A Strange Angel

A Crowded Subway Ride

On a late summer Sunday afternoon, I found myself squeezed into a packed subway car bound for Manhattan from Flushing, Queens. My husband sat to my left and both of us balanced small suitcases between our knees. To his left was a much younger Hispanic man in a hot pink shirt, with the strong scent of alcohol revealing that he had been reveling in the day’s festivities. As his bleached blond head hung down, swaying with the movement of the train, I noticed intricate razor-cut patterns visible on the back of his scalp.

With every stop, people of diverse backgrounds poured into the car in a breathtaking display of cultures, languages, and expressions. I had spent years in large cities, but had clearly grown accustomed to the quiet rhythms of rural life because the sheer density of humanity around me felt unfamiliar, stirring a slight awkwardness and discomfort.

A Practice of Oneness

Rather than retreating into that discomfort, I chose to shift my awareness. Closing my eyes, I began to run the Infinity Wave with the entire subway car, sending love and compassion in a continuous, flowing motion. As I envisioned the boundaries between us dissolving, I felt the tension within me soften. For a few moments, we were not strangers packed into a steel container hurtling beneath the city—we were One.

The experience was deeply satisfying, but my meditation was abruptly interrupted as we arrived at our transfer point. My husband stepped off first, and I followed, lifting my suitcase over the platform gap. As I moved with the crowd, I suddenly felt a firm grasp covering my hand.

An Unexpected Gesture

Instinctively, I recoiled, pulling my suitcase toward me - a reflex of self-protection in a busy city. But as I turned, I saw it was the young man in the pink shirt, smiling warmly. He gestured toward my bag, offering to carry it down the stairs to my next train.

His unexpected kindness gave me pause. Should I trust this inebriated stranger? Then, for the first time, I met his eyes, which were golden and shimmering, like the semi-precious stone Tiger’s Eye. I had never seen eyes like his.

His English was limited, but he managed to indicate the direction of my next train. When I asked where he was heading, he pointed in the opposite direction. Yet, instead of taking his own path, he insisted on helping me.

In the New York subway system, if you need to go uptown, you take one set of stairs. If you need to go downtown, you take another. This young man had no reason to follow me, yet he did, carrying my bag to the right platform, even though it meant taking extra stairs he did not need to climb.

A Kiss from an Angel

When we reached the platform, I thanked him profusely. He waved off any offer of compensation. Then, in one swift movement, he cupped my face in his hands, pulled me toward him, and placed a kiss on my forehead.

I stood in stunned silence as he turned and walked back up the stairs. My mind reeled. This was not typical behavior for a fast-paced city like New York. In all my years of living there, I had never experienced anything like it.

And yet… that kiss felt strangely familiar.

A God Wink?

As my train arrived, I scanned the opposite platform, expecting to see the flash of his pink shirt, but he was nowhere to be found.

In that moment, a realization dawned on me: Was this the Universe’s way of acknowledging my choice to choose a state of Oneness in the subway car? Could it be that this golden-eyed stranger was an angel in disguise, appearing to remind me that when we choose Love and Unity, the Universe takes notice?

The logical mind might dismiss it, but I have chosen to leave the door wide open for the possibility that miracles, however small or strange, are always unfolding around us.

Love, Compassion, and Gratitude

If there was a message in this encounter, I believe it was for all of us who choose to see past our separations and embrace our interconnectedness. Our thoughts and actions, no matter how subtle, ripple out into the world, shaping the energy around us.

So the next time you extend kindness, or choose to see Oneness rather than division, take a moment to wonder: Could an angel be watching? Could a simple, unexpected act be the Universe’s way of winking back at you?

Because love, compassion, and gratitude matter.

And who knows? An angel might be just around the corner.