Amazing Grace: Angels in Disguise

At times of difficulty, I often receive little reminders that I am not alone. These messages from the universe show up in different ways but they never fail to reassure me that something out there is watching my back. I believe that they are all manifestations of something I will refer to here as ‘grace’.

Despite the religious connotations of this word, the concept of grace is not limited to the standard theological definition, which describes it as the ‘the spontaneous, unmerited gift of divine favour in the salvation of sinners’ - Encyclopaedia Britannica. I prefer to think of grace as a protective and fundamentally life-affirming force that is bestowed on anyone, irrespective of their religious beliefs or lack thereof.  

The author, Scott Peck, has written very eloquently about the subject of grace in his book ‘The Road Less Travelled’. To illustrate his ideas, he describes events from the lives of some of his patients that reveal what he refers to as 'the presence of grace'. From listening to their experiences, he has identified some characteristics that they all seem to share. The following extract is taken from the chapter, ‘The Definition of Grace’.

a.      They serve to nurture – support, protect and enhance – human life and spiritual growth.

b.     The mechanism of their action is either incompletely understood (as in the case of physical resistance and dreams) or totally obscure (as in the case of paranormal phenomena) according to the principles of natural law as interpreted by current scientific thinking.

c.      Their occurrences are frequent, routine, commonplace and essentially universal among humanity.

d.     Although potentially influenced by human consciousness, their origin is outside of the conscious will and beyond the process of conscious decision-making.

The kind of serendipitous events or ‘acts of grace’ that Scott Peck describes in his book include accounts of people who have:

·        walked unscathed from major accidents,

·        had seemingly irrational thoughts guiding them to take preventative action in the face of some imminent but unseen danger

·         experienced a seemingly chance encounter with a complete stranger who appeared at exactly the right time to offer words of encouragement and wisdom

The reason that Scott Peck’s writing resonates so deeply with me is that what he describes mirrors my own experience.   I have felt the unmistakable presence of grace many times throughout my life. And my repeated encounters with its benevolent presence have given me the unshakable certainty that no matter what difficulties I may face, I am always protected. I am convinced that we all have this protection and support at our disposal but it is easy to overlook it. So, it is important to remain alert and receptive.

Some of the greatest and most unexpected blessings in my life have been delivered by those who I now think of as my angels in disguise.  I have not always immediately recognised their function or importance, but in time I have come to appreciate the gifts they have brought me. The fact is that we all have encounters with grace but we are sometimes too distracted by the frenetic pace of daily life to even notice!

A few months ago, I was going through a very tough patch in my personal life. On a day when things seemed particularly gloomy, I decided to cheer myself up by taking my son to our favourite local restaurant. Although I was trying my best to put a brave face on things, my true feelings must have been visible. This turned out be no bad thing, as my unhappy demeanour gave the benevolent forces of the universe yet another opportunity to assist me! Anyway, my son and I were sitting side by side waiting to be served, when a lady who I had never seen before suddenly approached us. I was surprised because I had been to that restaurant countless times and no one had ever struck up a conversation with me.  In any case, our encounter turned out to be one of the most serendipitous events of my life. It still seems remarkable that a chance conversation with a complete stranger could have had this effect, but our meeting gave me a renewed sense of hope and purpose. Shortly afterwards, I began to write again after months of creative apathy. I also began my training to become a Reiki master.  I am certain that this lovely lady was an angel in disguise. After all, not only did she appear at the right moment but she was the catalyst that caused my life to change direction.

I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the presence of grace in my life because it has often kept me on the right path when I have been about to take a wrong turn. Or as a dear friend of mine would put it, just in time to stop me taking a detour down ‘Fuckwit Avenue’!  At times like this, it has often felt as though an invisible hand has descended from above, giving me a firm but loving shove in the right direction – just to remind me that if I am carry on as I am, things will not turn out well!

There have been other more dramatic examples of my various encounters with grace, but I do not think any one of them has been more significant in terms of its long term effect on my well-being. The only difference is that they have been out of the ordinary and therefore harder to miss. But because I don’t like to pass up the opportunity to tell a good story, I will share an example of one that definitely falls in the category of Extraordinary.

I first felt the awesome presence of grace during my extensive travels through South America in the 1980s. This was a period in my life characterised by a sort of fearless abandon – I was hungry for new experiences and nothing was going to stand in my way. Least of all a little thing like prudence! What I am about to share may seem like a cautionary tale about the naivety of youth but I hope that it will also illustrate the amazing power of grace.

During my first visit to Colombia in 1988, I took a memorable road trip along the Caribbean coast. I had been staying in Cartagena with friends but they had gone travelling for a few days and I had stayed behind. In their absence I had befriended a local girl, who worked near our apartment. When she told me she wanted to visit her family in Santa Marta but didn’t want to travel alone, I was pleased to be of service! So we set off one afternoon by bus on what should have been a straightforward 4-5 hour journey.

