On a cold winter’s night, Joan Wester Anderson believed her son and his friends would freeze to death in an isolated cornfield when their car broke down while driving from Connecticut to Chicago.
Instead, Mrs Anderson owes her son’s life to a mysterious tow truck driver who appeared out of nowhere and towed the boys to a nearby town; when Mrs Anderson’s son turned to pay the man he had vanished, there was no sign of him, his truck or footprints where he had stood minutes earlier.
Who was he? And how is it that he turned up out of the blue when he was needed and disappeared before he could be thanked?
“To me, this was a miracle.” Mrs Anderson told The Record. “I wrote about my son’s experience and eventually collected enough stories to write about what I thought would be one book on angels, but instead I have done seven.”
Mrs Anderson was raised a Catholic and grew up in Evanston, Illinois, in the US. She began her writing career in 1973 and her books include Where Angels Walk and True Stories of Heavenly Visitors, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year; the book has sold almost two million copies and has been translated into 14 different languages.
She has written countless stories about ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary angelic events.
Her story about a firefighter named Mark is both gripping and comforting. Mark and his partner were saved from a flashover (when the contents of a room are so hot everything explodes) because a calm but persistent voice told him to ‘Leave now!’
It is her stories about angels that have hooked her readers. Mrs Anderson has been writing since she was six years old, often helping her friends out with their homework. “I have always written stories,” She said.
“When I was a young mother I started freelancing for magazines. Eventually I wrote 19 books and book number seven, my first book on angels became a national bestseller.” Not only does she write in such a way that the reader does not want to put the book down, but the endless fascination with angels is universal.
The word ‘angel’ in Hebrew means ‘messenger.’ More than just pretty drawings on Hallmark cards, angels act as a liaison between Heaven and Earth, and are mentioned over 300 times in Scripture. They can be described as spiritual beings created by God for the service of humans and the Church – not just fairy-like beings with large wings and flowing gowns. The Catholic view on the celestial hierarchy is both complex and fascinating.
Sixth century Greek theologian Dionysius the Areopagite has had a significant impact on classical Christian angelology. He proposed three hierarchies of angels, within which are nine choirs of angels all told.
The highest order are the Seraphim and these are often referred to as the ‘burning ones’ because they are aflame with God’s love. They show their love by singing around God’s throne. An appropriate image would be the Christmas carol Gloria in Excelsis Deo which begins ‘Ding dong merrily on high, in Heaven the bells are ringing, hark now happily reply the angels all are singing …’
The second choir are the Cherubim, literally meaning ‘fullness of knowledge.’ Cherubim are depicted with four wings and four different faces, a stark contrast to the familiar depictions of rosy cheeked angels with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes and white feathery wings.
Thrones make up the third choir and are charged with carrying out God’s justice. Ezekiel describes the Thrones as resembling burning wheels. Dominions and Virtues are the fourth and fifth choirs of angels: the former assure the carrying out of God’s will and are often depicted holding an orb or sceptre as a symbol of authority, while the latter are entrusted with the working of miracles on Earth.
The sixth choir of angels is the Powers, who preserve order in the world and keep it from being overthrown by demons, and the seventh choir, the Principalities, provide strength in times of hardship.
The eighth and ninth choirs are the Archangels and the Guardian Angels, the two groups with which we are most familiar. Archangels look after the larger human affairs, while the guardian angels are assigned by God to every human being at the time of his or her birth and are concerned with matters that affect the individual.
In today’s world of scientific scepticism, it is easy to dismiss the wonders and mystery of the works of angels but Mrs Anderson is of the firm belief that now, more then ever, angels are necessary in our lives; she portrays this belief through her stories.
“I once heard someone say that ‘if people were more like angels, earth would be more like heaven’,” Mrs Anderson said.
“We were taught that each human being has his or her own guardian angel,” she said.
“The thought of having a guardian angel as a best friend is very warm and comforting.”
The stories of encounters with guardian angels, similar to the story of Mrs Anderson’s son and the enigmatic disappearing tow truck driver resemble hundreds of other accounts, when a strange and unexplained but comforting presence appears out of nowhere and offers help, often saving lives in the process.
Some famous stories include famed pilot Charles Lindbergh who wrote about ‘friendly, vapour-like beings’ who guided him in his historic flight across the Atlantic in 1927. Lindbergh was running low on fuel and surrounded by the dark when he was comforted by the ‘friendly vapours’ who stayed with him until the sun began to rise. George Washington was inspired by a ‘woman in a silvery blue dress’ who visited him as he stood by his troops at Valley Forge during the American Revolutionary War of 1777-1778. The stories are endless and all share one common factor – angels.
But while it is easy to love and trust someone who helps and cares for you, there are times when there is no escaping the pain, suffering and unhappiness that plague our lives.
Where are the angels when they are needed the most?
“Sometimes my readers ask me ‘where was my angel when …?’,” Mrs Anderson said.
Her readers are no different to everyone else who wonder why there is still pain and suffering in this life despite the presence of angels.
“Angels operate on God’s timetable – not ours,” she said. “There will be times of fear and sorrow when angels do not intervene. This is God’s plan and many of us won’t understand God’s plan until we see it in eternity.”
Mrs Anderson has been successful in her career but does not allow the success of her writing to overwhelm her; she recognises that God is ever present in all our lives. “I think each of us has at least one talent that we tend to take for granted because it comes naturally,” she said. “But this is probably the talent God would most like us to use; if and when we do, he will often show us where he wants us to go as I believe he did with me.”
Her life as a writer began when she graduated from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and she is now a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors; she is also a former adjunct professor at Harper Community College in Palatine, Illinois. Today, Joan Anderson is an active member of St Edna’s Parish in Arlington Heights, and continues to write to inspire and comfort people the world over with her stories about angels.
“I love and trust them as my dearest friends,” she said. “We should all make room for angels in our lives.”