It was the yearly picnic from our church. We had decided to go to a small beach a little away from our town. The bus was overflowing with food, fun and laughter as we drove away from the church. I smiled and looked at my pretty wife sitting next to me and said, “Well, we’ll need an army of angels to take care of this bunch of kids”

She laughed as she said,

You better ask for the best, maybe the Archangel Michael. This bunch would be more than a handful for the average angel

On the beach, we watched as the kids ran out, some to the water and some to the activity area. Some of our kids were shooting hoops at a small court on the beach. I saw a man standing and watching the children playing. He looked very fit and bronzed with a strong chiseled face and an aura of power and authority. As he walked, he looked like he floated over the ground. He looked like a tough man to tangle with. I assumed he must be a soldier or officer from the nearby army base. Finding myself beside him, I fell to talking with him. He told me he was a protector and protected people for a living. Well, I thought, this was the first time I’ve heard a soldier describe himself this way.

He said nostalgically that he had not played basketball though he had seen it played all over the globe. A globetrotter, I thought; must have been on some of those UN Peacekeeping holidays, I thought cynically. He said he’d never had time for games and that he’d been on duty for what seemed like many millenniums.

I smiled as I asked him what he did with his friend; he must have friends! He said his friend Gabriel and he spent their time flying around the world. He smiled calmly as my wife giggled and someone sniggered behind us. He was quickly building up air miles talking to us, we thought.

I asked him if he wanted to shoot a few hoops with the kids. He was obviously a novice, but he did look quite good and I assumed it must be because of his army training and his ability to focus. One of thekids asked him if he wanted to go for the basket. The man looked a bit confused at that until one of the guys showed him a lay-up. His eyes lit up and after seeing a few dunks, he decided to try his luck. After his shot, there was a stunned silence on the court. We had never seen someone stay that long up in the air. He seemed to float up in the air forever and ever. With time in the air like that, he could be the next Michael Jordon, I thought. There was an awkward silence on the court, we had seen the impossible.

The stunned silence was broken by the sound of panicked voices behind me and I turned to look at the sea. The horizon was broken by a huge wall of racing water. I looked and I realized our children wouldn’t make it to safety in time. I felt like I was in a time warp and the beach seemed to spin in front of me. I thought of each kid running now for his life including my son as I dropped to my knees and poured my heart into a prayer. Suddenly the beach was full of running men helping the kids. They looked tough, capable and seemed to float over the ground. They seemed superhuman in the speed at which they moved.

I looked at the Stranger calmly standing and watching. He looked at me and smiled, “I’m Mike and those are my men. We protect people for a living”

Did you by any chance fight a dragon I asked. He smiled his angelic smile as he and his men seemed to shimmer and seemed to fade away into nothing.

For he shall give his Angels charge over thee, to protect thee in all thy ways. – Psalm 91:11.