Tanya Atwood-Adams opened with a reading from Sophy Burnham, who has written a number of books about angels. The word \u2018angel\u2019 means messenger; they bring messages and warnings; they guard; they help; they heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are stories about angels in many ancient and modern faith traditions\nalthough under various names. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a\ncommon belief in angels, as well as Vikings, Greeks, Hindus, Persians,\nZoroastrians, Taoism, Buddhism. Angels sometimes come in disguises such\nas visions, voices, dreams, and coincidences. We are each of us angels\nwith one wing, and can only fly when we are embracing one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our first speaker was Ariana Buechel<\/strong>. She has her Master of Arts degree in\nCounseling Psychology from Lewis & Clark University in Portland, Oregon.\nFor 15 years she has studied and practiced the Raphaelite Work, named after Raphael,\nthe archangel of healing and science. The Raphaelite Work is spiritual\nhealing with presence to the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual\nbodies. Ariana is a leader in the Sufi Order International and has guided\nspiritual retreats for over 30 years. She and her husband recently moved\nto Ithaca, New York to be more involved in the lives of their three grandsons,\nnow 2, 4, and 6 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ariana opened with a Sufi invocation\/meditation, speaking slowly,\npausing after each line so that we could feel its depth in our own beings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toward the One, Since she usually guides people individually, Ariana was initially reluctant to speak to us. But remembering that everyone has a view peculiar to her divine inheritance, as well as her experiences on earth, she consented. Referring to everyone\u2019s unique perspective, Ariana said we are like bubbles in an ocean of truth. When we share, we can open to greater understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ariana grew up with no religious practice at home. Her mother was\nan atheist. As a child, her father had been required to go to church\nalmost every day, and as an adult he rebelled, refusing to set foot inside a\nchurch. However, invited by a friend, Ariana went to a Lutheran church and\nwas deeply moved by the communion service. It seemed to change the\natmosphere of the church; for them it was a sacred time when they were in touch\nwith their innermost being. Later at Bible camp, Ariana, surrounded by the\nbeauty and harmony of nature \u2013mountains, towering trees, clear streams, fresh\nair, by day the warmth of the sun and at night unending stars above \u2013 felt \u201cat\nhome\u201d. In a study group a leader wanted the children to draw a picture of\nGod. She didn\u2019t know how to do this because she felt that God is not\nlimited, but in everything and everyone. The leader called this\nresponse Pantheistic. This felt wrong; she felt that the divine message\ncould come to us through nature, through humans, or through angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her twenties, Ariana was drawn to Sufism, and a new community east of Albany , New York called The Abode of the Message. She lived in this community for five years as a seeker, guiding retreats. Eventually a young man arrived with whom she felt a spiritual connection. Although he proposed, she wouldn\u2019t marry him until she could be sure that she trusted him. Unfortunately she became pregnant, then found out that he had betrayed her. Her pain was intense, and increased when she realized that she was miscarrying. Recognizing her despair, a friend asked what she could do. She came with music, and played \u201cEvensong for Ash Wednesday\u201d; the music and the caring lifted her to another dimension, a plane of peace and healing. Ariana said that this friend was one of the angels in her life. When we feel most deeply, that is when a divine message comes as an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina Hanson<\/strong> was raised in Philadelphia and came to\nSyracuse to finish her college education. She stayed in Syracuse since then due\nto the friendly people and wonderful summers. She’s had several careers, but\ncurrently is a local massage therapist who helps folks in chronic pain. Nina\nsaid that her father called intuition \u201cfake nonsense\u201d but she knows that\nintuition is real as she and her brother and two nephews all have a heightened\nsense of intuition. Nina had spent most of her childhood challenging\npriests and bishops of the various churches that her family attended, never\ngetting satisfactory answers to her questions. In college she took an\nintensive course on Buddhism, which did have satisfactory answers to her\nquestions and she has followed this path ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina has a few talents that many find unusual. She has always been\naware of when folks were going to die. She knew enough not to tell her\nparents, but her school friends found this both cool and spooky. At 15 she\nhad a near-death experience that adults chalked up to a wild imagination, but\nshe was confident of her experience. She is able to \u201cread\u201d houses, cars\nand other objects for their qualities and their past and future. She is\naware of the presence of \u201cspiritual helpers\u201d during the\nday. She hears guidance when she is doing her work. She can\nsometimes see either folks who have passed and\/or guides\/angels. She can\nsmell odors that indicate the presence of these guides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina related several stories to show how angels have worked in her life. As a college student she was cold to the bone as she waited to board a city bus. Most of the passengers were exiting, followed by the driver who told her \u201cDon\u2019t get on the bus; there is a man with a knife.