A Heavenly Hero in a Black Chariot

Caught between a pair of angry dogs, she benefited from divine intervention.

By Margaret David, Tujunga, California

As appeared in

I wasn’t as spry as I used to be, but I liked to walk, rather than drive, around my small town. Shopping, the doctor’s office, the bank were all nearby, clustered around a busy five-way intersection that connected to the thruway.

Seeing the traffic as I strolled back home, I was glad to be on foot.

Then I heard a growl. A dog—not looking quite right—stalked toward me. I backed up. Grrrrr! A snarl from behind. I nearly jumped out of my skin. At my heels was a second dog, as angry as the first. Oh, no, I’ve stepped in the middle of something....

We have strict leash laws in California, but no owner was in sight—no one except the people driving by. I knew I wouldn’t get far trying to run. “Nice doggie...” I whispered.

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a black car exiting the thruway. Shiny like it had just come from the dealer’s lot. It suddenly stopped on the opposite side of the street. A tall, slender man stepped out and calmly crossed the street toward me, dodging the slowing cars without a second glance.

“Go home!” he commanded the dogs. “Go home!”

The dogs turned tail and ran. The man headed back to his car.

I shouted after him, but he didn’t seem to hear over the traffic noise. He got in his car, started it and drove out of sight.

A black car? I wondered. Shouldn’t it have been angel white?

Your Comments (4)

CGH on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 at 5:01 am

Why is black car such a surprise? Who decided what colour is God?
For me, every thing, every bad person, every evil person, every animal, ghosts, bad situations are made by God, just like he makes good experiences, rivers and mountains, good people and angels.

Evil has a purpose- to drive us towards God. We cannot fear evil or black, we just have to take its blow, because it is also by God.

As a kid, I was afraid of ghosts and hallucinated their appearance. One day read this story in which a priest is not afraid of ghosts, he just welcomes them to his house and prays for their peace, just as he would do for any other human. The ghost calmed down and asked his secret that why he is not fearful? The priest simply replied- like everything else in my life, you are also creation of God, then what do I have to fear? You are as beautiful for me as anything else, because I trust God.

Black ? how does it matter my friend? IT is also one of the color. Frankly, all colors are required to complete the picture, isn't it?

Phyllis Shamoon on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 2:38 am

The cover of most Bibles is black.

gailpate on Friday, May 25, 2012 at 6:09 pm

I can understand an angel in a black car. My Bible tells me that we may entertain angels without knowing. Who knows how many angels in human form we pass in a year, month or even a day. Gives me great pleasure to think that God loves us enough to send his Holy Angels to help us when we feel scared and alone. I had a dog that I named Angel. We rescued her from an animal shelter when she was a puppy. I was holding her when a stranger passing by said, "She is an Angel" I immediately told my husband that is going to be her name. She had to be put to sleep last year because of kidney failure. I still greive and miss her with such longing that my heart aches. However, I trully believe that she is in Heaven and will meet me when my time on earth is over. Who is to say that I was not entertaining an Angel in the form of a dog for 10 years???

Francene Mattucci on Friday, May 25, 2012 at 4:59 pm

Wow, that is an amazing story. I have been a professional dog walker for almost 20 years and I thank God that I have never been in that position. Luckily, I have only had one dog at a time approach in a threatening fashion (about a dozen times in 18 years) and I have never been harmed. I have always believed that my stern voice and lack of fear saved the day; however, I have often told people that probably there was a huge angel directly behind me telling that dog to walk away. One never knows does one? The man in the car could have been a very alert dog trainer or pet care professional like myself who simply wanted to be a good samaritan and avert disaster. This does seem a bit unlikely with a great many people avoiding getting involved in nasty situations such as this one. I also truly cannot understand an angel in a black car.