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GUIDE/ANGEL
At times the journey leads us through the desert as it did the
Jews so many years ago. It is not easy to traverse the terrain
of the desert on your own. Where do you look for water, where
for shade? How do you know when something is real, when a
mirage? We need a guide, an angel of the Lord, to point the
way. Angels come in unexpected forms.
I was blessed at a particularly dark period of my life when I
wandered in the desert for many years to meet a young priest,
wise beyond his years, who became for me the cloud by day, the
pillar of light by night. He urged me not to fear the darkness;
invited me to explore the unknown. He affirmed me; challenged
me; awakened potential within me. He turned my life around.
The years of wandering in the desert continued, it is true,
there were even times of yearning for the fleshpots of Egypt,
but the vision of the Promised Land grew clearer and I learnt
that the desert blooms, that there are tiny, seemingly
imperceptible signs of life in the vast barrenness. Slowly a new
day began to dawn.
We all need Angels to guide us, mentors, spiritual directors,
soul friends, whatever term you prefer. We cannot do it on our
own. And God sends them. Sometimes we don’t recognise them
because they may not come in traditional guise, in the way or in
the form that we anticipate. Nonetheless they come.
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