\u201d She felt compelled to get on anyway, she sat down and was soon threatened by a young man holding a knife to her neck. Three times she placidly told the man to put the knife away, gently pushing away his arm. She doesn\u2019t know what made her so peaceful and determined, but she refused to be intimidated. Eventually the young man went to the back of the bus to confer with his buddies, who had been watching. They decided she was crazy and left the bus. This was her experience of being used as an angel to let these young men know that this is not what they were supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina had a friend who absolutely loved the Archangel Michael and wished\nshe could talk to him. One day when she and the friend were\ntogether, Nina suddenly saw a short stocky well-dressed young man, and\nasked his name. \u201cMichael,\u201d he replied. Nina asked, \u201cArchangel\nMichael?\u201d He replied, \u201cWell, she called me and I\u2019m here.\u201d Her\nfriend refused to believe Nina that Archangel Michael was there, so Nina had to\ntell him, \u201cSorry.\u201d Michael said, \u201cIt happens, people call and then don\u2019t\nrecognize us. But why are you so calm with me?\u201d Nina said,\n\u201cWell I’m getting used to people like you appearing to me.\u201d And\nMichael disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflecting on this encounter, Nina said that she should have been\namazed, or awestruck, or overwhelmed, or burned to a crisp. But Michael\nhad controlled his energy so that she could stand next to him, and he could get\nhis message through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the funeral of a friend\u2019s mother, Nina saw a light blue shimmery\nsomething near her friend and alerted her. The friend asked if Nina could\nsmell the flowers, but Nina could not. Her friend recognized this as\na sign of Presence and said \u201cMother Mary is here.\u201d Nina was not\nfamiliar with the Mother Mary story, but she watched as this phenomenon helped\nher friend go from painfully distraught to totally peaceful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina believes that everyone has personal angel guides, and credits hers\nwith creating a bubble of calm within a severe snowstorm. Nina owned a\nVega, which she described as an engine surrounded by aluminum foil, the vehicle\nof choice if one was poor. She was driving from Philadelphia\n through Binghamton in a blizzard, and was buffeted by passing\ntractor-trailers. Her dog was terrified, but she had faith that she would\nget through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She became aware of the smell of cherry pipe and a voice that said to\ndrive at the same speed. The snow storm seemed to clear in a bubble 200\nfeet in front of and behind her, and the bubble traveled with her all the way\nto her destination, while the storm continued unabated. She has\nsmelled that cherry pipe other times as well, and occasionally people getting\ninto her car will ask about the cherry pipe scent that they detect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some time after her brother\u2019s death, Nina was traveling on a usually\nbusy highway, but there was no traffic that day. A large bird\nstood in the road, watching her approach. She stopped, and the bird hopped\nonto her car’s hood and pecked at the windshield. She said, \u201c Sandy, is it\nyou?\u201d The bird danced in front of her, and then flew away. The\nnext thing she noticed is that suddenly there were cars on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a young woman, Nina was a victim of domestic violence and living in\na shelter. Her husband was sending friends to rape her, saying that\nshe deserved it. A man showed up in her room and offered to be her\nbodyguard. She didn\u2019t trust him, until she learned that he was a\nJesuit priest, there to help her through her difficult times. He\ntaught her what she was worth, because, as Nina said, she obviously didn\u2019t know\nor she wouldn\u2019t have been in that situation. Angels can be the\npeople who support us, and those suffering from domestic violence particularly\nneed that support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nina never knows when these abilities will happen or what form they\nwill take. She sees this all as a gift from the universe that she\nrespects. However, she is very comfortable with the whole process\nand is lucky enough to have women friends who also respect that these things\nhappen, and that is very soothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our next speaker was Patricia Schmidt<\/strong>. She earned her doctorate at Syracuse\nUniversity \u2019s Reading and Language Arts Center. Her research on culturally\nresponsive literacy learning is found in her books and journal articles. Presently,\nshe is working on trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific grants based on her model\nknown as the ABC\u2019s of Cultural Understanding and Communication. During the\nlast three years she has worked with Cathedral Academy at Pompei and The\nGuardian Angel Society. She says that angels have guided her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When she was young, Patty visited Sophie, a psychic, who told her\nthat she is a very protected person. Patty agreed, saying that she has\nalways felt hugged, surrounded, cared for, and her life has been a wonderful\ntrip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patty said that she first met Father Champlin at a Lenten retreat in the 70s and said that his spirit was so strong that it took her aback. Years later Father Champlin was working to meld two Catholic schools with different ethic backgrounds into one new school. At the same time, he