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 felt happy today; energetic, without that tiredness I’ve had since my dad died.
Sunflower made this entry in the morning. Later on the same day she was knocked back when she was told that a young man she knew at work had committed suicide the previous day. She focused on work and exercise and gradually began to pick up. She did not write about God or her prayers during this time.
Not easy to follow
Sunflower is sad because her dad died
Then some one at work commits suicide
And miss Gernet’sangel
Is that sally Vickers?
Raises mor questions than answers ?
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.