Friends in High Places

The other evening, during my home visit, my sister and I went swimming at a lake.

It was a wonderful time, just being in the water, visiting, and refreshing my back and breaststroke skills (or lack-thereof), so underutilized the last couple of decades. 

After we had had enough for the evening (not wishing to satiate our appetite for swimming all in one evening), we headed toward the shore, already planning for another swim in the days to come. 

My sister decided to do one final sprint, breaking into a back stroke.  For ocular reasons, she had sunglasses on (we were having more fun than doing serious swimming).  As she proceeded, she felt the sunglasses begin to slip down on her head; she didn’t think they would come off, however.

Unfortunately, though, they did, falling into the water. 

The lake was quite shallow at this part, and both of us proceeded to search for this piece of eye gear. 

I even went underwater, but the green subaquatic environment wasn’t exactly conducive to spotting the missing item. 

Before too long, we started praying to St. Anthony.  My sister has long had a strong devotion and special connection with him. 

Soon, she had found her sunglasses in the lake.  

Half in joking, half seriously, I said to her, “It pays to have friends in high places.”

This little episode was a sweet reminder of how close the saints are to us every day. Whether it’s something big or small, we know we’re not alone—that our heavenly friends are just a prayer away, ready to help us see clearly, even when we’ve lost our way (or sunglasses!) in murky waters.