In my line of work, I come across some characters. Conversations have the potential to be unusual and thought-provoking, or plain old down-right weird. For example...
At the chiro's office, there was a patient, Bill, who was a recovered cocaine addict and a born-again Christian. As a fellow Christian, I never judged, but considering the documented effects of long-term cocaine use I DID take some of the things he said with a grain of salt.
Bill usually had morning appointments. During one of his treatments, the hot stones were set up in one corner of the room heating for a later appointment. We didn't keep the stones set up in the room when they weren't needed since they took up valuable work space and the appointments for the service were few and far between, so this was the first time Bill saw the set up. Bill was a chatter, and during the course of the conversation he asked more about the hot stone service. Then he said very matter-of-factly, "The spirit in this room doesn't like the stones being in that corner. That's where he hangs out."
I beg your pardon.
Bill went on to explain that he had the ability to see spirits, call them angels if you prefer, and that there was always the same spirit standing in the corner of my treatment room. He said he got the impression that the spirit was nothing to be afraid of; instead, it was watching over the room, as if it were a protector ~ a guardian angel.
Huh. Really? There's a guardian angel in my treatment room? OK. If you say so.
I wondered aloud if the property had been some Native American holy ground or ancient burial site, then the conversation turned to other topics.
I had all but forgotten about this episode until very recently when I was back in the office for a massage trade with my former coworker. We were trading 90-min massages, so we were in the room for the better part of the morning. At some point, the lights in the room dimmed and re-surged a couple of times and my coworker said, "That was weird," When I mentioned that this used to happen periodically when I worked there, she jokingly added, "Must be the ghost in the room." I knew she'd said it in jest, but it sparked the memory of the conversation I'd had with Bill years earlier. I asked if she had ever treated him and told her about the conversation we'd had. She said she did remember him because he had mentioned to her that the spirit was not in the room when she was working, and he figured that the spirit was not attached to the room, but to ME specifically.
Wait. What? The spirit doesn't watch over the room, it watches over ME? I'm not sure how I feel about this. Who is this spirit? Does it watch me workout? Does it watch me take a shower and get dressed? Does it watch when I'm intimate with my husband? Should I be creeped-out here?!
Then I thought about the time I was running on the Scioto Trail and heard a very real, audible voice tell me to turn around. And the time I was riding on the Olentangy Trail and heard yelling in the woods along the riverbank but was told to keep going. Joshua thinks this spirit is the guardian angel that rides in the car with me to keep my aggressive driving from causing harm.
OK. I suppose I shouldn't be unnerved by this spirit following me around ~ if there really is a spirit following me around. Call me crazy, but I'm not ready to fully rely on the word of an eccentric recovered drug addict. Besides, what make me worthy of my own personal guardian angel? I'm not complaining, just doubting. Why me? Why is there not a spirit attached to my coworker? Or every believer, for that matter. What makes me more deserving of this protection that anyone else?
I do seriously doubt whether or not there is a guardian angel that is continuously at my side. Yet, I must admit that I am comforted by the idea that someone ~ or something ~ is constantly looking out for me. I wonder if Bill saw whether this spirit is wearing a jet pack in order to keep up with my driving.
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