Marky sat on the porch and looked out into
the garden. He sighed deeply. It was
growing dark and the flowers were nodding gently in the
evening breeze. It was like they were
bending their heads politely saying, "Good evening,
Marky!" Sometimes he felt as though they
really might say something like that if they could talk.
Some of them had beautiful little mouths
painted on their faces, but they never said anything -
not out loud, that is. But Marky was sure
they thought things you could hear, if you listened with
your heart and not with your ears.
The fireflies winked brightly across the
garden, and for a moment Marky wished he
could fly like that and shine so prettily. And then he
sighed again, this time quite sadly. Behind
him be heard his mother ask, "Why, Marky, what's the
matter? Such a deep sigh for a little boy."
Marky looked up at his mother. You could
always tell your troubles to Mother. She
wouldn't laugh the way Sally Ann down the street had
laughed when he talked to her this
afternoon about his trouble. He tumbled his words out,
"Mother, have you ever seen an angel —
an honest to goodness real angel?"
Mother smiled. "Is that what is troubling
you?"
Marky nodded, and Mother sat down beside
him on the porch steps. "Well, I'll tell you,
Marky. They aren't so easy to find, and maybe you don't
look in the right place."
"Does it take awfully sharp eyes to see
angels, Mother? Maybe my eyes aren't strong
enough? Would I need glasses to see one?" Marky asked
excitedly.
Mother took Marky 's hand in hers. "Not
quite that, Marky. Angels are different from
the fairies and gnomes and the little elemental folk
we've read stories about. Angels are - well,
they are like older brothers and sisters to us."
Marky shook his head puzzedly. "How?"
"It 's - well, they went through a stage
of evolution similar to our human one many ages
ago. It's like your big brother, Tommy. He 's already
graduated from school, and you 're still in
school. So he knows many things you don't, and can help
in many ways you haven't yet learned."
"But," Marky protested, "I'll grow fast
and catch up."
''Of course, you will," Mother replied,
''just as someday we'll all be like the angels."
Marky smiled brightly at this thought.
"Tell me more about the angels."
Mother continued. "Well, the angels have
their work to do, the same as we do. In all of
God's universe, each Being has its own part to do, and
angels have work to do especially for us.
We are their younger brothers and sometimes we are
very difficult younger brothers to help,
I'm afraid."
"How?" asked Marky.
"Oh," Mother answered, "once the angels
were closer to men, and many people were
able to see them and receive help directly from them. You
know there are stories about it in the
Bible."
"Why isn't it like that now?" Marky
asked with troubled eyes.
Mother explained, "Because men became
wicked so their eyes no longer could see the
angels. They felt so grown up they no longer had pure
enough souls to commune with their angel
brothers. They were more interested in seeking excitement
and fun—as they called it. They hurt
each other in this kind of fun, and the angels could not
come near such wickedness. They stay
away from selfishness, and greed, and evil today, for
where these things are the heart is not pure
enough to commune with angels."
Marky sighed. "What work do they do?".
Mother answered, "They have different
kinds of work to do. Some direct the fairies
and the elemental kingdoms so these little creatures are
able to grow and learn. Some angels are
the builders of the universe. They help nature form
mountains and rivers. They help mothers to
build the tiny baby bodies when a child is to be born.
They work with the thoughts of men — and
weave the best thoughts that hover over a community so
that the evil thoughts will not bring evil
upon the people. Sometimes the thoughts are so horrible
it is difficult for them."
Marky nodded understandingly. "That's
why you want me to not get mad and think
good things isn't it? Do my prayers help them, too?"
Mother nodded. "Oh, yes, every one of
us helps in that way so the world can grow to
be a happier place. You see, too, many evil thoughts make
droughts, famines, and floods. Nature
returns to man just what man sends out. The angels
hovering near try to inspire man so he can
deserve a better life. Every good deed they bless and
expand so that all men may reap the benefit."
Marky asked, "And are there angels who
work in music and in the forests?"
"Yes," Mother answered. "They work in
the ethers in watery substances of the
universe. They weave all the patterns we see, because
they are wiser and know how to obey all
the laws. We humans haven't learned obedience yet. Think
of the damage we would do by our
ignorance without their help."
Marky smiled. "Do you think I'll be
able to see an angel someday, Mother — really see
one?"
"Perhaps, you will be one of the
blessed ones who have such vision," Mother
answered.
Marky thought a moment. It was the
dearest wish of his heart to know more about
the wonderful Beings called angels.
The next day he told his father about
the things Mother had told him, and his father
nodded and said: "Your mother is right. There's just one
thing I can add to what she has told you.
It might help you to see an angel some day."
Marky 's face brightened and his eyes
sparkled. "What will help me to see an angel,
Daddy?"
His father answered, "Well, Marky,
your mother has told you about the being good
part - trying to be like the angels so that your wishes
are like their own wishes and so your eyes
will be more in tune with the light. The other part is
wanting. What you want very deeply is
sometimes given to you when you do all the rest of your
part."
Marky clapped his hands. "But I do
want to. All the time I keep trying. When I work
in the garden I think of the little fairies and elves
also working there, and then of the wonderful
angels who are directing the little fairies, too."
Across the room Mother smiled at them
both. She had just come in from the garden
and her arms were full of flowers. "Still talking about
angels, Marky?"
Dad and Marky laughed back at Mother,
and Dad said, "Yes, and do you know I've
heard people say it is sometimes easier to see them in
great and beautiful forests where the
loveliness of nature is more in tune with them than the
disharmony that exists where people are
unloving."
Mother said, "Marky, has Daddy told you
about where we are going on his vacation?"
Dad said, "No, I wanted you to be with
us. You see, Marky, your mother and I
thought that perhaps on this vacation we would go camping
in one of the national forests near
here."
Marky spoke softly, "And I can really
look for an angel there, can't I?''
Mother and Dad nodded, and they kissed
Marky tenderly as he started off to bed to
dream of his vacation in the forest where he could see an
angel.
And Marky's dream did come true. Marky
was in the forest where the family was
camping. He had been having a splendid time sitting so
quietly under a tall elm tree that the young
deer had come close by. His heart was full of love for
the beautiful little creatures as he offered
them pieces of bread from his pockets.
His heart was full with happiness and
peace, and while he sat there a wonderful thing
happened. As he looked up at the tree he saw long flowing
sheaths of light brightened into the
pattern of an angelic figure before his eyes. The forest
was still and yet there seemed to be the
swell of music everywhere about him. He felt great waves
of love washing through him, and a
beautiful face smiled upon him.
Marky felt as though all the love and
light and goodness in the world were pouring
through him. He saw the sweet face still regarding him
from the great height, and then the light
was so bright he had to close his eyes. Even with his
eyes closed he still felt the music and love
and brightness all about him.
When he opened his eyes, Mother and
Dad stood beside him. Their hands rested
lightly upon his shoulders. He looked up at them
inquiringly. They smiled down upon him, and he
knew from the glow in their eyes that they had seen the
angel, too.
Marky asked softly, "Some day will I
be like that?"
It was Mother who answered, "Some day
all of us will be like that, Marky, and the
world will be a very wonderful place when we all are so
beautiful and loving."
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