I saw another angel recently. Sometimes it is hard to spot them because they are so good at disguises. There was no white robe on this one. She was wearing a faded, flowered, sun dress not suited for the Winter weather. Her coat too was well worn and probably older than my grown up son. She didn’t have a halo. Her white hair, though, sparkled when the light hit it and her smile shined with joy. There were no wings to be seen either. She was walking slowly in her scuffed up shoes while she pushed her shopping cart through the supermarket.

I knew that she was an angel, however, when at the checkout she divided her groceries into 3 small piles. She apologized to me for doing so but explained that she was buying food for two other elderly people who couldn’t make it out in the bad weather. I just laughed and told her to take her time. It isn’t everyday that you get to see an angel in action after all.

My ancient cherub squinted through her thick glasses and counted out the last of her change to pay for the groceries. Then she picked up her full bags and started to head out into the cold. She stopped for just a second though at a collection bin for the local humane society and quietly dropped in a bag of cat food and a bag of dog food. As I watched her walk into the swirling snow, I smiled and wondered if she was going to head for a car or fly up to Heaven.

That elderly angel in disguise reminded me once again to look for the inner angel in myself. She showed me one more time that doing good and spreading joy can be as natural here on Earth as it is in Heaven. She let me see that sharing God’s love is not only easy to do, it is what we are meant to do. I hope then that all of you take the time today to find the inner angel inside yourselves. I hope that you let that angel out to bless the world with your love. And I hope that you always remember that you don’t need wings to fly.

Joseph J. Mazzella joemazzella@frontier.com