DO GUARDIAN ANGELS REALLY EXIST?

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1:27In 2001, heroes, legends, histories, and mysteries podcast, this is your host, John Hegedorn. I called this episode, and now a word from your guardian angel, because I see them as trying to get a word in edgewise on their own behalf, as if to say, hey, we're out there, and we're closer than you think, a little faith wouldn't hurt. And in this episode today, Guardian Angels checks our mysteries box. It's a topic which I find fascinating, and I'm not alone here, as the belief in guardian angels has existed in every country on earth since the dawn of man. What makes us all different in our beliefs is just how guardian angels work. To be clear, I know as well as you do that life on earth isn't all rainbows and lollipops. I also know that faith can move mountains. Believing in guardian angels is a faith concept, and it's a healthy one, in my humble opinion. Most of you probably believe, like I do, that guardian angels generally can't prevent a death

2:28or injury from an accident, and how much they are able to protect, we really don't know. It could well be that one has saved you numerous times in your life, and you are completely oblivious to it. Who or what they are, and whether they have or had any connection with us in our life, we are not made aware. The concept of a guardian angel was used to perfection in the 1947 Frank Capraville, it's a wonderful life, which has become an American favorite for a number of reasons. One, it describes small town America, the fictional Bedward Falls in New York State. Two, it tackles the issue of depression, failure, and the effects of financial ruin on an average family. Three, it demonstrates the healing power of love and friendship, and four, it introduces a guardian angel whose mission it is to rescue a distraught father named George Bailey from suicide. If Hollywood ever finds its sanity, maybe it can find its way to making small sea movies about typical American families in small town America, where people pray to God, hold doors open for

3:33and tip hats to ladies, and believe in things like guardian angels. That film begins with prayers on behalf of George Bailey reaching heaven, where two angelic figures converse on how to respond, and they decide to give an apprentice angel named Clarence a try. After getting the tutorial on George Bailey, Clarence enters the phrase determined to earn his wings. It's corny, yes, but it tries to convey the message that prayers can work, and that's a good reminder for all of us. To begin with, I believe in guardian angels. That's not a careless answer. It's based on what I know, and I've experienced, and I've read, and I've read a ton of history, especially in the past eight years here. There is much I don't know, and we'll never know about them, until or unless I witness it myself, things I don't know such as, can they take on human form as many accounts in the Bible, and a few in more recent history, such as the miracle of the

4:35Son and Portugal in 1917, suggest? Are they relations who have passed? Are they limited as to their actions and abilities? Example, can they save a baby from pulling off a balcony? Can they stop a bullet or a car accident? Your answer to all these would probably be? No. Although you people in the jury let me insert a modicum of doubt there. It is possible that someone's intended bullet may have been stopped, deflected, prevented by a misfire, caused by pure chance, or stopped by a guardian angel who succeeded in that single task, and maybe missed the next one, and maybe one tried to keep that baby away from that balcony, and succeeded the first three times, but just couldn't awake the past out parent. And they couldn't stop that car from being teabone by a truck. The best they could do was warn the driver of that car in a dream the night before. The jury's out folks, we just don't know,

5:35we only have her opinions and our beliefs, just like the naysayers do, and the naysayers have nothing more than us. Their only answer is we need proof, and they're never going to get it. Maybe, just maybe, guardian angels are not allowed to alter fate. Maybe there are limits that will not allow them to break the rules of nature. I already know from experience that they can warn us through dreams of a near future incident. Does every human have a guardian angel? If not, why? Too many questions arise, and they're impossible to answer. We have a bunch of good stories coming up that help to illustrate what they can and can't do. The first is a family story I would like to share. My wife and teenage kids were in Long Island, New York, visiting with her mother and father a few years ago. They were leaving a museum, walking slightly downhill along a paved walkway, which featured a series of wide steps every 20 feet or so. Grandma was walking slightly ahead of my

6:37wife. Grandma was in her late 70s, and very thin and frail, but still able to enjoy walking. My kids were about 10 pages behind them. Grandpa was pulling up the rear some ways away. The step off from the walkway to the first of the three steps was fairly deep, enough so that if Grandma miscalculated, you could just about guarantee a broken hip and likely head and arm injuries if she fell. She was talking happily, head slightly turned, and never saw that step. My wife tried to react, but couldn't reach her in time. In that moment, something very strange happened. Grandma kept moving forward over the three steps, her legs paddling through the air as if she were being carried. It took maybe three seconds and all. She was then landed gently on the walkway below the steps. She looked up at my wife for the kind of spacey days, then giggled, acting little silly, and asked, how did she do that? My wife and kids all witnessed it plainly,

7:40and they were in a state of disbelief. The incident hasn't been talked about much in the years since. It's one of those things that you just file away in the unexplained occurrences box, and at rare times, when the subject of paranormal events comes up as it relates to the family, it might be mentioned. Well, that happened just as I described. There were three witnesses. There's no way Grandma drifted in the air across those steps of her own will. The only thing I can attribute to it is a guardian angel, or maybe one on each side. I don't know, but it happened. My only regret that the guardian angel didn't get a thank you because no one knew for sure what had happened. I suppose that's always the way with them, underpaid, and underappreciated. We'll return with our story, guardian angels, right after these sponsor messages. And now back to our story. The Encyclopedia say that a guardian angel is a type of angel that

