Safe Journeys

If this picture looks familiar, it's because I just posted it a couple of days ago, after my trip out to the Midwest to meet my new granddaughters ("Miracles," June 10). I decided that I wanted to post it again after my husband saw something interesting in it that I hadn't even noticed. Look at it closely: do you see anything odd about the plane taking off in the background?

Okay, I'll give you a hint: it has to do with the shape of the cloud behind the airplane.

Do you see it yet? I can't hold it in any longer, so I'll say it: doesn't it look like the plane has a big white angel's wing attached to it?

The funny thing is that minutes after I snapped this picture, my flight began to board. And I began to get nervous, as usual; so as I often do, I prayed to my own Guardian Angel, the pilots' Guardian Angels, and the Guardian Angels of all the passengers on my flight. I prayed that all of these Heavenly protectors would keep us safe on our trip. Now, I wonder: when my plane took off, did it, too, have a giant angel's wing on it? I think perhaps it did; maybe not one that anyone on the ground could see, but every bit as real as if they could. I'm not necessarily saying that this picture is some kind of sign; but I do think that if nothing else, it's rather amazing that the timing was such that when I pressed the button on my camera, that wing-shaped cloud was in the perfect position to create this illusion.

Each of us--every single soul on earth--has been given a Guardian Angel; yet we often forget about the existence of these special friends, and we forget to pray to them. Who knows how many disasters have been averted by their intervention? Saint Frances de Sales said this on the subject: "Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you."

I don't think I'll ever be able to board an airplane again without thinking of this picture; and hopefully, it will remind me to always pray to my Guardian Angel for safe journeys.