MORE THAN A MIRACLE (2)
I was on one of my regular business trips to Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria. I think I am the only ‘white guy’ who drives around in Nigeria because, in their friendly manner, everyone has to call me out in amazement ‘Oyinbo’ (white man)! All expatriates use drivers around, while they snuggle unobtrusively in the back seat. The general warm attitude of Nigerians is to even provoke a conversation in their notoriously dense traffic.
On that particular day, I was driving on one of the city’s 3-lane highways when we suddenly we came to a screeching halt. It is not unusual when there is the habitual Go Slow! (Dense traffic). Stupidly, I had taken the inner lane instead of the outer lane, which meant I could easily get stuck. The outer lane always leads to a service road and from there through some back roads. The worst part was that I was in a notoriously ‘bad’ area with ‘Alaye’ boys around (the circles of micro gangs that forcefully extort money from all those who enter their area).
When traffic comes to a halt, it becomes really tough to maneuver out of a tight spot. The worst part was that my air conditioner was not working on that day, and my car windows were open for ventilation. This means I am an easy bait for the ‘area’ boys who could easily open my car and get in. Just as the thought crossed my creative mind and I was attempting to wriggle out of my spot, I looked into my rear-view mirror, and there they were approaching my lane of the road! A group of 4 tall, lean, and mean-looking young men, probing which car to attack, with evil-looking narcotically-charged bloodshot eyes. I could hear a voice calling me through the other window in a kind voice, “Sir! Sir, please! Don’t look into their eyes, just look straight ahead of you!” I swung around, and there was a young Nigeria, a street peddler in a bright red shirt whose eyes caught mine, distracting me and imploring me not to look towards them. Instantly, they circled the car in front of me, banging at the windows and doors, while the cars behind me reversed to get away, I immediately did the same, taking my extreme right lane and looking for that particular red shirt I encountered.
I had to find him and thank him for having saved my life and my day. I parked, asked his fellow peddlers, and asked everyone. No one saw any peddler that day in a red shirt! I couldn’t believe it. It was barely a minute earlier, and that red is immediately noticeable.
For the entire day, I remained puzzled and as I spoke to a devout Christian lady that night, she insisted it was an Angel. When she saw that I was skeptical and disturbed that I could not express my gratitude to him, she pulled out her pocket Bible from her handbag, and read me a few words from the Old Testament, and one of the Epistles of Saint Paul. Those were the only words that calmed my troubled spirit.
This was my second experience with an Angel. Now more than ever, I believe that in as much as they may not manifest themselves, they manifest themselves also in ordinary human form, regardless of race, color, size, appearance, or physical challenges. That is a primordial reason that we should always be courteous towards strangers. We never know who they are.
Just as I learned that neither should one ever confront or defy evil spirits, who are really fallen angels, older and therefore wiser than us. Belonging to the supernatural realm, they are far more powerful than we are, seeing, hearing, and knowing what we cannot conceive or perceive. Besides, they always ask the Almighty’s permission before resorting to any harm to test the faithful. They are God’s creation and part of His Divine Plan.
Sammy RNAJ
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