To Cicero, the Roman orator and statesman of the first century B.C., has been attributed the saying “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”  The expression is, like many of its ilk, self-evident.  Without life, there can be no hope.

Sometimes, however, it is difficult to perceive hope within life.  The absence of hope within life is despair, an emotion that has driven many into insanity, senseless acts of violence, and suicide.  It is easy for an individual to write off a bad day; we all have them.  But, how easily can one dispense with a bad week, a bad month, a bad year, or a bad decade?

When one is in a state of despair, it seems as if the forces of nature, the stars, albeit the entire universe is aligned against him.  All roads are jammed, all news is negative, and all attempts to communicate one’s plight fall on deaf ears.  The people with whom this unfortunate individual is closest not only do not hear his message, they continue to place demands upon his already spent resources.

To paraphrase Horatio Nelson, British admiral and naval hero, “Desperate times require desperate measures.”  But, acting out of desperation rarely produces a desired result.  Desperation clouds one’s abilities to think rationally.  Acting irrationally is usually unproductive, like building a house on a foundation of sand.

What then is the remedy for one in the throes of despair?  Faith and hope in a beneficent, just, and merciful Diving Being controlling a seemingly chaotic universe.  Alexander Pope, the English poet, expressed the sentiment “Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest.”

In short, if you find yourself despairing your place in this world, expect a miracle.  Its very expectation exponentially increases the possibility of its occurrence.  And, faith born of expectation engenders the hope that will sustain you in even the “darkest of hours.” 

It seems that the age of miracles never ends.  Every day we hear the word “miracle” used to explain otherwise unexplainable circumstances.  Recently, we had a “Miracle on the Hudson River.”  Was it a miracle or was it skilled flying techniques that saved the lives of the passengers and flight crew aboard U S Airways Flight 1549?  While many of the passengers were convinced that the hand of God had touched them, some others believed that things worked out in the passengers’ favor as they were “just lucky.”  Was it luck or was it something else?  Even the Catholic Church investigates every facet of an event before declaring it a miracle.

Along with miracles come guardian angels who help perform these wonders.  According to tradition, every human being has a guardian angel protecting him from harm.  Many people have had life-threatening experiences and came away unscathed.  Was it luck, or do angels really exist?

I, for one, believe in miracles.  In 1945, while I was training to be an infantry replacement, the Battle of the Bulge was raging in Europe.  My mother prayed fervently for my safety, and before I shipped off to Europe, the war in Germany ended.  In August of 1945, I was in the Pacific Ocean on a troop ship heading for the Invasion of Japan when the Captain of the ship announced the surrender of the Japanese to the Allied Forces.  Did my mother’s prayers to Divine beings save me twice, or was it luck?

As a result of things uttered by officers and troops during World War II battles, many sayings were incorporated into the American vernacular, including “Loose lips sink ships,” “Was this trip necessary?” and, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”  However, many other things were said during this bloody, four-year conflict, including countless Hail Mary’s and other prayers to Jesus, God, and saints.

So, do I believe in “Angels on our shoulders?”  You bet I do.  They kept me from becoming a casualty of war, permitting me – at the age of 82 – to write this article today.