Signs

 In 1971 there was a popular song by the Five Man Electric Band Called “Signs”.  It was all about signs in our lives telling us what to do and what not to do, generally directing our lives.  It was a very popular song but never one of my favs.

Growing up in a family that possessed a fair amount of superstition, I was always aware of other kinds of signs, not the street variety.  My grandmother was superstitious and we owed it to her Native American ancestry even though she was never really around her Native American grandmother that I know of.  However, she had a healthy respect for birds—especially birds in the house.  I am sorry to say I perpetuate that belief that a bird in the house could mean death.  I don’t want to talk about it.

We all know about cardinals in the yard signifying the visit of one of our dearly departed loved ones.  A feather in your path could be the same.  Those are a couple of my favorites.

I don’t go out of my way looking for “signs” but in the last week I have had two things happen that have gotten my attention.

I am a big believer in prayer.  I do a lot of it.  Lately I have been praying a lot for a specific intention that is dear to my heart.  In addition, I am praying for a young woman at our church who is very ill and has a young family. I never ask for signs that my prayers are heard, I know they are.  I have a very large, probably old oak tree in my yard that has to have dumped a ton of leaves in the yard.  I also have a very fuzzy dog that works hard to bring as many of those leaves into the house as possible. So, the other evening, while focusing on my prayer intention, I decided to get something warm to drink and as I headed to the kitchen something caught my eye.  There, alone, separated from the rest of the leaves that had found their way in was this.

Yes, it is a cross shaped leaf.  It looks like a leaf but on my floor it looked like a golden cross.  It glowed.  It definitely caught my attention.  It made me smile.  I didn’t ask for a sign but there it was.

Then I was reading a Facebook post written by Lorna Byrne.  She is an Irish mystic that can see angels.  Not just her angels but all angels.  I have always believed in guardian angels — you know— “angel of God my guardian dear...” but I have never sat down and thought about it too much until I read Byrne’s book some years ago.  I thought at the time how  blessed she is, what a fantastic gift to have.  Then, the other day I started wondering about my own angel and how neat it would be to  see him/her or at least feel his/her presence. Now, bear in mind that I was cleaning my kitchen while all this thinking and wondering was going on.  I have sort of an open shelf, like a small counter top, above my sink.  When my mother in law passed I brought home several little, tiny knick knacks  from  her apartment and set them there.  They were little things like a 90 year old woman would collect.  One of them was a terra-cotta angel, thimble sized. I had forgotten all about this little angel as it had gotten shoved under some Girl Scout badges and mangled dog toys sitting on this shelf but this day I noticed that it was laying on its side toward the front of the shelf.  I didn’t put it there.  I am sure I disturbed it when I was throwing some stuff away but I was really surprised to see it at that place at that time when I was thinking  so hard about my guardian angel. Was it a sign? Don’t know but it made me smile for sure.

So, how do you feel about signs? Do you believe in them? Need them to validate beliefs? Think it is all a bunch of hooey?  I don’t know but I think I will keep the little terra-cotta angel on the shelf—she makes me smile.