The Day I Heard Angels Sing
The event of where and how my tradition began is unforgettable because it was connected to the first time I ever heard angels singing and also blessed and gifted with an unforgettable and fantastic journey to a place unimaginable, rarely seen or experienced by humankind. It was a very wondrous day.
The wheels began to turn a few days before the Christmas when I was around seven or eight years of age. My family lived in a city sectored by ethnicities or race, as many cites were at the time, the sector an area my parents began and I born into was filled with migrants from the southern regions, descendants of slaves, all hoping to escape the drudgery, social conditions and the harsh treatment they received in the south. Many were also enticed by newly opened and advertised opportunities as well as the false promises they heard an their imagined hope for better lives discussed and yearned for among themselves . Certainly and regardless better, they were hoping, than the people and places they sought to escape.
Among the lot were many poor and undereducated people, if any formal education at all, as well as those better situated. It was also the place I first encountered the angels and learned of the spirit of giving. My adventure began with a neighbor, Sandra, whom I occasionally played and the catalyst of my fantastic journey.
A little on Sandra's circumstances. Her family was very poor and struggling. No father in the home , four other siblings, all with different daddies and all of those daddies, were, seemingly, absent. The mother was very beautiful, not well educated and all of her children were very pleasing to the eye, except Sandra who was treated very harshly and cruelly; although, never sure of why, I did wonder if it was because she wasn't as pretty as the others, certainly appeared so. I always felt sorry for her and sympathized greatly regarding her treatment having observed her mother's open rejection and bitterness towards her compared to the kindness shown the others.
She and I were playing two days before Christmas, I was excited and joyfully sharing my expected and desired gifts, at one point, exhausted from bragging, asked her what she was getting. She, sorrowfully, shamefully, lowered head, eyes downcast, excruciating pain on her face that filled and sucked the joy out of my soul, for a moment, all the more, when she sadly replied, with a soft mournfully heartbreaking sigh, "probably nothing," my heart was gutted. Wow, I thought and stopped bragging and rambling about all the great stuff I was getting, it felt so wrong to continue, even at my young age.
Inside I was silently happy her mother was nothing like my own parents, certainly not my mother. I looked at her smiling in sympathy, while feeling very sad for her, I suddenly told her, she could always come over and play with me and my toys anytime. She smiled back in thanks with grateful eyes. We moved on with something else, as kids do, until she had to go home. After she left, I began to ponder her circumstances, while trying to imagine living or being in her situation.
I did my best to ignore the thought of actually giving her one of my own presents to lift her up, mainly, because Christmas was the foremost time, my dad was extra generous with his spending. He was generally scrooge like with his money, some say wise, I thought otherwise, so wanted to hold on to ALL of my new stuff to come and my old stuff as well.
I must have dozed off, although still troubled and conflicted regarding Sandra's situation when, suddenly, like a rush of wind, I was surrounded by and within a force field of brightness and light . I was filled with awe by the comfort that engulfed and embraced me. There are no words to explain or describe the beauty of it.
While basking in the pureness and warmth of the glory encompassing my very being, I suddenly began hearing music coming from a distance. , The closer we came the more distinct. The sounds were unlike anything ever heard or imagined, beautiful sounds, out of this world sounds. The music, I was hearing, were sounds glorifying one greatly honored, greatly loved and greatly admired. I was astounded and perhaps had become a bit fearful, hard to explain because it wasn't frightful, just new and overwhelming somehow... TOO beautiful for human ears.
The forces driving the journey, obviously aware, suddenly stopped their forward motion, having perceived, I wasn't quite ready for more. As such, the course changed, gently and very lovingly they began returning me towards earthly realms . On the return trip they opened my heart to Sandra's heart and needs and I truly felt her deep pain, as she did, then they whispered in my ear, my very heart and soul, "love her, that's our Father's wish." I smiled and quickly fell fast asleep, at peace in Spirit.
After waking and contemplating my journey, I gained much understanding of what Christmas and the birth of Christ truly represented. It was about loving others, comforting and giving joy as one would desire even for themselves under the same circumstances.
It was also the 1st Christmas and the birth of my tradition of giving when I gave away a new and cherished toy to someone in need and placed myself to the side.. The joy on Sandra's face was much greater than a toy, I'd soon forget. Seeing her joy was MY gift from the angels and also why I maintain the tradition of giving LOVE and having an open heart towards others as led by the lessons in the light and my first flight with angels, not only at Christmas but everyday of my life.