8:42is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group, or even nation. If and when you decide to study them, you'll come across the term Tutileary Beans, which is an interesting term, which uses the Latin derivative, which gives us the word tutor or teacher. The Greeks and the Romans had their definitive beliefs in personal guides from the spirit world. They believed that a Tutileary was a guardian deity or spirit who was a protector of a person or a particular space, a geographic feature, or even a nature, a culture, or an occupation. In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of Tutileary deity, called the Genius, functioned as the personal deity or diamond of an individual from birth to death. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his personal spirit or a demonian. He said, you have often heard me speak of an oracle or sign which comes to me. This sign I've had ever since I was a child. The sign is a voice which comes to me and always

9:47forbids me to do something which I'm going to do, but never commands me to do anything, and this is what stands in the way of my being a politician. Belief in Tutileary Beans can be traced throughout all antiquity, that theology of angels and Tutileary spirits has undergone many changes since the 5th century. The belief is that guardian angels serve to protect whichever person God assigns them to. The guardian angel concept is present in the books of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and its development is well marked. These books describe God's angels as His ministers who carried out His behest, and who were at times given special commissions regarding men and mundane affairs. In the Christmas story, when the two marries approached Jesus' tomb, an angel appeared to tell them that Jesus was risen. In Genesis 1819, angels not only acted as the executors of God's were apt against the cities of the plain, but they delivered a lot from danger.

10:50In Exodus 32, 34, God said to Moses, My angels shall go before thee. The story of Tobias concerns the angel, Archangel Raphael, guiding an 80th primary character. Psalm chapter 91, verse 11 reads, For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. The belief that angels can be guides and intercessors for men can be found in Job, chapter 33, verses 23 to 26, and in Daniel, chapter 10, verse 13, angels seem to be assigned to certain countries. In this latter case, the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia contends with Gabriel. The same verse mentions Michael, one of the chief princes. In Revinic literature, the rabbis express the notion that there are indeed guardian angels appointed by God to watch over people. Rashi, on Daniel, chapter 10, verse 7, wrote, Our sages of blessed memory said that although a person does not see something of which he is

11:54terrified, his guardian angel, who is in heaven, does see it. Therefore, he becomes terrified. Laila is an angel of the night in charge of conception and pregnancy. Laila serves as a guardian angel throughout a person's life and a death leads the soul into the afterlife. According to Rabbi Leo Trepp in late Judaism, the belief developed that the people have a heavenly representative, a guardian angel. Every human being has a guardian angel. Previously, the term Malak, angel, simply meant messenger of God. Shabbat believes that people might indeed have guardian angels. For Shabbat, God watches over people and makes decisions directly with their prayers, and it is in this context that the guardian angels are sent back and forth as emissaries to aid in this task. Thus, they are not prayed too directly, but the angels are part of the workings of how the prayer and response comes about. In the view of Rabbi Aiden Steins' ults, the nature of the

13:02angel is to be to a degree as its name in Hebrew signifies a messenger to constitute a permanent contact between our world of action and the higher worlds. And angels' missions go in two directions. It may serve as an emissary of God downward, and it may also serve as the one that carries things upwards from below. The angel cannot reveal its true form to man, whose being, senses, and instruments perception belong only to the world of action. It continues to belong to a different dimension, even when apprehended in one form or another. The angel who is sent to us from another world does not always have a significance or impact beyond the normal laws of physical nature. Indeed, it often happens that the angel precisely reveals itself in nature, in the ordinary common sense world of causality. That would be the little voice in your ear that you hear saying, don't get on that plane or don't get in that bus or don't get in that car. Although the term

14:06guardian angel is rarely used in Judaism, there are references to angels with specific protective functions. An example of this can be seen in the birth protection rituals practiced among others by Askenazi Jews in parts of Alsace, Switzerland and southern Germany. Pregnant women and newborn children would be given text amulets bearing the names of the angels, Senois, Sensenois, and Semangelot. These angels were supposed to protect pregnant women and newborn children from a Lilith. Yes, Frazier's Lilith. This can be traced back to the story of Lilith in which God sends three angels to bring Lilith back to Adam. They are unsuccessful in this task, but Lilith admits to having been created to harm children. She promises to spare children who carry the name or likeness of the three angels with them. In the New Testament, the concept of guardian angel is noted. Angels are everywhere seen as the intermediaries between God and man, and Christ set a seal upon the

15:08Old Testament teaching. See that you despise not one of these little ones, for I say to you that they're angels in heaven, always see the face of my Father, who is in heaven. If you're looking at that one up, it's Matthew chapter 18 verse 10. Guardian angels work both for single persons and for communities of people. That you'll find in Revelation chapter 2 verses 1 through 29, and Revelation 3 verses 1 through 22 refers to the angels of the seven churches of Asia who work in the role of their guardians. Other examples in the New Testament are the angels who secured Christ in the garden, and the angels who delivered Saint Peter from prison. In Acts 12 verses 12 through 15, after Peter had been escorted out of prison by an angel, he went to the home of Mary the Mother of John, also called Mark. The servant girl wrote a, recognized his voice, and ran back to tell the group that Peter was there. However, the group replied,

