Hugh Hildesby, rector of the Church of Heavenly Rest says one of his parishioners is an angel. His name is Phil, and he is a street person--what used to be called a bum. Phil refuses to stay in a shelter. He sleeps in doorways and maintains a careful routine covering his neighborhood in daytime, or when the weather is cold, he sits in the church. He is filthy. He is dressed in rags. He never washes. He smells. He talks to himself, muttering as he plods along.

One night of Christmas week a few years ago, the church held a Christmas party after the service, and the parishioners were in back with cookies and coffee, when out of the church rose a magnificent voice, singing, "O Holy Night." It was a trained professional voice, radically beautiful, and everyone listened, awestruck, then rushed into the church to see who was there. "It was Phil and God," Hugh Hildesby said.

The Bible says that sometimes we entertain angels unawares. Maybe Phil was one of those angels. At Christmas time we are reminded to treat every human being with dignity and love. Who knows who might be an angel in disguise?

Ron Newhouse

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