On route to Santa Marta, the bus stopped off at Barranquilla - a coastal city a couple of hours north of Cartagena. Instead of continuing directly with our journey, we decided to get off the bus in Barranquilla as we were hungry and restless. Anyway, we somehow lost track of time and when we eventually decided to get another bus to Santa Marta, we discovered that we had missed the last one. Faced with the unwelcome prospect of having to spend the night in Barranquilla, we decided to take a ‘colectivo’ - a kind of cheap taxi that transports several passengers all going to the same destination. Unfortunately, what we didn’t know then was that the so-called colectivo was driven by a pair of Mafia guys who had decided to amuse themselves by posing as taxi drivers. These men must have been well practised at spotting wide-eyed innocents because they pounced on us before we even had a chance to give the matter the consideration it deserved.  We must have seemed like a gift from heaven! Anyway, by this time, dusk had fallen and we still had another two hours ahead of us on the open road to reach Barranquilla. Although the route from Barranquilla to Santa Marta is on a main highway, there was very little traffic on the roads that evening. In fact, it was strangely and rather eerily quiet. But my friend and I weren’t concerned because we had no idea what these guys were planning.

Not long after we had joined the highway connecting Barranquilla with Santa Marta, I happened to glance down. The first thing I saw was the unmistakable silhouette of a submachine gun, jammed under the seat in front of me. It was partially hidden under a coat but its bulky outline was unmistakable. Even though this was my first trip to Colombia, I had already seen enough of these guns to recognise it. At first, I was alarmed but then I remembered that most people carry fire arms in South America. Furthermore, as these men were taxi drivers, I assumed they needed it for protection on long journeys. Nonetheless, it puzzled me that they would carry a weapon of that size for self-defence when a standard revolver would have been adequate. But still, I remained unfazed. It was only when I caught my friend’s eye and realised that she had seen it too that I began to feel afraid.

Struggling to hide her anxiety, Eva had immediately turned to the driver and asked how long it would be before we reached Santa Marta. Her innocent enquiry was met with a peal of cynical laughter that made my blood run cold. Inclining his head towards his companion and fixing his eyes on us in the rear-view mirror, the driver said:

‘Compadre, why don’t you tell these nice girls where we are really going?’

Without missing a beat, his side-kick had turned to look at us. Then, as if accustomed to delivering these well-rehearsed lines, he replied: 

 ‘Well see sweet ladies, there’s been a change of plan. We’re taking you to meet our boss. He can’t resist a pretty face.’

In that instant, we realised that we were in serious trouble and that nothing short of a miracle could save us from rape, serious injury or something worse.

After his companion had relayed this spine-chilling piece of news, we continued our journey in silence for several miles. But my mind was racing the whole time in a desperate attempt to come up with an escape plan. As we passed a sign indicating that were just 12 kilometres from Santa Marta, the driver began to slow the car. I noticed that there was a toll up ahead and it suddenly hit me that this could be our one and only chance to get help. But, unfortunately as we drew nearer we could see that the toll was unmanned.

I will never forget what happened next. Without warning, Eva suddenly flung open the door on her side and simultaneously grabbed me firmly by the arm. Within seconds we were out of the car and rolling in the dust at the side of the highway. Although the car had slowed to around 20 miles an hour, it was still going fast enough that jumping out at that speed could have resulted in some nasty injuries. Yet incredibly we were fine - just bruised, shaken and very scared.  But the most bizarre thing about this incident is that, just seconds after we had jumped from the car, a bolt of lightning shot across the sky. There had been no signs of a storm brewing so we hadn’t expected to see this sudden burst of electricity, which illuminated the night sky for miles around. It also apparently startled the driver of the car. I will never forget the look on his face as he pressed the accelerator to the floor and disappeared in a cloud of dust - leaving me and Eva stunned and shaken by the side of the highway.

Without doubt, this was one of the most dramatic demonstrations of the power of grace that I have ever experienced. We could have been in serious trouble that night. As it was, we escaped with a few bumps and bruises and a valuable lesson about the dangers of travelling in unfamiliar territory at night. Looking back, the fact that I escaped unscathed from so many similarly precarious situations must be evidence that I was surrounded by an army of angels!  

Scott Peck concludes that although the varied manifestations of grace are generally regarded as separate, their commonality seems to indicate that they are the manifestation of a single phenomenon: a powerful force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings. Whether you think of this benevolent presence as God or some other form of higher consciousness is irrelevant. What is important to remember is that in the midst of our troubles we never walk alone. And if we remember to keep our hearts and eyes open, we may find just ourselves surrounded by grace.