16:12it must be his angel. With this scriptural sanction, Peter's angel was the most commonly depicted guardian angel in art, and was normally shown in the images of the subject, most famously, Raphael's fresco of the deliverance of Saint Peter in the Vatican. He brews chapter 1 verse 14 says, are they not all ministering spirits sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation? In this view, the function of the guardian angel is to lead people to the kingdom of heaven. According to Saint Jerome, the concept of guardian angels is in the mind of the church. He stated, how great the dignity of the soul since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it. In his 2014 homily for the feast of holy guardian angels, Pope Francis told those gathered for daily mass to be like children who pay attention to their traveling companion. No one journeys alone, and no one should think that they are alone, the Pope said.

17:17During the morning meditation in the chapel of Santa Marta, the Pope noted that oftentimes, we have the feeling that I shouldn't do this. This is not right. Be careful. This, he said, is the voice of our guardian angel. According to church tradition, we all have an angel with us who guards us. The Pope instructed each, do not rebel. Follow his advice. The Pope urged that this doctrine on the angels should not be considered a little imaginative. It is rather one of truth. It is what Jesus, what God said. I send an angel before you to guard you, to accompany you on the way, so you will not make a mistake. Pope Francis concluded with a series of questions so that each one can examine their own conscience. How is my relationship with my guardian angel? Do I listen to him? Do I bid him good day in the morning? Do I tell him, guard me while I sleep?

18:18Do I speak with him? Do I ask his advice? Remember the child's prayer? Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord, my soul, to keep. And who is receiving that prayer? The Pope went on. Each one of us can do so in order to evaluate the relationship with this angel that the Lord has sent to guard me and to accompany me on the path and to always beholds the face of the Father who was in heaven. There was an old Irish custom that suggested, including in bedtime prayers, a request for the blessed mother to tell one the name of their guardian angel, and supposedly within a few days one would know the name by which they could address their angel. An old Dominican tradition encouraged each novice to give a name to their guardian angel, so that they could speak to him by name and thus feel closer and more friendly with him. Are you as curious as I am about what Lutheran's Methodist Presbyterians and Muslims think about guardian angels? I'll be interested in what Presbyterians think. In the Lutheran Church,

19:22the morning prayer and evening prayer, founded Martin Luther's small catacism, include the supplication, let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Donald Snyder, a Lutheran priest, states that Martin Luther may have based these prayers on Psalm 91, which includes a verse stating, for God will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bury you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. And now that I think of it, grandma was a Lutheran. On their hands they will bury you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. That makes me smile. Now the Methodist Church, John W. Hanner, a Methodist minister and theologian, wrote on the topic of guardian angels in his angelic study, stating that, perhaps every Christian has a guardian angel. It may be that there is one angel to every Christian, or a score of them, or one may have charged with a score of Christians. Some of the ancient

20:25fathers believed that every city had a guardian angel, while others assigned one to every house and every man. None of us know how much were indebted to angels for our deliverance from imminent peril, disease, and malicious plots of men and devils. Where the pious die, angels are to carry the soul to heaven, though it be a soul of alasers. The founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, was threatened with death by a mob who dragged him in the rain. However, Wesley escaped unharmed, and he believed that he had been protected by his guardian angel. In reformed dogmatics, Heinrich Hemp states that some reformed theologians as spoused the view of guardian angels, including Buchen, who taught, that as a rule to each elect person a certain particular good angel is appointed by God to guard him. Maybe God did from Christ's words, which said, their angels do continually behold the face of my father. Also from Acts 12, verse 15, where the believers who had assembled in Mark's

21:27house set of Peter knocking at the door, it is his angel. These believers were speaking according to the opinion received among the people of God. In Islam, there's a similar Islamic belief. According to many Muslims, each person has two guardian angels in front of and behind him, while the two recorders are located to the right in the left. The reformed and Presbyterian Church is believed that as a rule, to each elect person a certain particular good angel is appointed by God to guard him or her, and that's gathered from Christ's words. Where it is said, their angels do continually behold the face of my father. It's time to get into stories about guardian angels, and you'll get to decide how many of these were just pure chance and how many were angel interventions. I'll start with a circular letter, Fall of 2002, from the Catholic Society of Sisters from the Holy Cross, Guardian Angel Stories. The Sisters write, out of sight is out of mind, goes the same.

