New Parables to Ponder: 12 Stories to Spark Spiritual Questions

The Parable of the Angel's Visit

Last Thursday I met an angel. He was standing in my doorway when I came home.

The angel said to me, "Why are you so happy?"

I replied, "Today was a good day. It was ordinary but full of good things. This morning they were giving out free donuts at the coffee shop. This afternoon I finished the project I had been working on for months. And tonight I met my friends for dinner at our favorite restaurant. Even when I got home I saw that my package had finally arrived in the mail. It was a good day."

The angel replied, "What makes something good?"

I thought for a minute, but I couldn't come up with a good answer.

The angel said, "Son of man, look with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you." Then the angel led me into a wide open hallway that was two stories tall. There were people of all ages and races, men and women and children. Some were wearing expensive clothes and fine jewelry. Some were wearing business suits and carrying briefcases. Some were wearing comfortable clothes and sandals. Some people were in a hurry. Some people were sitting down to rest.

Ten steps in front of me there were large windows from the floor to the ceiling. Three rows of chairs were facing the windows. There were many people sitting in the chairs, but only the children were looking out the window. Outside the window, the children could see the blue sky over a large concrete lot.

Behind me was a small store. Some people were buying magazines or gum or water. But most people wandered around the store as if they were just trying to pass the time. Next to the store was a small restaurant. People relaxed at the tables in the restaurant even after their meal was finished. Next to the restaurant was another store. Next to that store was another restaurant. The whole wall behind me was nothing but stores and restaurants.

In between the chairs and the stores was a long and wide pathway of tile along the floor. Unlike the people wandering in the stores or the people sitting in the chairs, the people on the pathway were in a hurry. Each one was carrying something. Some people carried luggage. Other people were carrying boxes. But everyone walking was holding some kind of bag or case. Some were walking down the pathway to the left. Some were walking down the pathway to the right. I looked to the left and could not see an end to the pathway. I looked to the right and it looked the same. The angel and I were standing in the middle of the endless pathway as the people moved around us.

The angel asked me, "Is this place good?"

When I turned to look at the angel, my shoulder bumped into a man. He was trying to slip through the crowd on the pathway, but my shoulder knocked a box out of his hands. The man yelled, "Watch where you're going!" as he picked up the box. He never even looked at me.

As the angry man hurried by, I saw a mother sitting in the chairs by the windows holding her baby. The baby was standing on her lap looking over the mother's shoulder. The baby was playing with a small, red stuffed animal until it slipped out of the baby's hand and rolled onto the floor. The baby did not make a sound, and the mother did not notice. A woman sitting in the row behind them looked up from the book she was reading and picked up the red stuffed animal. She handed it back to the baby who took it with a smile. The woman began reading her book again, and the mother never noticed.

I heard a woman behind me apologizing. I looked over to see her standing in the store trying to buy a bottle of water. She could not find any money in her purse. The cashier in the store said, "That's okay." The cashier pulled some money out of her own pocket and bought the water for the woman.

The angel asked me again, "Is this place good?"

"Yes?" I answered. "It seems pretty good. There will always be some bad people, but there are more people trying to do good things."