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THOUGHT FOR JANUARY
“Be not forgetful, to entertain strangers, for thereby have some entertained angels unawares” - Hebrews 13:2
It was a few days before Christmas and I was travelling on a packed London Underground train. From my squashed seat in the corner, I observed the other passengers, all desperately trying to keep to their own space and avoiding any unnecessary contact with others. Noses were buried in newspapers or magazines, and eyes averted to look at anything other than someone else.
I only had a couple of stops to go, when the carriage seemed to clear, there were no longer any standing passengers and the remaining seated ones seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief.
A striking looking man, of perhaps early 20’s boarded and strode purposefully down the carriage, he was dark skinned, with a dazzling smile and wearing typically casual clothing, baggy jeans and a sweatshirt style jacket and designer trainers. He seemed to be humming a little tune, and as he walked, he was reaching up and testing the overhead handrails with a series of investigative tugs.
The passengers palpably shrank as he approached, and once again retreated into their own silent spaces. As he passed, there was relief, as he approached, tension and anxiety. What on earth was he going to do?
He stopped, just beside my seat where there was now clear space in the aisle, and proceeded to pull himself up onto the handrails and execute a perfectly elegant gymnastic move which ended with a little flourish and a small bow as he landed, catlike on his feet again.
The silence was deafening. The communal inbreath was held.
I was applauding inwardly, because it was such a random act, and yet so perfectly considered.
I could not resist asking him, “ Have you always been such a show off then?”
He grinned broadly and bounced over, “Who me?” he asked incredulously.
More shrinking and breath holding from the passengers around me.
“Yeah, you . . . the only bloke hanging from the ceiling of the train” I laughed in reply.
In response, he simply hoisted himself back up onto the rails and did another twirl for us.
“Only when I’m happy! “ he confirmed with a broad grin, as he landed once again, with perfect timing on his feet in front of me.
The train was now at my stop, so I gathered myself up and as I left, I caught his eye and in farewell said to him,“ Stay happy!”, and he returned my salutation with continued good spirits.
It struck me as I fought my way out of the busy station, had that joyful young guy grown wings and a bedazzling halo, the response from those passengers would have been no different. Eyes averted, hearts pounding in misplaced fear, they would not have seen the angel. “ Fear not, I mean you no harm. . . I bring tidings of great joy “
I seem to remember reading that somewhere . . . . I think that was around Christmas time too!