22:30How often this is true with respect to our relationship with our guardian angel. We forget him because we do not see him. Guardian Angel Stories serve as a tonic, helping us to cultivate a personal relationship with our guardian angel and bolster our confidence in him. For the record, all are true stories, at least with regard to the substance. Names and other incidentals may have been changed. Many of the following stories were told to meet personally, this person writes, either by the person involved or by their friends or family. Others were come across in reading. The point is not so much an apodictic demonstration that an angel was absolutely involved in this or that case, but rather that such stories do illustrate well how the angels take interest in our personal lives and not infrequently do intervene tangibly, in behalf of their words. Our first story, Nocturnal First Aid. This story occurred during

23:30the Great Depression in the early 1930s in Chicago. It was told to me by a priest, Dr. Brown's brother. In the wee hours of the morning, Dr. Brown was jared from sleep by the insistent ringing of the phone. He remembers groggily groping for the receiver. A husky, strained voice implored, is this Dr. Brown? Yes, I am he. Could you come quickly? It's urgent. A matter of life and death. Yes, I'll come. Where do you live? 17 Allen Street. Please, come quickly. Dr. Brown dressed quickly, got his things together, and was soon headed up to Allen Street. How lonely it was, traveling alone to the dark streets at night. The neighborhood towards which he drove was on the far side of the tracks, where even during the day one might not feel too comfortable walking around. Dr. Brown found the house easily enough, a single residence, only it was peculiar that no lights were on. He went to the door and knocked. After a pause, he knocked again.

24:36Still, there was no answer. His third knock, however, elicited a gruff response. Who's there? It's Dr. Brown, a recede an urgent call for medical help. Is this 17 Allen Street? Yes, it is, but nobody called you. Get out of here. As he withdrew, he scanned the street searching for lights that might indicate where his help was really needed. Seeing none, he reproached himself again. They could he had failed to jot down the right street number. Or perhaps it was just a bad prank. In any case, there was nothing he could do but return home. And as there was no follow-up phone call, he simply forgot the matter in the days that ensued. Several weeks later, though, he received another call during the day from the emergency ward at the hospital. The nurse explained that a man, a certain John Turner, who had just suffered severe accident and was clearly dying, was begging to speak with Dr. Robert Brown.

25:37Dr. Could you come by quickly? He doesn't have much time. He will not tell us why he needs to speak to you. Dr. Brown agreed to go, that he was rather puzzled, for he knew no one by the name of John Turner. This conviction was verified by the patient who said, Dr. Brown, you don't know me, but I just had to speak with you before I die and beg your forgiveness. You will recall having received a telephone call several weeks ago in the dead of the night. Yes, I remember the call, but it was I who called you, the dying man explained. I had had no work for months and months. I had sold everything of value in the house, and still could not feed my family. I could not bear the imploring hungry looks in my children's eyes. In my desperation, I resolved to call a doctor for help in the middle of the night. My plan was to kill him, take his money, and sell his instruments. Though horrified, Dr. Brown could not help but protest.

26:41Yes, but I came, and why didn't you kill me? I was expecting that you would come alone, but when I saw that big, powerful young man at your side, I was afraid, and so I just sent you off gruffly. Please forgive me. Yes, of course. My dear Dr. Brown, in a days, a cold chill had come over him. He had had no inkling that when it seemed to him like an irksome error or even a bad prank had been really such a close call with death, and even less had he suspected that his guardian angel, to whom he ever after attributed this intervention, had saved his life that night, for indeed, the powerful young man had appeared only to his would-be a sailant, who, now dying, was imploring his forgiveness. How awesome are the ways of God, how opt in our angels preserve us from harm without our ever-at-burdening to the fact. Our next story of the camper and the infant.

27:42Don and his wife, Doris, were getting the camper ready for vacation. After checking the motor, he started up the engine and backed the camper down the driveway. At that juncture, Doris led up a blood-curdling cry. Instinctively, Don drove back forwards, thus driving over for the second time, his two-year-old daughter who had crawled up behind the rear tire. The child was rushed to the hospital or was verified that she had good many bruises, but nothing more. No broken bones. That was a 1970s news report from Santa Barbara, California. That one leaves it up to you to decide. This one, sick calls and close call at the bridge. By other junmes out making the rounds, visiting the sick and his mountain parish after the heavy rainstorms. He drove from patient to patient in his trusty VW bug. Only in the last leg of his rounds, the VW was anything but reliable, and his was the patient that was being visited with trials.

28:43The car sputtered and choked and died on him time and again. While their John would get out, fiddle with it a bit, coaxing it back to life a few hundred meters more before it would die again. Finally, it simply gave up the ghost, and no fiddling or cajoling could elicit any further signs of life from the bug. Under these new circumstances, Father John took a look around, considering how he might continue his visits to the sick. It was only at this point that he noticed the frightful fact. It made his heart skip a beat. The bridge over the mountain stream, a mere hundred yards before him, had been washed out by the torn in the storm. Since there was no going forward, he took a seat in the car to think things out. He chanced to try the ignition again. The motor left to life and purred all the way home. He never did need to take the car to a mechanic. After all, he thought to himself, the problem was really not with the car. That was only his guardian angels way of keeping him from

29:49driving off into the abyss. The next story is called the Sunday Visitor. The Carter family lived on the farm out on the high prairie in Wyoming, where neighbors are few and far between, and wherefore, helping one's neighbor, or even a stranger in need, is still held to be a duty. Mrs. Carter was exemplary in the execution of his duty. A new snow had fallen the night before. Sunday dawn bright, calm and clear. The family was getting ready to drive into town for mass, when a stranger knocked at the door. Shivering with cold, he asked if he might warm himself a bit before the fire. Mrs. Carter graciously invited him in, showed him to the fire, and began to prepare a hearty western breakfast for their unexpected gift. The boys repressed a groan, realizing that this interruption meant that they would have to go to a later mass, which in turn meant that much of their playtime was being eaten up by this inconvenient stranger. Having finished his breakfast, the guest thanked the

