Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
Jun 5, 2002
Angel author Joan Wester Anderson inspires audience to be angels to others
Over 500 attend Seeds of Hope benefit luncheon and raise $90,000 for needy students
By Roxanne King
God has a plan for you, but you won't see it clearly until later. While fulfilling that plan, don't be surprised if you meet an angel on the way. And try to be an angel for others.
That was the message best-selling angel author Joan Wester Anderson shared with some 530 people who attended the annual Seeds of Hope luncheon "Hope Springs Eternal" May 29 at the Hyatt Regency Denver.
The event benefits the Seeds of Hope Charitable Trust, which provides Catholic education to needy students via tuition assistance, and operating and program grants to inner-city Catholic schools.
An estimated $90,000 was raised by the event via ticket sales, organizers said, and from the sale of books by Anderson and one by local Catholic students, "Kids Explore America's Catholic Heritage." Anderson and the student authors donated all the book sale proceeds to Seeds of Hope.
The inspiring event included a sumptuous lunch and uplifting music provided by the Annunciation School bell choir led by Fran Cooper, and the Assumption School vocal choir led by Father Patrick Dolan and Mary Beth Church under the direction of Barbara Garrett. Nicki Erdle accompanied the choir on piano.
A stirring video, "Hope Springs Eternal," narrated by Catholic students and produced by The Good News Productions explained how Seeds of Hope is making a difference in the lives of low-income students desiring a Catholic education. During the 2001-2002 school year, the trust granted more than $1 million to 32 of the 39 Catholic schools in the diocese, according to the video.
The assistance is deeply appreciated by the schools, Seeds of Hope CEO Terry Polakovic said in the video. With a chuckle she noted, "One child wrote to the (school's) donor and said they really, really appreciated the gift and told them not to work too hard."
Bishop José Gomez, S.T.D., delivered the invocation. Anne Trujillo and John Ferrugia of KMGH Channel 7 served as mistress and master of ceremonies. Anderson drew both laughter and tears with her self-deprecating humor and touching stories of angelic encounters and of people being angels to one another by listening to God's voice and doing good.
Her path as a writer who has achieved phenomenal success with a string of books about angels was not planned by her, but by God, she said. But she didn't realize that's what she was called to do until later.
"I started writing, not because of major dreams, but to make money," she said, explaining that she had to help her husband support their brood of five children.
She still thinks of herself as "a Midwestern housewife," she said. Her first angel book, the New York Times best-selling "Where Angels Walk" followed on the heels of several other books that had not sold well. Book signings for those texts were lonely affairs she likened to that of "the Maytag repairman."
She thought "Where Angels Walk," written in thanksgiving to God for saving her son's life, would be her last book. Instead it led to five more and a speaking ministry.
God had prepared her to be successful with the angel book through the experiences she had with the failed books, she said.
"I wasn't ready then," Anderson said. "I also had to change my spiritual life so I could talk to people who are wounded or something. ... I said, `OK, God, you take it over, you do it.' And he did. Once you open the door, it's a little scary because you're giving up some of your control, but it's wonderful what he can do."
The first story in "Where Angels Walk" relates the experience of her then 21-year-old son Tim and a friend who were saved from certain death Christmas Eve 1983 by a mysterious tow-truck driver. Despite weather warnings, the two young men were attempting to drive from Connecticut to Anderson's Illinois home on a snowy night during a record-breaking cold spell. Tim's car stalled on a rural road in the middle of an Indiana cornfield. The temperature was 32 degrees below Fahrenheit. A bitter wind rocked the car and chilled the two stranded men. No one was in sight for miles. Anderson said her son told her, "I knew we were going to die." They began to pray. Out of nowhere a tow truck appeared. "The driver asked, `Need a tow?'" Anderson said. Drawing laughter she added, "We thought later, what a dim angel. Why else would you be (sitting) in a cornfield?" The men didn't realize they were in the midst of a miracle until they went to pay the driver who had deposited them safely outside Tim's friend's home. There was no driver, no truck and no tracks. Anderson's attempts to locate the driver were unsuccessful. Officials told her no tow trucks were out that night; they were locked up due to a weather-related curfew. "Why would an angel come to my child and not to someone else's?" Anderson said she's been asked. "I don't know why. Why does God make 5 million flowers when we could get along with one or two for color in the backyard? Our God is a God of abundance, so he gives us everything we need — including beings from another world who can cross that shallow, slim dividing line between heaven and earth." Since then, Anderson has learned a lot about angels, she said. For instance, they appear as both regular people and as winged heavenly spirits. And sometimes we're the angels, Anderson said, but we need to pay attention to God's "nudges." One young woman, a caller to a radio talk show Anderson was appearing on, shared her story of walking home one dreary night and feeling "nudged" to buy flowers from a street vendor. The vendor urged her to buy a second bouquet at half price, his last one. She couldn't afford it, didn't want to, but felt another nudge, so she did. Passing by a nursing home, she was nudged by a voice that said, "Go in." Again, she didn't want to, but did. "God wouldn't have loved her any less if she hadn't," Anderson said. "That's free will. But she went." Seeing one lonely man in a wheelchair, she walked up to him, and said, "Here, these are from God. He wants you to know that he loves you." Then she fled, puzzled by her own actions but satisfied the required deed had been done. Months later, during a block party, she again saw the man and approached to apologize if she had startled him. But before she could he revealed a startling secret; he had been planning to commit suicide that day unless God sent a sign that he shouldn't. She was the life-saving sign. "Very few of us get to see the final bloom" of our good deeds, Anderson said, adding that God has tasks for each of us to do for the good of others related to the skills and talents we have. The flower girl's was being spiritually intuitive, she added. "If you don't do your part, God has to find someone else to do it," she said. Learning God's plan requires listening to his voice, which can happen only if we spend time with him, Anderson said. Following God's plan leads to genuine happiness and fulfillment, she added. "I learned a long time ago that you can't go off God's path — there's no happiness there," she said. Sharing one's skills and talents and doing what's right and good "will never come back to us empty," Anderson said, later adding, "Anytime you're giving of your own heart you will be richly blessed and the angels will dance." Attendees said the event was edifying. "I loved her talk, you could tell it was coming from her heart," said Mila Glodava of St. Thomas More Parish, adding that the event itself was "a wonderful way to help inner-city children." Glodava especially liked Anderson's urging the audience to be angels in everyday life, she said. "Her insight is incredible — along with her great sense of humor," said Mary Huwa of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Arvada. "When she remarked that now as she looks back on her life she can see how God has prepared the way for her, I could relate to that." Contact Seeds of Hope at 303-715-3112. Visit Anderson's Web site at joanwanderson.com.
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