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Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band-he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Then unexpectedly, a sinister thought entered his mind. Why should the other man alone experience all the pleasures of seeing everything while he himself never got to see anything? It didn't seem fair. At first thought the man felt ashamed. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and he found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window-that thought, and only that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running in. In less than five minutes the coughing and choking stopped, along with that the sound of breathing. Now there was only silence-deathly silence.

The following morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take it away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

This lovely story was written by Kristi Campbell. Her email address is

kristicampbell@hotmail.com

She said it was okay for me to share this story with you.

The Angel Who Remembered

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Once upon another place and time there lived a little angel, who we will call Angelica. She loved to play with her little angel friends, because all them were kind and loving. They were never moved to argue with one another. Tears were unknown to the little Angels, for they were always quite happy. One day as they were playing, they heard the whisper of God's voice, calling for a volunteer to go to earth and be with a family that was praying for another child. Angelica thought for a moment, "Well, how hard can it be? It is so easy to love." So she raised her hands toward the voice and said, "I'll go! I'll be their child!" Before Angelica left, God whispered many things to her about the purpose of going to earth and being part of a family there, assuring her that "I will be with you, always." Then Angelica fell asleep.

She awoke to a blur of strange sights and noises and bodily sensations. She wailed in protest. Then the doctor smacked her on the rear!!! What was that for? She wailed even louder. Yet that was just the beginning of an increasingly unhappy experience. Angelica's big sister did not like her at all. Her dad was bothered with pieces of paper much of the time, and her presence seemed to bother him all the more. And her mom was always so-o-o-o busy that she hardly noticed her new child, even while holding Angelica in her arms to feed her. The former angel would longingly look up into her mother's eyes, trying to remind her of her request - and that she, Angelica, was there in answer to her mother's prayers. And all the while, Angelica felt more and more like a stranger to her new family.

So she vowed to try harder. She still remembered that she had come to love, and was sure that if she would faithfully keep her end of the bargain they would also eventually remember that they had asked for love. God had told her that everything that people ask for is a prayer, and that every fervent prayer is answered... although sometimes people forget what they have prayed for!

As her life went on, it got harder and harder for Angelica to remember who she was. Nobody seemed to appreciate that she came to teach them love, and her family never did remember that she had come as an answer to prayer.

One day, Angelica stopped remembering as well. The memory was replaced with a deep sadness, which she did not understand. So she tried to hide it from everyone as her life went on and on. The burden of her sadness got heavier and heavier. One day, when she had become a grown woman, she had to stop everything and just lie down. She felt like such a failure in all that she had done, even though she wasn't sure what she was supposed to have done instead.

Angelica wept in her darkness, her burdens too heavy to carry anymore. No one seemed to understand. No one seemed to care. So she had stopped caring, too. She no longer wanted to be here. She wanted to die.

It was then that she heard a faint whisper, "Do you remember why you are here?" Angelica thought that she was losing it for sure. And in a way, she was. For as the voice continued, she felt herself losing what she had come to believe really mattered. She was also relieved of her belief that she was alone, that she had failed.

"You have forgotten whose child you are," the whispering voice continued. "You have forgotten why you came. You learned that God's ways are not of this world, yet you have forgotten. You have tried to be yourself according to the ways of this world, even though you came to show it another way of being. That is why you are so unhappy. That is why you are so sad. "Did I not tell you that I would be with you always? Did I not tell you that you will touch their lives in ways they may not know? Did I not tell you that all you were put here for was to love, no matter what?"

And so the memory of who she was became reborn within Angelica. It was just a tiny spark of remembrance at first, but she was willing to pay attention to it, to protect it from doubt, and thus never again forget why she had come. From now on she would pay more attention to the silent voice than to the wailings of the world. The world had tried to tell her that she was wrong, that she was not worthy of the its esteem, that love could be defeated... and the world was mistaken. Angelica remembered that there was and is nothing stronger than Love, and never again would she forget this.

Angelica sat on the side of her bed, put her feet firmly on the floor and stood up. No, she did not know what the rest of her life would be like, but she did know that it was now different than it was when she had laid down, and that it would be a life of Love. Because that is what she volunteered for. She would keep her now remembered promise to God, the promise to be a beacon of love.

Angelica was soon so happy with herself that she could hardly contain her joy! She wanted to climb to the rooftops, she wanted everyone to know that she remembered why she was here. Angelica had made a very good friend whom she loved very much. They had shared many of life's wonders and disappointments.

So when the friend reached out to her with a rather substantial dilemma in her life, Angelica in her exuberance thought "here's my chance to help! I can tell my friend what I have remembered and she, too, will remember and then be as happy as I am!"

But to Angelica's dismay, not only did her friend not understand...she got very angry at Angelica and told her so! Angelica felt very confused. What went wrong? She just wanted to share. She just wanted her friend to come along for the fun of living. She just wanted to love her friend and to let her know that she, too, was love...her friend did not want to hear it. So Angelica went off to be alone. She went off to listen, feeling quite sad. "You did not wait to be invited in," she began to softly hear.

"I don't understand," she replied, "I thought I was to love." Again she waited in the silence. This time she had to become very still and quiet, for instead of being louder, the voice whispered even softer this time.

"You were not invited in. In your excitement and joy, you forgot to allow others their journey. You see, true love is not doing it for someone; it is allowing them to find it themselves."

"But what if they don't?" she wailed. "What if my friend never invites me in? What if no one listens? I'll feel just as alone as I did before I remembered!"

"You are never alone," the voice reassured here. "And it is not your place to determine when others will awaken... that is their choice. You are to love them where they are. Love does not push; it flows...remember? What if I had pushed you? Would you have liked that? Would you have remembered any sooner?"

"I don't believe so. I don't like to be pushed. It doesn't feel good. It makes me feel angry," she answered meekly. "Precisely how your friend felt. Now do you see? Now do you understand a little more how love works?" the voice gently spoke."I'm beginning to. This is just the start, isn't it?" Angelica humbly asked. "Yes, but it is no less worthy than others' ways. You are just learning to listen. Now I trust that before you make anyone else angry and then withdraw in fear and confusion, you will wait until you hear where I lead. "And always remember, you are not now, nor have you ever been or ever will be alone. You will never be... I AM with you all ways... remember?"

"Yes, yes I do. I just got so excited..." "I know. And there will be others that are excited, too, but I will show them to you. You need not run yelling out from the rooftops as you wanted. Many are still asleep and get very angry when some (however well meaning) angel tries to hurry them along. Do you get what I am telling you? For this is extremely important if you are to remember and carry this remembrance within you."

"I remember. I feel I understand. It's about faith and patience, isn't it?" Angelica questioned almost in a whisper. There were no words this time, yet as the angel-become-woman sat in the silence, she knew that the answer was yes! She knew that some times your answer is so quiet that you just have to feel it and know that the Truth comes from a place within that is so quiet, that it can only be felt. And that's how you know it is True.

 Kristi Campbell

© 1998

E-Mail Kristi

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