was determined to improve the high school graduation rates of these elementary school students, and motivate them to excel. Forty percent of the students at the combined school are the children of recent immigrants to the United States all from different faiths and cultural backgrounds. Father Champlin created the Guardian Angel Society to provide tuition assistance and tutoring support for the students in the Cathedral Academy at Pompei (CAP)(grades K to 6). In addition, financial and academic support is provided to the students as they move through middle and high school grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patti was asked by her dean at LeMoyne to volunteer at CAP serving to\ndevelop lessons that meet New York State standards and meet the needs of the\nstudent body that is diverse in linguistic, economic, religious, and cultural\nbackgrounds. She continues to provide teacher training so that staff is\ncomfortable working with English as a Second Language children. The\nschool\u2019s scores on standardized tests last year were significantly higher than\nlocal, state and national averages, and Patti is convinced that the training\nthat classroom teachers are receiving has made a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, LeMoyne students serve as one-on-one mentors, and other\nLeMoyne faculty and staff teach or mentor at CAP. Patti has developed\ngrants for the school that has funded outreach to the parents, learning about\nthe parents\u2019 hopes and dreams for their children, and asking how the school can\nhelp to make the hopes and dreams a reality. Unexpectedly, Patti began\nhearing powerful stories about the parents\u2019 lives as refugees, sometimes\ndeciding in difficult circumstances whether they wanted to live or die. Though\nmost of the refugees are not Catholic, they say that in their countries of\norigin, the best schools are Catholic, so they trust the education that their\nchildren get at CAP. The parents feel their children are being taught\nuniversal values common to all religions, including their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the 150 students at CAP, 128 receive financial assistance for\ntuition. The parents are active in the school, and regularly share their\ncultural customs in the classrooms, and connect this learning to the NYS\nstandards. Patti feels that CAP can become a model for urban education\nacross the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discussion<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tanya Atwood-Adams shared a story from her past. Unpacking in a\nnew home, she realized that she had no food and would have to go to a grocery\nstore before feeding her family. After gathering a cartful of basics, she\nrealized at the checkout that she hadn\u2019t brought her wallet. The clerk\nsaid it was ok, take the groceries and come back to pay in the next couple of\ndays. Grateful, Tanya took the groceries and with the help of a grocery\nemployee was loading everything into her car. The employee, a slight\nAfrican-American teen, muttered, \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let MY mama do this.\u201d Tanya\nwas shocked, and decided to return all of the groceries to the store until she\ncould return an hour later. Two years later she had parked at the far end\nof a parking lot and realized that a group of large boys were following\nher. She was terrified. As the group closed around her, the same\nslight young man stepped between her and the menacing boys. He faced them\nand said, \u201cLeave her alone, she\u2019s my friend.\u201d The group melted away, and\nafterwards she couldn\u2019t find her \u2018angel\u2019 and she has never seen him since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Betty Lamb told the story of three angels who came to her rescue. She\nwas the caregiver for her mother who lived independently in an apartment. Her\nmother became ill and was taken to the hospital. Betty had been called to\ncome to the hospital on a day off from work. First she had to get gas, but\nafter her fill-up her car wouldn\u2019t start. After calling the dealership for\nhelp, she remembered her prayer group and called on the Lord to send an\nangel. Immediately three middle-aged men approached and asked if she had a\nproblem. Two men promptly started checking under the hood, while another\nsat in the driver\u2019s seat, and they soon had the car started. Thanking\nthem, Betty got into the car, then turned to thank them again, but the men, her\nangels, were gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Betsy Wiggins related a story that happened in church two weeks earlier. Although they usually sat near the front, she and her husband sat at the back of the church because they would be distributing communion. During the usual greetings at the beginning of the service, Jim shook hands with someone that they did not recognize. The woman had attended the church years before, but was attending only for that Sunday while she was visiting in town. She now lived in Athens, Greece. When Betsy and Jim revealed that they had a trip to Greece planned for next month, the woman invited them to dinner in Athens! Betsy is sure that such wonderful experiences are evidence of angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sabra Reichardt commented that serendipity is God\u2019s way of staying\nanonymous. Her own encounter with angels occurred in a forest in Innsbruck. She\nand her husband were walking to a nearby town, but it was late, and becoming\ndark. Two men appeared, spoke in English, and gave the couple directions\nto their destination. Reassured, they continued on their way, but when\nthey turned to wave good-bye, the men were gone. She is still grateful\nfor their sweet, angelic help. Later Sabra added this quote from Bah\u00e1’\u00ed\nScriptures: “I beg of God that ye will be bringers of joy even as are the\nangels in heaven.