Shirley, Goodness and Mercy(5)

“Me, too,” Mercy was quick to add. “Where else in the universe would anyone assume God is dead and Elvis is alive?”

Gabriel successfully hid a smile. “Even with the best of intentions, you three have never been able to keep your wings to yourselves.”

“True.” Shirley nodded in agreement. “But remember we’re angels, not saints.”

“All the more reason to make you stay in heaven where you belong,” Gabriel argued.

The objections came fast and furious.

“But you need us this year!”

“More than ever, Gabriel. You’ve got far more work than you can handle!”

“You’re overburdened!”

True enough. As always, Christmas was his busiest time of year, and Gabriel’s desk was flooded with thousands upon thousands of prayer requests. No denying it, human beings were the most difficult of God’s subjects. Obtuse, demanding and contrary. Many of them flung prayer requests at heaven without once considering that humans played a role in solving their own problems. The hard part was getting them to recognize that they had lessons to learn before their prayer requests could be granted. God-directed solutions often came from within themselves. Gabriel’s task, with the help of his other prayer ambassadors, was to show these proud stubborn creatures the way.

“Do you have any requests from children?” Shirley asked. As a former guardian angel, she enjoyed working with youngsters the most.

“Anyone in need of a little Mercy?” Mercy prodded.

“Any good faithful souls who could use a bit of angelic guidance?” Goodness asked.

“Here,” Gabriel said abruptly as he shoved Greg Bennett’s prayer request at them.

Gabriel didn’t know what had possessed him. Frustration, perhaps. Then again, it could have been something far more powerful. It could have been the very hand of God. “This request will require all three of you. Read it over, do your homework and get back to me. You might decide that singing with the heavenly host doesn’t sound so bad, after all.”

He grinned sheepishly as they fluttered away, eager to discover everything they could about this sad human and the sorry mess he’d made of his life.

In truth Gabriel half expected they’d choose to return to the heavenly choir; if they did he wouldn’t blame them. Greg Bennett’s case would be a challenge for the most experienced prayer ambassadors—let alone these three. Once Shirley, Goodness and Mercy had the opportunity to read his file, they were bound to see that.


The trio gathered around the file detailing the life of Greg Bennett. Shirley noted that their excited chatter had quickly died down as they read. The oldest and most mature, she could see through Gabriel’s ploy. The archangel expected them to give up before they started. To tell him how right he was and scurry back to choir practice. In light of what she’d learned about Greg Bennett, perhaps that would be for the best.

“Oh, my,” Goodness whispered. “He abandoned his college sweetheart when she was pregnant.”

“Deserted his best friend in his hour of need.”

“Look what he did to his own mother!”

“To his mother?”

Shirley nodded. “Greg Bennett is a—”

“Scumbag,” Mercy supplied.

“He’s arrogant.”

“Selfish.”

“And conceited.”

“It’s going to take a whole bunch of miracles to whip this poor boy into shape.”

Shirley had no argument there. “I’m afraid Greg Bennett is more than any of us could handle,” she said sadly.

Goodness and Mercy glanced at each other. “She’s joking, isn’t she?”

“No, I’m not,” Shirley said on a disparaging note. “You read for yourself what kind of man he is. Frankly, I feel someone else, someone who’s got more experience with humans and their frailties, would be better equipped to deal with the likes of Mr. Bennett.”

“Oh, fiddlesticks!” Goodness cried.

“We can do it,” Mercy contended with considerably more confidence than the success of her earlier exploits might have warranted.

“We all know Gabriel did this on purpose,” Goodness said. Apparently she hadn’t been fooled, either. “He assumed that once we see what a mess Greg’s made of his life, we’ll figure it’s hopeless and slink back to the choir. Well, I, for one, have no intention of spending another Christmas singing my lungs out over the fields of Bethlehem. To be so close to earth and yet so far…”

Mercy giggled but appeared to be in full agreement. “Come on, Shirley, this is our one and only chance to return to earth. Okay, so you’re right. Greg Bennett isn’t exactly a believer in God’s love, but God does love him. Heaven knows he needs help.”