30:52family warmly and continued on his way. Shortly thereafter the family was able to be off the holy mass. A cold chill ran up their spine, as they went out onto the snow-covered porch and saw it to their utter astonishment, that there were no footsteps in the fresh snow, either coming up to, or leading away from the house. Their strange guest had come and gone without leaving a footbread. Spontaneously the verse came to Mrs. Carter's mind. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some of entertain angels unaware. He brewed chapter 13, verse 2. Filled with gratitude, she explained to the children that they had received an angel into their own home. That was God's way of telling them that he was pleased with their kindness to strangers. That was recounted by a lawyer friend and friend of the family in the 1970s. And this story is called an evil visitor. Lou and his young wife Edith lived on a small farm in Upper Michigan, the last mailbox on the lane.

31:58It was a lonely tough life out on the farm, but the newly married couple was happy as they had one another and their daily bread. One morning in early summer, after Lou had gone out to the field to Moehe, a stranger came riding into the farm yard. He hit up his horse at the post, as was fitting, but failed to come straight to the house. Rather he first checked out the barn, then checked out the shed, and rather reconnoitered all around before he addressed his steps toward the house. Edith had taken all of us in from the window with growing anxiety. By the time the knock sounded on the door, she was terrified. Initially she thought not to answer the door, but realizing he might break the door down, she went and opened it partially and asked fearfully, yes, what do you want? The stranger, Peary Nutter, asked in a toneless voice. Are you alone? Edith wanted anything but to be alone with this surly chap. In her fright she

32:58birded out, no, my husband was in the attic. And to add rhetorical force to her contention, she turned and called out, hey Lou! A voice out of her husband responded immediately, yeah what is it? I'll be right down. That the stranger's intentions were less than honorable could be read both by the expression on his face and the fact he backed down the steps, jumped on his horse, and high-tailed it out of there. Edith too was completely taken aback, she had thought that Lou was out in the field more than hey. She hastened up to the attic to see what Lou was doing there, but there was no one there. Once when narrating this story at a day recollection, I asked the crowd, whose guardian angel do you think that was? Ediths or Lou's? A young lady responded wonderfully saying, I'd like to think it was the writer's guardian angel, keep you to mud of trouble. Story was told by the woman's daughter, mother of a priest acquaintance,

34:01in Michigan, early 20th century. The next story, a plunge into the well. Little John grew upon a farm in Kerala, the southernmost state in India. Help Palad that he was, he once went to draw water for his mother at the family well in the compound. The well was surrounded by a low wall and had a roof of sorts from which was suspended at rope pulley for lowering the bucket down to the water far below. Being only about seven years old, it took quite a stretch leaning over the wall to reach out and free the bucket to lower it on the rope. This time poor little John lost his balance and went plunging headfirst 25 to 30 meters to the bottom of the well. Somehow he landed feet first in the shallow water that did not even reach to his knees. He was not injured in the least, only a bit frightened. The family heard his cry and hastened to the well, fear in the worst. The bucket was lowered and John, completely unharmed, was hoisted up from the depths of the well.

35:04His mother overwhelmed with joy and gratitude assured him, John, your guardian angel just saved your life. That story was told by the man himself from Kerala, India in the 1930s. People from all over the world have reported encounters with mysterious beings. They appear to bring important messages or lend much needed assistance than vanish without a trace. Could they be angels or even guardian angels? Some of the most fascinating and uplifting stories of the unexplained are those that people perceive as being miraculous in nature. Sometimes they take the form of answered prayers or interpret it as the actions of guardian angels. These remarkable events and encounters lend comfort, strength and faith, and even save lives. They almost always seem to happen when they're needed most. Are they literally from heaven or are they the result of the interaction of our consciousness with the profoundly mysterious universe? However you want to view them,

36:05these real life experiences are worth our attention. Our story, An Angel's Guide in Hand, by Yasuhid Fumoto. Jackie B believes that her guardian angel came to her aid on two occasions to help avoid serious injury. According to her testimony, she actually physically felt and heard this protective force. Both encounters happened when she was a child of kindergarten age. The first experience took place at a popular sledding hill where Jackie was enjoying the day with her family. The young girl decided to try sledding down the steepest part of the hill. She closed her eyes and started down. I apparently hit someone going down and I was spinning out of control. I was heading for the middle guardrail. I didn't know what to do, says Jackie. I suddenly felt something pushed my chest down. I came within a less than half an inch of the rail, but didn't hit it. I could have lost my nose. Jackie's second experience occurred during her birthday celebration in school. She had run across the playground to place her crown on a bench. We're running back to

