“You wouldn’t believe what once or
twice I have seen. I’ll just
tell you this:
only if there are angels in your head will you
ever, possibly, see one.”
Poet Mary Oliver wrote those words and her observation has always reminded me how there are two very different emotional mindsets around the question of faith.
The first is, I have to see it to believe it.
The second, if I believe it I will see it.
Or as Oliver puts it, if you want to see an angel you have to invite them first into your imagination, thoughts, emotions.
Along with being considered one of the founders of modern psychology, William James put the same idea famously into this maxim: “Be not be afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”
How would you feel today if you chose to believe that you will will see the sacred and holy around you? What might change in your life if you invited an angel into your head? Might you see another one?
On Emotions 