protective ‘wings’ spread?” I would like to think that in the moment of impact and in the days that followed, they were indeed there because a call for love invited them.

If you could ask questions of the angels, what would they be?

http://youtu.be/SrMioT5MUqY Questions For The Angels by Paul Simon