Playing with God and the Angels

I have a retired pastor friend, John Thomas, back in Pennsylvania that has a wonderful little granddaughter named Svana. This little child is truly a miracle. Here she is last Christmas Day kissing her little brother Zak, who quickly out-grew her. Svana was born with multiple serious physical abnormalities and little hope of surviving more than a few hours or days. Over and again during the past five years she has had to be rushed to the hospital. She has spent more time in hospitals than most of us adults and has been operated on many times. She has lived most of her young life attached to tubes and devices and still has to be fed supplemental nourishment through a tube and breathes partially through a trach ventilator device inserted in her neck... which they are praying may soon be removed. 

Yet in spite of all this, Svana is one of the happiest, sweetest and most delightful children I have ever known. Yes, I "know" her... because her grandpa "Papa John" sends an update on her set-backs and miraculous advances every few days or weeks, complete with pictures. And along with other friends, many times we have held her up in prayer when she was hanging between life and death. This morning I received this message from "Papa John": 

We pray with Svana and Zak every night at bedtime.  After prayer, we ask each one what she/he is thankful for.  Last night Svana said "I'm thankful for playing with God and His angels every day." --As a theologian, I'm not quite sure of what she meant by that.  But as a grandparent, I believe I do.

I answered John with the following note:

You and Carolyn and Rachel have been wonderfully blessed with a very special little girl.  We all know that she is still here on this big round ball because she has something to teach us.  And I think God just now used her little voice to teach us all something.  “Svana plays every day with God and His angels.”  Now that is deep! 

I have been widowed now for 3½ years and I can understand that.  I play with God and His angels a lot.  

These days computers can help with almost everything… window-shopping, buying, calculating, bookkeeping, editing, storing and printing photos, studying the Scriptures, making video calls to foreign lands, communicating with the entire globe via email and much more.  So I tend to spend a lot of time with my computer.  

Often I am sitting at my computer and get that feeling that it is time for a break.  I think I hear Jesus calling me to have some fun with Him.  So I go to the piano or my Hawaiian steel guitar which are in the next room just waiting for me… and I “play with God and His angels!”  My singing voice sometimes fades into a squeaky whisper… maybe from preaching in the open air… or perhaps just from old age… but the angels join me… and the warm tears flow… and the praises rise to the throne of God!  And somehow God joins in the fun and I know I am not alone. This can go on for an hour or more.  Sometimes I sing in Spanish, sometimes in English and other times with words that only He and His angels can understand. And sometimes I, too, know exactly their secret meaning.  

Oh! I think I hear His voice calling me now!

“Ciao, hermano!”  See you later!

Ralph