PARENTING March 31, 2008 Issue

ANGELS BY OUR SIDE

DARREN STONE

One night a couple of weeks ago I couldn't sleep as I worried about small wars and large bombs, which countries were peaceful and which were the most dangerous.

After several hours of mental wrestling, I recalled a lesson learned from our two sons many years ago. They were in first and third grades at the time. One day after school the younger one was being very stubborn and arguing about everything. This was totally unlike him. I reminded him to take his bike from the front sidewalk and put it in the garage, and he said, "No, I don't want to." This bothered me, and I said, "Do it anyway." He shook his head, "No." I was about to pull him outside and make him do it when his brother said quietly, "Mom, the angel thought can tell him the right thing to do."

I didn't recall talking much about angels with the boys, but figured the idea had probably come from their Sunday School class, and I was familiar with Science and Health's description of angels as "God's thoughts passing to man." The rest of the description says, "spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality" (p. 581).