37:10her friends, three boys' twirpter. The playground was filled with metal objects and wood chips. Jackie went flying and something hit her just below the eye. But I felt something pulled me back when I fell, Jackie says. The teacher said that they saw me sort of fly forward and then fly back at the same time. As they hurried me to the nurse's office, I heard an unfamiliar voice keep telling me, don't worry, I'm here. God doesn't want anything to happen to his baby. And the story, the reading angel. It's remarkable how many stories of angels come out of hospital experiences. It may not be so hard to understand why when we remind ourselves that those are places of sharply focused emotions, prayers, and hope. This person entered the hospital in 1994 with a cube pain from a fibroid tumor the size of a grapefruit inner uterus. The surgery was successful, but more complicated than expected. Enter troubles weren't over. That person recalls that she was

38:13in horrible pain. She had an allergic reaction to the morphine she was given and the doctors tried to counteract it with other medications. This made a bad experience even worse. She had just had a major surgery and now she was dealing with the pain of an acute drug reaction. After receiving more pain medication, she was able to sleep for a few hours. I awoke in the middle of the night. According to the wall clock, it was 2.45 am. I heard someone speaking and realized someone was at my bedside. She says. It was a young woman with short brown hair and wearing a white hospital staff uniform. She was sitting and reading aloud from the Bible. I said to her, am I alright? Why are you here with me? The woman visiting stopped reading but did not look up. She simply said, I was sent here to make sure you'd be alright. You are going to be fine. Now you should get some rest and go back to sleep. She began to read again and I drifted off

39:17back to sleep. The next morning she explained the experience to her doctor who checked and said that no staff visited her overnight. She asked all the nurses and no one knew of this visitor. To this day she says, I believe that I was visited by my guardian angel that night. She was sent to comfort me and assured me that it would be okay. Coincidentally, the time on the clock that night, 2.45 am, is the exact time recorded on my breast certificate that I was born. And this story rescued from hopelessness. Perhaps more painful than any injury or illness is the feeling of utter hopelessness, the despair of the soul that leads one to the thoughts of suicide. Dean S. experienced this pain as he was going to a divorce at the age of 26. The thought of being apart from his two young daughters was almost more than he could bear. But on one night of stormy darkness, Dean was given a renewed hope. At the time, he was working as a derrickman on a drill rig.

40:21That night he was having serious thoughts of taking his life as he looked down from 128-foot high derrick. My family and I have strong beliefs in Jesus, but it was not hard to contemplate suicide, recall, Dean. In the worst thunderstorm I'd ever seen, I climbed the derrick to take my position to pull pipe out of the hole we were drilling. His co-workers urged him not to climb the derrick, saying they'd rather have downtime than risk someone's life, but Dean ignored it and began to climb. There was lightning flashing all around me, thunder booming. I cried to God to take me. If I couldn't have my family, I didn't want to live. But I couldn't take my own life in suicide. God spared me. I don't know how I survived that night, but I did. A couple of weeks later, I bought a small Bible and traveled to the Peace River Hills where my family has lived for so long. I sat down on top of one of the green hills and started to read. I had such a warm feeling enter

41:21into me as the sun parted through the clouds and shone on me. It was raining all around me, but I was dry and warm in my small spot on top of that hill. Dean says that these moments changed his life for the better. He met his new wife and fell in love. They started a family together that includes his two daughters. He says, Thank you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, and the angels you sent that day to touch my soul. The next one, life information from an angel. Some people believe that before we are born, when our consciousness or spirit resides in that unknown place, we are given information about the life we are about to be born into. Some say we even choose our life. Not many people can claim that they remember this pre-birth existence, but Gary says that he does. In fact, even in his middle-aged years, Gary says he can recall some details of a conversation he had with an angel before he was born. I was bodyless, but aware that I was in an area that was

42:27darkened, and I was alone except for the entity that was speaking to me, he says. I was at the bottom of a stairway type structure and was looking up the stairs, but not seeing the one speaking to me. I was very warm and comfortable, but aware and feeling trepidation of what I was about to embark on. This entity was speaking to me and giving me a brief description of how my life would be. I asked for more information, but it was refused. I was basically told that my life would not be a hard life, but would lack any luxuries, and that I would experience great difficulties at a relatively early age. It seems that we have a few other small details, but I no longer can remember it quite as clearly as I once did when I was younger. It appears the information was correct, as I am now disabled and in poor health. Our next story, The Angel Nurse. In 1998, Luke was diagnosed with bone cancer at the tender

43:29age of eight. As sometimes happens, he came down with an infection, which meant he had to go to the hospital. He was there for about two weeks, and that's when something remarkable happened. One evening, Luke's mother was sitting at his bedside quietly praying as he slept. A nurse came into the room to check Luke's temperature, but his mother noted something rather peculiar about her. The nurse was wearing an old-fashioned uniform of the type that would have been common 30 years earlier in the 1960s. The nurse noticed that Luke's mother had a bible by the side of his bed. She said that she was a Christian too, and said she would pray for Luke's healing. Luke's family had never seen this odd nurse before, and they never saw her again in Luke's remaining time at the hospital. I came out of the hospital fully healed of my infection, says Luke, who was 19 when he told his story. Remarkably, he's now completely free of cancer.

