July 18, 2003

"We interrupt your life to bring you this important bulletin"

(St. Anthony can  unzip your pants, just ask him!)

     Have you ever interrupted your life for a brief moment, smacked yourself on the forehead and said, "so THAT is why this keeps happening to me!"  It's the minute you suddenly realize the answer to something you have always wondered about. For instance, why is it that every other person in your entire world of friends and family is able to balance a checkbook to the cent, but you are 100% always out of balance!

     One day you go screaming into the bank because your "Happy Birthday" check to little cousin Oliver has bounced and now he can't buy his new toy Beetle Zapping machine.  You feel terrible, (well not really terrible so much as you are sick of your sister calling to ask WHY you didn't just give him cash!), so you set out to the bank to try and get help with your check book.  While you are standing in line waiting, a strange man taps you on the shoulder and politely points down to the stream of toilet paper dangling from your shorts.  You exchange glances, begin giggling which turns into laughing hysterically, you strike up a conversation and then end up spending the rest of your lives together.

     On your first Wedding anniversary you wake up and say, "You know, I just realized something.  If I had never been  check book balancing impaired, I would never have gone to the bank that day, you would never have pointed out that stream of toilet paper and WE would NEVER have met!"

     Sometimes our lives are interrupted with epiphanies I refer to as, "fleeting moments of clarity".  I say "fleeting" because they don't seem to last for more than a few minutes and they just don't happen all the time. When they DO happen, we tend to go, "Wow!" and move on with our lives.   These epiphanies are the times when heaven opens a window, reaches into your life and points you in the right direction.  This is why it is so important to relish those moments and to try and find some way to keep them in your heart forever.  Why wouldn't you want to remember being touched by heaven?

     Yesterday I got touched.

     I am very well known in my circle for wearing outrageously printed pants.  Yesterday's choice was a pair of black linen Capri's with white embroidered spirals all over them.  I paired them with a white summer sweater and black beaded thong sandals.  (I always take my shoes off at work)  These particular pants are my favorite, yet I hardly ever wear them because the embroidery gets caught on everything and the zipper is always tough to work.

    Yesterday I was alone in the office running from place to place trying to keep up with the clients, the phones, the taxes, the work etc.  I'd  put off a run to the ladies room several times all morning because I was just too swamped to take the time.  Of course finally, one HAS to make the time so I ran down the hall to the community bathroom (we are in an office building that has one large central bathroom).  I threw open the stall door, slammed it shut with my elbow, locked it and turned to unzip.

     Five and half tugs and a few, "oh my God NO, not today's" later, I realize I am two or three seconds from an accident.  My thoughts quickly drift to, "oh GREAT, this means I'm going to have to go ALL the way home, (tug) get out the scissors (huge moan to accompany the tug) and CUT myself out of these pants.  Wait, I don't want to wreck these pants. (tug tug)  Crap. (Tuuuuuug) WHY didn't I have the cleaners fix this dumb zipper...maybe I can hold it....hmph! (tug tug tug tuuuuuuug) Oh come ON, zipper...this is ridiculous.(tug)  I'll have to just try and wait"  (Stop laughing, this is a true story.)

    So that's what I did.  I went back to the office, worked a few more hours until finally the urgency set in again.  I thought I'd go ahead and give it one more try, then I'd HAVE to just close up and go home. I was irritated beyond belief, knowing darn well this zipper has NEVER worked properly.  At least I wasn't out in a restaurant or something.

     Same drill as before with one minor detail.  A lady entered the bathroom and turned on....the WATER!  Something came over me as I reached to tug at the demon zipper once more...and as I gripped it I said, "St. Anthony please FIND me a way to get this darned zipper DOWN!"  Even before I'd finished my thought, the zipper went sailing down more smoothly than ever before.  I let out a loud "thank you, thank you!", and the lady in the other stall sat silent...whoops.  Did I say that out loud?

     It's a silly story but a perfect illustration of how epiphanies happen in daily life.  (No, the fact that St. Anthony unzipped my pants  is NOT the epiphany, believe it or not.)

     The realization that he was with me the entire time is the epiphany.  This lead me to remember that none of us is ever all alone and as I always say, at any given time, there are whole armies of angels and Saints standing ready to be called for help.  (Note, they EVEN help with small silly things like zippers.)  It made me think of my friend Jean and how I had just told her to call for Arch Angel Gabriel and Arch Angel Haniel for help and how she gleefully wrote and told me she did that and they were right there to work a miracle.  Sometimes even angel ladies like me need to be reminded of the simplest truths.

     It happens.  Heaven does exist and it's standing on either side of you.  Reach out and embrace our invisible guardians and don't forget to recognize when they touch you.  They love that. (You will too.)

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