Standing in the Light
There are some people on this planet who show up in our lives at an oh-so-important moment. I think the fact of these angels, if you will, and the awareness of them is a measure of consciousness. There are angels everywhere. The more grace one bestows on his fellow citizens, the more dignity one contributes to the community, the more benevolence one delivers to the common weal, the more angels appear. When one needs help, of course, but also as playmates. The kind you always liked to go with you to the beach.
I’m thinking at the moment of a particular fellow. If you don’t like the word angel, you should at least appreciate the meaning of the word mensch. A Yiddish term, as I’ve heard it, that means a really good man. There are many ways to be good. A mensch knows many of them and he is good to many people in the many ways that they need.
I’ve had a couple of personal encounters with Hugo Gerstl. His mantra, often delivered at the end of an email, in capital letters, is "NOT TO WORRY!" And he signs it love. He means it. I don’t know how to say it otherwise; he saved my life. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration. The fact is that he pulled the plug on my despair and in flooded a restoration of hope. He picked up my tattered banner and hoisted as his own. It was more than a morale boost. He delivered in the courtroom as well. Hugo is a fine attorney, who puts true justice ahead of all else. No wonder that for many, he wears a halo.
Doing right in this life, professional and personally, is often referred to as being on the side of the angels. We may not be angels at every moment of our lives, but on those occasions when we act for the greater good, a shaft of sunlight often beams down through the clouds – sometimes even literally – and illuminates our behavior as an exception that should be the rule.
©2010 SetonnoteS
.