44:30My mom believes this nurse could have been a guardian angel coming down to give my mom some hope. Luke says, if she wasn't an angel, why would she be wearing 60s old-fashioned nurse clothing? And this story pushed to safety by an angel. Back in 1980, Deb was a single mother with two infants, living in San Bernardino County, California. She occasionally needed reliable babysitters. Fortunately, her parents lived only about 30 miles away in Alta Loma. Deb would usually drop off the children at her parents' house, go do what she needed to do, and then pick them up in the evening. One night, Deb retrieved her babies from her parents' place and was heading home. It was relatively late, about 11.30 pm. Deb was driving her old clunker. Among the cars, many deficiencies, the gas cage was broken, requiring her to guess when the old thing needed fuel. And occasionally, her guessing was off. Half way home, the car started to put her, Deb remembers,

45:30and I realized I was on empty. I pulled off the first ramp I could, and it just happened to be the one that was slightly uphill. Almost at the top of the exit, my car died, and there was absolutely nothing around except empty fields and distant lights at a truck stop about a quarter of a mile down the road. With no cars in sight, Deb didn't know what to do. The kids were asleep, and walking miles while carrying two kids in the middle of the night was not an option. This was before the days of cell phones, so she couldn't call for help. I put my head on the steering wheel while saying a short and panicky prayer, she said. I hadn't even finished when her a few taps on my window. When she looked up, she saw a clean, cut young man standing there, who Deb estimated to be about 21 years old. He motioned for her to roll down her window. I remember, I was surprised, Deb says, but I wasn't even the slightest bit afraid, even though I normally would have been terrified.

46:33The young man was dressed well and had a faint smell of soap. He didn't ask if she needed help. Instead, he told her to put the car in neutral, and he would help her over that last small hill toward a place where she could get gas. I thanked him and followed his instructions. The car started moving. I steered it toward the lights of the truck stop, and turned around to yell, thank you again to him, Deb says. He was so nice. My car kept moving, but the young man was nowhere in sight. I mean, this area was completely remote. There was absolutely nowhere he could have gone that quickly, even if there was somewhere to go. I don't even know where he came from to begin with. Deb's car continued to roll down the hill until it reached the truck stop. She was able to get the gas she needed, and the kids remained sound asleep. I've always trusted in God to take care of us, but in relating that story many times to my children who are now 30 and 32, they know for a fact

47:36that angels do exist, and our sent to us if we just believe. I always thought it was so amazing that we were sent someone who I would trust instinctively without question. Since that incident, I've come to believe that we probably encounter angels all the time and take for granted who they really are. I think they come in all shapes and sizes, young and old, and sometimes when we least expect them. And this one, the accident warnings, is our future predestined, and is this how psychics and prophets can see the future, or is the future only a set of possibilities, a path that can be altered by our actions. A reader with the username H. Fen writes about how she received two separate and remarkable warnings about a possible incident in the future. They have warnings may have saved her life. One night at about four in the morning, H. Fen's sister called her. Her voice was trembling,

48:40and she was nearly crying. Since her sister lived across the country, and it was so early, H. Fen was obviously worried. She told me she had a vision of me being in a car accident. She didn't say whether or not I was killed in it, but the sound of her voice made me think she did believe this, but was afraid to tell me. H. Fen wrote, she told me to pray, she said she would pray for me. She told me to be careful, take another route to work, anything I could do to change things up. I told her I believed her, and would call her mother and ask her to pray with us. When H. Fen left her work, she was terrified, but strengthened in the spirit. She worked at a hospital and had patients to attend to. As she was leaving her room, she was called over by a gentleman in a wheelchair. I went to him expecting that he had a complaint against the hospital. He told me that God had given him a message that I would be in a car accident. He said someone not paying attention would hit me. I was so shocked, I almost fainted.

49:46He said he would pray for me, and that God loved me. I felt weak in the knees as I left the hospital. I drove like a little old lady as I observed every intersection, stop sign and stop light. When I got home, I called my mom and sister and told them I was fine. The story is called the flight papers. A saved relationship can be just as important as a saved life. A reader calling herself smidgenk relates how a little miracle might have rescued her troubled marriage. At the time, she was making every effort to mend her rocky relationship with her husband. She had planned a long, romantic weekend in Bermuda. When things started going wrong, it seemed her plans were ruined, until fate intervened. Smidgenk's husband was reluctant to go on the trip. When they arrived in Philadelphia, they were notified that weather was causing plans to back up, so they were stuck in a holding pattern for some time. By the time they landed, their flight to Bermuda was boarding. As many passengers

50:50have experienced, it was a mad dash to the next gate. They were devastated to find that the gate door was just closing when they arrived. The attendant told them they could get to Bermuda, but it would require two more connecting flights and the additional 10 hours. My husband said, that's it. I'm not putting up with this anymore, and started to walk out of the area, and I just knew, out of the marriage, I was truly devastated, she recalls. As my husband was walking away, the attendant saw on the counter, and I sweared and not been there when we checked in. A packet. She was obviously upset that it was still there. It turned out to be the landing papers packet that the pilot must have on board to land in a different country. She quickly called the plane to return. The plane had been on the runway ready to start powering up the engines. It returned to the gate for the papers, and they allowed us and others to get on. Smigick says that the time where their husband and Bermuda was wonderful, they were able to work

