The diary entries are extracts from my spiritual journey, going back about twenty years.
No, I tell you this because I was told to tell it – by what you might call ‘ a higher authority’ – and truth is, the thought of how to tell it has taxed me for so many years.
Miss Garnet’s Angel, Sally Vickers
I need to meditate more. On one level, I feel much more on top of things, but deep within me I feel that it is all out of control. I struggle to get up in the morning, I don’t want to go to bed at night. The times between the crashes are getting longer.
A little confusing
Who is miss Gurney ?
Coffee cold
>
My bad, sorry. The quote is from a novel, Miss Garnet is the protaganist. The person speaking is Tobit, from the Book of Tobit, reflecting years later on the time when they were visited by, and he was healed by, the Archangel Raphael. This was after his son had been on a journey with the angel. It might be the origin of the saying that you should always treat people with courtesy, respect and kindness because you never know when you might be walking with angels. The book of Tobit is part of the apocrypha, so given your church background, it might be one you are not too familiar with.
The novel is about Miss Garnet, an English spinster and atheist, who goes to Venice to live in the twilight of her life and becomes enraptured with the story and the angel, in spite of her disdain of Catholicism. The story is about her reflections on her life, as is the parallel writings from the perspective of Tobit.
I’m using the quote to explain why I am telling my story, and also that it feels difficult to tell it. But it is the stories we love, they capture us. So, I’m telling my story of my spiritual jourmey here.