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tori De Angelis recently realized that she was noticing the numbers\n11:11 rather frequently on digital clocks. She said it was an uncanny\nnumber of times. Tori looked the numbers up on the web and learned that\nit is a spiritual number, indicating a benevolent portal to another reality.\nNow when she notices this, she thinks, \u201cHi, angels,\u201d and it makes her feel\nreally good. She feels that angels help with little things, like finding\nkeys and convenient parking spaces. Tori likes the feeling that angels are\naround and here to help us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Danya Wellmon told us of the song that her daughter Sarah always sang\nto her own daughter, Michaela, as she danced with her in her arms. Michaela\nwas seven months old when Sarah died in a tragic accident. Last year Danya\nwas shopping, looking at a toy bear in ballerina costume, which played that\nsame song. A lady standing next to Danya said, \u201cYou need to buy that bear\nfor your granddaughter.\u201d Danya was amazed that this stranger knew she had\na granddaughter, and asked how she knew. The woman replied, \u201cI was just\nsupposed to tell you that.\u201d Almost immediately the woman was lost in the\ncrowd, but Danya could smell her daughter\u2019s perfume, and knew that the message\nhad come from her daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another woman told us that we\u2019ll think she is nuts, but there really is a pipe-smoking angel.\u00a0 Many times people who encounter an angel in closed spaces like a car tell of smelling a cherry pipe. (Open spaces dissipate the smell). Just today a man had told Georgia of an experience in an ice storm, when he saw a massive accident downhill ahead of him.\u00a0 He was convinced that he wouldn\u2019t be able to stop, and was going to die.\u00a0The man smelled a pipe and heard a voice say, \u201cLet go of the wheel, lie down on the seat, don\u2019t look.\u201d\u00a0He did as he was told, and waited for the crash.\u00a0But too much time passed without a crash, and when the man looked, he was past the accident, safe on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gay Montague stopped at a playground in an unfamiliar neighborhood with\nher grandson several years ago. A girl of about five was being hit by an older\ngirl who seemed to be her caretaker. Being concerned but not comfortable with\nintervening, Gay prayed to St. Michael for guidance. The girl ran to Gay,\nand plopping down in the sand at her feet, the child made a sand angel. Gay\nwas relieved that some being was with this child and was protecting her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid being late to church, Jody Brown was sorely tempted to run a\nred light. However a police car appeared and she considered it an angel\ntelling her not to do it. Another time Jody was driving on black ice with\nher granddaughter in the car, and she prayed, \u201cGoddess, keep us on the\nroad.\u201d Although a serious accident ensued, the car did stay on the road. \nWhen Jody later saw the extreme damage to her car, she told her grandchild,\n\u201cAngels were watching over us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephany Richardson\u2019s brother was dying. She had felt the aura of\nhis approaching death, and was unsure that she could get to the hospital in\ntime. A voice told her to be at peace, but come immediately. When\nshe reached him, Stephany said a prayer and released him into the light. She\nfelt the presence of peace and felt elevated, content that there were angels\nwaiting to take him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we were ready to close, Betsy Wiggins reminded us that today is\nEarth Day. In celebration, she asked us each to take a cup planted with\nmarigold seeds. Tanya told us these would be the guardian angels of our\ngardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ariana closed with music from the CD All is Forgiven<\/em> by Ashana; then we shared an interactive\nactivity. We each paired with a woman near us to use words and gestures of\nsharing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From you I receive (partners facing each other with palms up) Then we recited this Khatum together:<\/p>\n\n\n\n O Thou, Who art the Perfection The stories of three women who have had encounters with angels stimulated several other accounts of experiences that transcended the daily routine of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-7404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-programs","tag-dialogue",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7404"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8894,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404\/revisions\/8894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nthe Perfection of Love, Harmony, and beauty,
\nthe Only Being,
\nUnited with all the Illuminated souls,
\nWho form the Embodiment of the Master,
\nthe spirit of Guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To you I give (hands raised in giving)
Together we share (clasping each other\u2019s hands
In this we live. (looking into the other\u2019s eyes)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of Love, Harmony, and Beauty,
The Lord of heaven and earth,
Open our hearts, that we may hear Thy Voice,
Which constantly cometh from within.
Disclose to us Thy Divine Light,
Which is hidden in our souls,
That we may know and understand life better.
Most Merciful and Compassionate God,
Give us Thy great Goodness,
Teach us Thy loving Forgiveness,
Raise us above the distinctions and differences which divide us,
Send us the Peace of Thy Divine Spirit,
And unite us all in Thy Perfect Being.
Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"