51:54out the problems they were having and stay together. Although they've been through tough times since then, they always remember that moment at the airport. I felt as if my world had collapsed and was given a miracle that helped us to keep a marriage and a family together. And this story, a pastor experiences Angelic encounter that saved his life. Pastor John Boston was driving on airport road in Columbus, Ohio in 2015 when he got into a terrible car accident that set a live transformer crashing into his car. Fox 8 Cleveland reported that he was trapped inside of the burning car as the windshield melted and the door folded shut. Boston said a stranger walked up, opened the door and removed it from the car to safety. The stranger told Boston his name was Johnny and that he had to leave the scene before first responders arrived because he can't be here when they get here. He never saw Johnny again. Boston walked away with minor injuries and a stronger sense of determination to serve after his miracle encounter with what he strongly believes

52:58was a guardian angel. And this story is called Angel of Horse. I was headed home to my children driving in the slow lane. The next thing I knew I was flying in the air in my Ford wind star. I had no control. When my van landed, it looked like a crane put it there. It was at the ditch perfectly. I had little room to get out. I felt like some force had lifted me up out of the ditch. I then saw this man who was so calm. He put a calmness in my heart. I never saw him again. I still can't explain how perfectly my van was in that ditch. And this story, my son and his angel. In my home, we're not religious by any means. One night I was putting my son to bed and he started telling me that the night before Jesus brought an angel to him because he was scared. He said, she was so beautiful and her wings were so big, they almost touched my walls. He said she sang to him and laid with him until he fell asleep. He then said Jesus came back

54:02together and he brought her back to a door with him where they started to sparkle and then went through the door. Ever since my son has been obsessed with Jesus and angels, he praised to an angel often at praise for Jesus to come back. The other day he was crying because he said he keeps praying but he doesn't think Jesus can hear him. He said that he keeps praying for him to come back because they make him feel so happy. I acknowledge what he says but I don't push it. I just let him talk about it when he needs to. I'm not sure what I should do. He gets genuinely sad when he thinks Jesus can't hear him. He's only four years old. In our last story for the day, being touched on the back while asleep. Last year was the worst of my life. In six months I lost my brother-in-law, my younger brother passed away. I had my adult son and found they removed from my house and I divorced my absent husband. I cried years of tears at unexpected times. When I went to bed,

55:05I prayed longer and harder than ever. I asked the Lord through tears to please give me a sign that he was walking with me. About three a.m., I woke to warm hands on my back and said straight up. I was alone in the house and believe it was God giving me a sign. He was with me. I was not afraid, just irritated that someone had laid hands on me. Then it hit me who it actually was. And I drifted off to a peaceful sleep. Well, I hope you enjoyed this guardian angel history and some stories of personal and public and you're able to take away from it, maybe a little curiosity, maybe a little wonder, or maybe a little confidence at what you've always believed, others believe as well. It's a subject I've wanted to tackle in this way for a long time, and now we have. So thank you so much for being on the journey with me. We've had some recent reviews I'd like to share. Some of them are for this show, some of them are for others, but in one way it helps introduce you to some of our other shows. The first one, what interesting listening, five stars, this is for one thousand one radio days.

56:10My parents listened to these radio shows as children. Now I get to experience firsthand what I'd only heard about and taste the cultural and even political history of media before TV. Thanks for this opportunity. They're from Camcudo, Apple Podcast, Canada. And this one, my second favorite podcast, one thousand one Sherlock Holmes stories and the best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, five stars. This podcast is easily on my top three favorite podcast list. Keep up the good work, down from sniper dragon 16 Apple Podcasts, US. And this one, the show, one thousand one stories for the road, five stars. I'm currently listening to Huckleberry Finn and I just have to mention what a wonderful job Mr. Hagridorn is doing on this reading. It's the best so far and that's the best of the best because his reading is far and away the best of the storytellers. Thank you and keep up the good work. Now from CLYGE Apple Podcast, US. And Clyde, thank you so very much for being such a great fan and offering such a

57:10wonderful review. I appreciate it. And this one, great podcast, one thousand one Sherlock Holmes stories and the best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Five stars. I love listening to these stories. That one from Timothy was here, Apple Podcasts, US. And this one, fascinating, one thousand one heroes, legends, histories and mysteries podcasts, five stars. I love learning some of the details of these fighting men, down from Georgia Boy, US Sailor-Man, Apple Podcasts. And this one, one thousand one heroes, legends, histories and mysteries. Five stars, a very good podcast, interesting and highly recommended. This guy is a very good storyteller, down from Nexus 20, Apple Podcasts, US. And great cast, one thousand one heroes, legends, histories and mysteries, five stars. Absolutely, love this podcast. Don't from Mailman, Apple Podcasts, US. Thank you also very, very much for taking the time to send these reviews. It's a great way to share our shows with others. You are greatly appreciated.

58:12There'll be a brand new episode coming next Sunday at New N Eastern Time. Until then everyone, this is your host and storyteller, John Haggadorn. This is one thousand one heroes, legends, histories and mysteries podcast. Stay safe, and we'll be back soon.