G-d's Secret Angels

Tuesday, August 23rd, 9:19 AM.

Although I pride myself on having a pretty positive mantra even the most optimistic of people have their bad days and today seemed to be turning into one for me.

Most days I take two trains to work; sometimes I get a seat on both, other times on one, and sometimes neither. Well today train number one was jam packed so I sandwiched myself between two straphangers and jolted along the 4 line to Atlantic Avenue.

I made my way across the station and down the stairs over to the row of seats where I usually wait for my next train. Sitting there taking up all five seats- one that her body occupied, two for all her random tchotkes which looked like they were taken straight from the local dumpster, and seats three, four, and five by the awful stench emanating from her clearly unbathed, undeodarized body, was a disheveled, homeless woman.

I silently cursed under my breath because waiting for the next train can take anywhere from five to fifteen minutes and I was hot and wanted to sit. I scuffled on by glaring in her direction and stood waiting on the platform edge.

Nose buried in my newspaper I was trying to distract myself when I heard a scratching noise coming from the direction of Ms. Homeless. I glanced in her direction and saw her bending forward, her ripped coat (yes, coat in mid-August...possible source of the body odor) scratching the sides of her seat as she did so. I watched as she picked something from off the floor. Curious, I kept my eye on the scene assuming someone probably dropped a dollar or something of the sort. But in fact, what she was reaching down to get was a piece of crumpled paper.

She then looked at the piece of paper, ripped it in half, and began eating the piece of paper- first chewing then swallowing. True Story.

Omg I thought to myself.

Wake up call much?

You’re moping about a seat when ten feet away there's a woman clearly so poor and hungry she has to resort to eating paper?!

Kinda puts things in perspective no?

This isn't the first time such an incident has happened to me. (You can read my article "The Boy I Met On the B Train." http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=11429&hl=the+boy+i+met+on+the+b+train)

I'm a big believer that G-d put angels everywhere; little messengers hiding out in many shapes and forms, some not the most attractive, to convey important messages to us.

Open your eyes, and see Hashem in everything.

Open you ears, and listen to what He has to say.

Because He really, truly is everywhere and it’s important to never forget that.

I saw the following written somewhere and think it expresses an important message when it comes to our Emunah in Hashem:

Those who believe that they believe in G-d, but without passion in their hearts, without anguish in mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation, believe in the G-d idea, not G-d himself.