Ashes to Alleluias

Have you ever been touched by an angel? I think that we all have been touchedby angels in some way, even though we might not have recognized it at thetime. I have always been fascinated with angels. When I was a little girl, mymother taught me the angel prayer: 'Angel of God, my guardian dear, forwhom God’s love commits me here . . .'My mother’s mother, my grandmother, was a self-taught artist with manywonderful talents. I was always entranced with her painting of a guardian angelwatching over two small children. I followed in my grandmother’s footsteps,and I am also a self-taught artist. She always encouraged me to follow thatdream. For as long as I can remember, drawing and painting, along with otherart forms, have been an important part of my life.A number of years ago, I started collecting angels, so I guess it was appropriatethat they would come to me in a dream that would change my life. It was inthe late summer of 2002. I had been going through some diffi cult personalproblems, and there was one incident in my life that left me in a very troubledstate of mind. One evening, after I had been asleep for several hours, Iexperienced a powerful dream about angels who were watching over me. Itwas so real that it woke me out of a sound sleep, and I sat bolt upright.The effects from that dream stayed with me for several days. I decided towrite down what I was feeling while it was still fresh in my mind. As I startedto write, I realized that it was taking the form of a poem. It was as if a doorto my soul had been opened. That poem is called 'Life.'