Do You Believe in Angels?

Before you go on, an article in the May 8 & May 22, 2021 issue of Science News ran with a cover "Awash in Deception: How science can help us avoid being duped by misinformation." In the lead article titled: "The Battle Against Fake News," Alexandra Witze presents five suggestions on how to debunk bad information. They come from the News Literacy Project (see the above link).

How to Debunk:

1. Arm yourself with media literacy skills, at sites such as the News Literacy Project (newslit.org), to better understand how to spot hoax videos and stories.

2. Don't stigmatize people for holding inaccurate beliefs. Show empathy and respect, or you're more likely to alienate your audience than successfully share accurate information.

3. Translate complicated but true ideas into simple messages that are easy to grasp. Videos, graphics and other visual aids can help.

4. When possible, once you provide a factual alternative to the misinformation, explain the underlying fallacies (such as cherry- picking information, a common tactic of climate change deniers.

5. Mobilize when you see misinformation being shared on social media as soon as possible. If you see something, say something.

"Misinformation is any information that is incorrect, whether due to error or fake news.

"Disinformation is deliberately intended to deceive."

"Propaganda is disinformation with a political agenda."

Sander van der Linden
Social Psychologist
University of Cambridge

Source: Science News/May 8, 2021 & May 22, 2021

Update: September 22, 2023: This is more important now than ever. Be vigilant and speak in your own way. Love Wins.

In the spirit of how to debunk misinformation and disinformation, I encourage you to examine The Financial Services Forum, The American Accountability Foundation, The Epoch Times, Fox News, and One America Network(OAN), among others, using the media literacy skills taught by the News Literacy Project from #1 above under "How to Debunk."  Click on the News Literacy Project link to start your work.

I do. Maybe not the winged kind found in Christian iconography, but I do believe that whatever they are, they are real.

Their presence was felt on multiple occasions during a three day backpacking trip with a friend in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park recently.

The first angel made its appearance on a hike to Alta Peak out of Pear Lake. After a challenging bushwacking and boulder-hopping adventure, my friend and I found ourselves at the base of the Pass just below Alta Peak.

This last element of the climb was steep. But, it was not just steep, it was a thick layer of loose gravel or what is also called “scree.” My friend started up first. I started to follow but was having trouble getting a foothold into the loose rock material. As I scrambled to get a foothold, The two 1.5L SmartWater bottles that I was carrying fell out of my pack and went tumbling down towards a snow field below.

I really thought I was screwed at this point. My hydration source for the remainder of the trip was now gone a couple hundred feet down the slope. Also gone was my will to continue up to the Pass below the 11,000′ Alta Peak. I yelled up to my friend that was unable to continue.

He told me to wait where I was while he continued up to the Pass. At this point, I was pretty scared. Going up was no longer an option and going down the scree slope didn’t seem like an option. I was holding on to a small protruding rock anchored to bedrock and curled my leg under me to arrest a slide down the slope.

Actually, that rock was the first of my Angels. If it had not been in that precise spot, I may have joined my water bottles down near the ice field below. In fact, a second rock appeared within reach to help stabilize me while I waited. Enter Angel # 2.

It was an uneasy wait for my friend to come back down to help me get down to the base of the scree slope where I could find some solid granitic rock to stand on. I contemplated life, which at that time seemed to be on precarious ground. I thought about what if something happened to my friend before he got back to me. After a few minutes I yelled to see if I could get his attention. But, I was yelling downhill. He was uphill which made it unlikely that he would hear me.

I had a whistle around my neck, but I was afraid that removing my hand from one of the rocks would secure my fate so I didn’t try to blow it. Eventually, he yelled down to me and suggested that I try walking down the slope. This wasn’t going to happen as I had by now lost all confidence in my boots.

So, I ended up sliding down the slope on the seat of my pants (which miraculously were not torn along the way) and made it to where I felt confident that I could stand and walk once again. I guess that you could consider the people responsible for the durability of my pants as Angel #3.

I believe that angels can be both animate and inanimate objects. My animate angel was my friend who talked me down the slope while he went down to check on my water bottles. Miraculously, the two water bottles were still intact and came in very handy for the remainder of the long descent back to our campsite at Pear Lake.

So far, that’s four angels that helped me out on this hike.

There was one more. This one came in the form of my own mind engaging in self talk with me to negotiate my way along a narrow stretch of trail known as the Watchtower route named after a prominent slab of granite of the same name. This stretch of trail was particularly challenging for me as I have mild to moderate Vertigo.

I was reminded to breath, walk slowly and methodically, be aware of the rock face and how close my pack was to it, to not under any circumstances look down and to keep my eyes focused of my friend’s feet in front of me. The half mile stretch was harrowing for me, but with some help from my friends, I was able to make it to the Watchtower and once again resume taking in full breaths of that clean mountain air.

So, do angels exist? I’ve answered that question for me. No one in this world is self made. No one does anything solely by themselves. Anyone who says they can do things without help simply don’t know what they are talking about. A natural lesson in humility is called for now-and-then.

It might sound to you like I had a miserable time on this trip. Quite the opposite is the truth. In another post, I can tell you about the people that we met along the way along with the natural history lessons that my sagely friend imparted on me along the over 14 miles and close to 4,000 feet of climbing that we did together.

But, that story will wait for another posting. This one is to thank my angels for giving me a chance to share this experience. For me, the purpose of a life of travel and adventure is to share it with others. After all, what is the experience if it stays only inside of me?

I believe in angels. Oh, I almost forgot one more angel..,