Stupid Angel
In Mineola, Long Island, a number of years ago, a little boy was angry with his parents. He entertained the idea that his parents lie to him. In his room, he found one of those plastic cleaner bags. The boy decided to test his theory. He remembered being told that the bags could be dangerous, but he wanted to see if it were true. So, he took the bag and placed it above his head. Then he slowly lowered it, until it covered his face. “Ha”, he laughed, “there is no danger in a plastic bag, as long as you are awake.” He grabbed the bag and repeatedly and rapidly pulled it over his face and took it off over his head again, as he laughed.
Just as he was concluding, “My parents lie to me,” the bag suddenly grabbed his head, and he couldn't pull it off. “Oh,” he thought, “That is what they meant.” Immediately and methodically, he tried to remove the bag by pulling at first, then by scratching, and then by poking at his ears, nose, eyes and mouth. Nor could he roll the bag off his face where it clung to his neck. He could exhale, but not inhale. His chest started to heave, and being unable to remove the bag, he decided to lie down on the floor to die.
But he didn't die just yet. Instead, he imagined his mother coming into his room and seeing him dead on the floor. In his imagination, she screamed and cried, and she yelled at him for disobeying her. He became very upset. He wanted to tell her that he didn't mean to be bad and that he was sorry. But he had imagined that he was dead, so he couldn't talk to her. This dream was too upsetting for him to continue to experience. He stood up and looked upward. Then he repeatedly yelled to Gd in a silent voice, “Gd save me. Gd help me.” And then he added to those words, “I promise I will not be bad anymore.”
In response, he heard another silent voice, “What do you want?”
While you might have thought that the boy would have been happy to get a response to his pleas, rather he was angry! He thought, “What type of an Angel did Gd send me? It doesn't even know what I want!” He started to walk away, when he realized that was not an option with the bag stuck over his head. He realized that he'd have to work with what Gd gave him. So he said, “I want to breathe,” and, not trusting that the Angel would know what he was talking about, he added, “I want air to go into me.”
And he heard, “Show me.”
Well that response only reinforced what he anticipated, that the Angel was ignorant of the workings of humans. He lost faith that the Angel even knew that humans breathe, and immediately considered a more practical solution. If he could find his mother, surely she could remove the bag. But he didn't know where in the house she was, if she were indeed in the house at all. If he went into the wrong room, he could die there. His chest was heaving, and he looked down where he thought he'd soon fall in death, but he didn't fall. So, he turned his attention back to the Angel, and, answering its command, he raised his left hand and weakly pointed to his mouth.
And he heard, “Is that all you want? You just want air to go into your mouth?”
That response once again reinforced his fear that the Angel was lacking a good understanding of human breathing, and once again, he listened for his mother, while trying to think where she could be. But if before he did not have enough time to run room to room to seek his mother, certainly now he had even less time. So, he turned back to the Angel, and said, “No, I want to breathe. I want air to go into my mouth, my throat, my lungs. I want to breathe.”
And the Angel said, “Show me.”
Now he was desperate. The Angel was not helping, he couldn't hear his mother, and he was certain he didn't have enough air to go searching. He looked down to where he thought he'd fall in death. But he didn't fall down, even though his chest was heaving very strongly and uncontrollably. So, he turned to Gd and said, “I am going to do and listen to whatever the Angel says, and if I die, I die. But if I die, my death is Your fault, not mine, because You sent a stupid Angel to save me.”
A total calm came over the boy, for he had placed his fate in the Hands of Gd. The boy proceeded to show the Angel, now with a determination even to place his finger into his lung. The bag tore.
In Mineola, Long Island, a number of years ago, a little boy was angry with his parents. He entertained the idea that his parents lie to him. In his room, he found one of those plastic cleaner bags. The boy decided to test his theory. He remembered being told that the bags could be dangerous, but he wanted to see if it were true. So, he took the bag and placed it above his head. Then he slowly lowered it, until it covered his face. “Ha”, he laughed, “there is no danger in a plastic bag, as long as you are awake.” He grabbed the bag and repeatedly and rapidly pulled it over his face and took it off over his head again, as he laughed.
Just as he was concluding, “My parents lie to me,” the bag suddenly grabbed his head, and he couldn't pull it off. “Oh,” he thought, “That is what they meant.” Immediately and methodically, he tried to remove the bag by pulling at first, then by scratching, and then by poking at his ears, nose, eyes and mouth. Nor could he roll the bag off his face where it clung to his neck. He could exhale, but not inhale. His chest started to heave, and being unable to remove the bag, he decided to lie down on the floor to die.
But he didn't die just yet. Instead, he imagined his mother coming into his room and seeing him dead on the floor. In his imagination, she screamed and cried, and she yelled at him for disobeying her. He became very upset. He wanted to tell her that he didn't mean to be bad and that he was sorry. But he had imagined that he was dead, so he couldn't talk to her. This dream was too upsetting for him to continue to experience. He stood up and looked upward. Then he repeatedly yelled to Gd in a silent voice, “Gd save me. Gd help me.” And then he added to those words, “I promise I will not be bad anymore.”
In response, he heard another silent voice, “What do you want?”
While you might have thought that the boy would have been happy to get a response to his pleas, rather he was angry! He thought, “What type of an Angel did Gd send me? It doesn't even know what I want!” He started to walk away, when he realized that was not an option with the bag stuck over his head. He realized that he'd have to work with what Gd gave him. So he said, “I want to breathe,” and, not trusting that the Angel would know what he was talking about, he added, “I want air to go into me.”
And he heard, “Show me.”
Well that response only reinforced what he anticipated, that the Angel was ignorant of the workings of humans. He lost faith that the Angel even knew that humans breathe, and immediately considered a more practical solution. If he could find his mother, surely she could remove the bag. But he didn't know where in the house she was, if she were indeed in the house at all. If he went into the wrong room, he could die there. His chest was heaving, and he looked down where he thought he'd soon fall in death, but he didn't fall. So, he turned his attention back to the Angel, and, answering its command, he raised his left hand and weakly pointed to his mouth.
And he heard, “Is that all you want? You just want air to go into your mouth?”
That response once again reinforced his fear that the Angel was lacking a good understanding of human breathing, and once again, he listened for his mother, while trying to think where she could be. But if before he did not have enough time to run room to room to seek his mother, certainly now he had even less time. So, he turned back to the Angel, and said, “No, I want to breathe. I want air to go into my mouth, my throat, my lungs. I want to breathe.”
And the Angel said, “Show me.”
Now he was desperate. The Angel was not helping, he couldn't hear his mother, and he was certain he didn't have enough air to go searching. He looked down to where he thought he'd fall in death. But he didn't fall down, even though his chest was heaving very strongly and uncontrollably. So, he turned to Gd and said, “I am going to do and listen to whatever the Angel says, and if I die, I die. But if I die, my death is Your fault, not mine, because You sent a stupid Angel to save me.”
A total calm came over the boy, for he had placed his fate in the Hands of Gd. The boy proceeded to show the Angel, now with a determination even to place his finger into his lung. The bag tore.