Saturday 19 November 2011

An Afternoon In An Angel Sanctuary




If you have never heard of an angel sanctuary, then you are not alone. In fact, until I was assigned to spend an afternoon at one and then write about it for my job I had never heard of an angel sanctuary either.

I made the three hour trek from my home outside of Denver to the nearest angel sanctuary that sat far back in the mountains of my state. I was full of curiosity and a little bit of nervousness as I drove to the angel sanctuary for the very simple reason that I had no clue what to expect from this experience. I am a fairly adventurous person and there are few situations that make me feel fearful, so I'm not exactly sure what sparked feelings of fear in me as I approached the sanctuary.

The angel sanctuary was nothing like I had imagined it to be. I expected it to be a fully enclosed almost church-like kind of building. As I approached I realized that the angel sanctuary was actually half indoors and half out of doors. I eventually came to prefer this to a fully enclosed angel sanctuary because it seemed to make sense to me that angels liked to roam both inside and outside.

I met a woman at the entrance of the angel sanctuary and she was responsible for showing me around her prized building and for teaching me anything I wanted to know. I enjoyed this woman immensely by the time our afternoon was over. She was full of helpful knowledge and she wasn't spooky or disconnected from reality as I expected she would be. In fact, she was one of the most down-to-earth and engaging women I've met in a while.

I liked her because she recognized that the concept of an angel sanctuary was looked at as creepy and strange by the majority of people. She assured me, however, that these preconceptions would quickly be demolished after I learned about the function and purposes of the angel sanctuary.

Basically I learned that an angel sanctuary is a place where people can come and just relax away from the busyness of the real world. I learned that it has very little to do with angels and very much to do with people having a place to connect with God in the midst of the mountains. I was thankful for my visit to the angel sanctuary because I learned something new and I made a new friend.


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