Small Signs of God - Angel With The Cross

Looking back to Advent of 2007, I now believe it was a visit from an angel:

'I am waking in the night, not from worry, but from dreams and songs I learned as a child. One night I woke to these words, “Jesus doeth all things well.”  I wasn’t sure about the song, but I knew the tune and the next morning I went to the hymnal and found these words:

All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy, who through life has been my Guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate’re befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.

The conversation in the dream went something like me saying, “I cannot do this.  I do not want to do this.”  And someone else saying, “You have to do this.  You can do this.  Do not let temptation or self-pity get in your way and do not be afraid.” 

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “we walk by faith, not by sight.”  When we can see clearly, it is not faith, but reasoning of our mind.  I have learned to rely less on reasoning and to trust my conversations in the wee hours and rely on faith to see me through.

Jesus does “doeth” all things well – he comes to us again this Christmas as Immanuel – God with us - in the middle of the night, during the day through our family and friends, and before our eyes each and every minute." 

Two years later in Rome I would take a picture of each angel on the Bridge of Angels (Ponte Sant'Angelo) that spans the Tiber River. Just a few steps away from St. Peter's Basilica, the bridge reflects the psychological shift from secular to sacred that occurs when pilgrims crossed from the busy streets of Rome over to the churches of the Vatican. The Angel with the Cross's inscription reads: "Cuius principatus super humerum eius," or, "Dominion rests on his shoulders." (Isaiah 9:6) Just a few verses before this, the prophet announced that "a child is born to us, a son is given us."

Wonderful Counselor, who  carries  the cross for me this Advent, guide me on the bridge from secular to sacred.