Have you ever met someone, even if just for a minute, and thought “wow, that person really sees me”?  I have.  In fact, there are probably a handful of people I have met in my lifetime who left me with the intense feeling that there is a reason for our encounter –  that they were meant to bring some wisdom my way and without them, I would have missed it.

I liken this feeling to having deja vu.  You know, the feeling you get when you could swear that you’ve been there before or already done whatever it is you’re doing.  That feeling can be incredibly strong and it is intuitive – it’s not something that you have to think about.  Rather it’s in your gut.

I think I was in my high school psychology class when our teacher told us that deja vu is really only a fleeting brain malfunction.  How upsetting that tidbit of knowledge was to all of us.  We so wanted to believe that deja vu meant that we had that special other more intuitive sense.  The one that allowed us to reach beyond mere mortalness.  But no.  Sadly, the brain malfunction analysis really did make sense.  Still, to this day I continue to have that same kind of intuitive gut sense that certain people show up at exactly the right time with exactly the right message or new perspective for you.  It never seems to be expected.  It might be the look in their eyes, their energy or even just a particular word they’ve used in conversation that hits you.  I’m not ever looking for this person or necessarily a specific answer.  Nonetheless, there they are.   Seemingly popping up out of nowhere.  Without a doubt I consider these people to be angels.  Someone who wraps around you – in an ethereal sense – and provides a thought that might have previously eluded you.

I think this all can happen in a nanosecond and the person likely never knows the impact they’ve had on you.  You might never see them again and maybe not even know that it was that encounter that did it.  But let me assure you, when it happens it is a powerful moment.

I had a moment like this the other day.  And it made me start thinking about how it happens.  Is it just coincidence – the right thing said at the right time?  Or is it divine intervention.  I’ll be the first one to admit that I am not very religious in the traditional sense.   Most days I believe that there is something bigger out there.  Something that may have a much bigger plan for us.  And to be honest, I’ve had some strange experiences that have baffled me and left me wondering how the Hell whatever happened actually happened.  Still, the traditional idea of God is difficult for me.  Nevertheless, in thinking about some of these moments, the presence of an angel seems to be the right analogy.  Wings and all.

Here is one of these moments from several years ago.  One that still resonates with me.

I was returning home from a visit to a friend’s house by plane.  Now, and trust me when I say this:  I HATE TO FLY.  Always have always will.  I listen to all the statistics about safety and how you’re more likely to die crossing the street than flying in a plane.  Blah blah blah, I just don’t buy it.  I feel incredibly vulnerable and untethered in the air.  I do it because I have to but there isn’t a moment during the flight that I am not thinking about how to say goodbye to my children in a voicemail on the way down.  On this particular return flight, I was especially nervous because I was flying out of Charleston, West Virginia.  This airport is basically in a valley.  A small one.  So when you take off it isn’t pretty.  The plane has to rise very quickly to avoid the mountains bordering the airport.  It is really scary, especially for someone like me.

To top it off, I was on a small commuter plane.  There were only 2 seats on each side of the plane and I swear they had to rearrange the luggage to balance us out. As I took my seat I wiped my sweaty palms on the cushion beside me just as an elderly man was taking that seat.  Since I was blinded by fear I hadn’t see him coming.  As he sat down, I cleared my vision and looked at him to say hello.  I am not kidding when I say that he looked like something out of a 1940’s Christmas movie.  He had white hair topped with a fedora and a longish beard.  He held a small box suitcase and a cane.  He must have noticed my fear – I mean really how could you not.  Once we buckled up he began talking to me about what I first thought was the safety of flying.  To which I sighed and said, “yes, I’ve heard all that before”.  But I quickly noticed that he was really talking about how over the span of his long life he had taken many chances, things he would not normally do, to experience something new and unknown.  He looked at me with clear blue eyes and as he spoke I started to feel better.  To this day I really don’t know exactly what he said.  But I do remember clearly the look in his eyes and how they seemed to bore into me.  And I remember feeling immediately calmer.  The flight was as bumpy as ever, but somehow it passed without me really feeling it and suddenly we were on the ground.

When we landed and began to disembark the plane I lost sight of my new friend.  In fact, I looked everywhere as I made my way through the airport.  I never saw him again.  There have been times when I thought he hadn’t really been there at all.  Maybe I had fallen asleep and dreamt about such a man.  But in my heart I know that is not true.  He was there.  We spoke.  And he gave me a new perspective that helped my fear of flying.  It is strange that he disappeared so quickly.  But I guess his encounter with me was over.  He did what he was meant to do for me.  I think that this is how angels work.  They come and go as needed, sometimes without you even knowing they’ve arrived, but always leaving behind a bit of magic.