From the time I could talk and throughout my formative years, every night before I fell asleep, I said this prayer…

Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom God’s love entrusts me here. Ever this night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

My son said the same prayer, at least until I no longer tucked him into bed. And when his kids spend the night at Nana and Papa’s house, they say the same prayer.

I love angels. And I have no hesitation in believing in their existence.

I’m not alone either. A poll conducted by CBS a couple of years ago determined that 94 percent of those who attend weekly religious services said they believed in angels. But surprisingly, the same poll showed that a majority of non-Christians also believed in the existence of angels.

For some reason, it is not unpopular  to believe in angels in the same way as it often is to profess a belief in God. I don’t really understand why this is; however, I personally know people who proclaim no belief in God or organized religion but who believe in angels.

It doesn’t matter. It’s just interesting to me that angels are so revered.

I’ve been thinking about angels – and in particular guardian angels – lately as two of my grandkids have visited the emergency room with injuries to their hands. Their guardian angels simply couldn’t keep up.

Joseph was injured in a bowling accident. I believe his guardian angel took a little time off to visit the snack bar because (s)he determined no one could possibly sustain an injury while bowling. You can if you’re 4 and you drop a bowling ball on your fingers. The result: shattered bones on the ring finger and tall man of his left hand above the knuckle. Poor bud.

About a week later, Alastair cut his hand open on a piece of glass tubing that was a part of the chemistry set Papa and I gave him for his 9^th birthday. By the time we telephoned him to wish him a happy birthday at 8 o’clock in the morning, he was at the Emergency Room. His guardian angel remains silent on how THAT happened.

Accidents of course do happen to kids whether or not you believe in guardian angels. But I would anticipate total and complete chaos amongst children should angels not exist.

Bill and I have always been convinced we had a travel angel who guided and cared for us as we traveled throughout Europe back in 2008. I could relate story after story about ways in which we were mysteriously saved from imminent disaster. There was, for example, the time we were getting ready to leave our hotel room in Lourdes and, though I had never done it before, I looked under the bed. Don’t know why, just did it on a whim. There was Bill’s credit card. How it got there or what made me decide to look under the bed…..well, only the angel knows.

We saw some beautiful art that involved angels while we traveled in Europe. There is a particularly beautiful work by Fra Angelico called the Annunciation. It is well protected in a museum in Florence. No flash photography allowed. The first time we saw the painting, we didn’t realize you couldn’t use a flash and Bill took a picture, using, of course, his flash. “NO FLASH,” came a loud voice out of nowhere and no one, so we’re pretty sure it was God. Or the Angel Gabriel of whom it was a portrait.

It pleases me to no end, by the way, that God uses angels as his messengers as well as the protectors of his people. The story of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her about how her little simple life was never going to be the same is the most beautiful story in the Bible.

I guess I don’t understand angels any more than I understand anything else about God and his gifts to us. I just believe. And I seriously hope my guardian angel is present today when we take a boat cruise on Saguaro Lake since I don’t swim a single, solitary stroke!