An Apparition Story With a Difference

What is the meaning of a dying man's encounter with what he believes is in angel, when he no longer practices his faith and isn't even sure what he believes anymore?

Perhaps the answer is in the article written by another "non-religious" newspaper columnist who is still scratching his aching head over the story. More about the aching head in a moment.

The gentleman on the line was named Thomas, and, eventually, I realized he was pitching a news story.

He was calling from Oakhurst Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Ocala and, he said, something remarkable happened to him.

And if I had the time, he would love to tell me about it.

I was on deadline, but there was something in his voice that kept me on the line.

He said he was dying of pulmonary fibrosis, a scarring of the lungs caused by Agent Orange during his service in Vietnam.

[SNIP]

He had been admitted to the hospital recently, he said. While there, he crashed twice in a flurry of doctors and nurses and machines. He was aware of this, but he was not concerned.

"I was dying," he said, "and I was ready to die."

Yet during the first crash, he said, he looked up and saw a robed woman standing over him, staring at him with "such compassion, such feeling."

"I didn't know what to think. I thought maybe I already died," he said slowly, still picturing the apparition. He rested in her comfort for a moment before, he said, she extended her arms "like she was carrying a tray."

"I could feel her inside me to a certain extent. I thought, 'She's come to help me on my way,' " he said, again pausing for breath and reflection. "But later I realized, what she was doing was encouraging me to breath harder, get the level up or else that would be the end of it. She gave me peace."

There's a bit more to the story, but you have the gist. Reporter develops 3 a.m. headache, doesn't want to talk to dying man on phone but does, then is captivated by man's story. Since then he wonders, what was the point of the angelic apparition?

I was thinking about this story as hard as Thomas was. I still have my faith in God, but I have never seen an angel and am not convinced they exist. Thing is, neither is Thomas. All he knows is "something remarkable" happened to him, something he has been dictating to a home tape recorder, breath by labored breath.

"I'm still dying," he told me. "This is a no-win. I just want people to know this happened."

I'll let you read his conclusion yourself.

Now, about the 3 a.m. headache: That's a significant time. As opposed to the hour of mercy, which is 3 p.m., this is considered the evil one's hour. What if something, or someone, was attempting to keep columnist Dave Schlenker from going to work, or taking the dying man's phone call?

I'm as prepared to believe that as I am Thomas's report of the angel.

But you can believe what you wish.