I had about five minutes before I fell asleep, if I was lucky. I said my nightly prayers, then said good night to my guardian angel. If you don’t mind, I added, I need help with two things.
I first asked for prayers for a specific situation that I thought was pretty important, and then I moved on to the second thing. This is silly, but I’m worried about that one fish, and I was wondering if you could figure out what I could do to help it, or maybe just help it yourself.
The fishtank still has six fish, but now instead of one-two-three-four-five-six, it was just one-two-three-four-five. The sixth had taken to hiding all day under some of the plants in the back.
I’d been watching the situation for a while. The fish was still eating, still moving around purposefully, still bright although a bit duller than the others. From the front of the tank you couldn’t see it, but if you crouched and peeked from the side, the fish would be there, just visible in a dark alcove. I’d gotten the water checked at the fish store and the nitrate level was well under distress levels. Everything was okay, but the fish kept hiding, and I was afraid that meant it would die.
I added, I’m sorry to bother you with something so ridiculous.
And I thought I felt a reply: Why wouldn’t that fish matter to me?
Well, because angels are so big, so powerful and important. That’s been one of the standard choruses whenever I talk to them: God assigned this Prince of Heaven to protect me, and we go together to the grocery store. Haha whee! Generic Cheerios are on sale this week! And look, now we get to gas up the car!
But that was definitely a reply, a sense of amusement and delight in how I delighted in something God had made even though that something happened to be tiny; that it wasn’t beneath an angel’s notice just because it was small and silly and you could get another one for four dollars.
I fell asleep right after that.
The fish is out now and schooling with the others. It’s not dull anymore. So I guess the angel figured it out, maybe gave the fishie a little pep-talk or helped it with the common fish cold or whatever was wrong. And now when I sit beside the tank, I’ll see six little faces poke out from behind the decorative castle, and when I watch them play, I guess there’s an angel watching them play too.
