Angels, Souls and Egos
Leaves flew crazily across the driveway as he sped off toward the office. “Late as usual.” he thought. Mornings are never a happy time for Jack. His first thoughts of the day habitually fret over all the frustrations in his busy life. His kids seem bored and both of them are doing poorly in school. His wife, Susan’s nerves are increasingly frazzled from trying to be the peacemaker in all the family’s arguments and tensions.
And Jack? Well, he’s pulling into the 7-11 right now for some more Rolaids…
“Ring – Ring” Clarence looks down at his I-Phone and sees it’s GOD calling.
“Clarence here. Yes, Sir. I’ll be right up.” (Yes, this is the same Clarence who got his wings a long time ago helping some guy named George Bailey.)
GOD says, “Clarence, I need someone special for an important job this afternoon.”
“I’m happy to help if I can, Sir. But excuse me, Sir, I’m not sure I have any special qualities that You might need? “Yes, you do, Clarence. You’ve got just exactly what I need for this job. What could that be, Sir? “Absolute faith and unconditional love.”
Oh, that’s easy, Sir. I was worried you might need someone a lot smarter than me on this one. “Listen carefully, Clarence. I want you to fully understand this before you leave here today. Absolute faith and unconditional love are far greater than anything the little mind can do.”
“In fact it’s the mind that gets people into so much trouble down there, Clarence, when they don’t listen to their hearts. You understand that, don’t you?” “Well, I guess so Sir.”
“Let’s make it even clearer for you, Clarence. Did you get promoted to Angel First Class because of your head or because of your heart?” “Oh, I see what you mean now, Sir.” “Good. Now here’s the situation. There’s a family down there that’s created some big problems for themselves and I need you to help them get through what’s going to be a difficult time for them.
Arriving at work, Jack sees the CEO’s car is already there. He’s reaching in his pocket for the Rolaids...
Susan yells to the kids to get in the car or they’ll be late for school. As they approach Hilltop High School Julie says to Aaron, “My science teacher says that if you keep listening to that rap music it will warp your brain.” “Oh, cool,” says, Aaron, “then I’ll finally be able to communicate with people like you!” Julie turns her head away from her brother just in time to see her mother slump forward over the steering wheel...
“Morning, boss.” “Jack, we just got a phone call from Palomar Hospital. Your family’s been in an accident!” Jack tears off for the hospital. Running into the emergency room a voice from behind alerts him, “Are you Jack Jenkins?” “Yes.” “Come with me.” “Mr. Jenkins, your wife had a heart attack while driving your kids to school. We’ve stabilized her, but there also seems to be a neck injury. We’re still evaluating that. And your children have injuries as well, but nothing life threatening.” “Can I see them?” “It would be better if you could wait just a few more minutes until we finish evaluating your wife’s neck. Then we’ll get you right in.
“And as for your two children, they’ve both just gone into surgery. Aaron has a broken jaw and has lost several teeth. Julie has an injury to the right side of her head and her right eye has received severe trauma. We’re not sure we’ll be able to save it.”
Six years later, Susan has recovered full use of her arms, but is permanently paralyzed below the waist. Aaron has just been admitted to dental school. And Julie, her face looks nearly normal now after four surgeries.
Jack left work early today to spend some quality time with his wonderful family. They’re all laughing now. They’ve learned to love, accept and enjoy each other so much more from having gone through all that suffering together. They’ve become a truly happy and loving family.
Oh, you want to know about Clarence! You didn’t see him, did you? Well, real life is different than the movies. But he was there, all right. Clarence was working behind the scenes, lovingly helping their souls, not their egos!
I’m John Johnston. See you next time, here, On the Cosmic Porch!
