One night in late summer a few years ago, I was experiencing a somewhat fitful night of sleep. I was stressed and worried over work issues. I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.  As I sat there relieving myself I looked forward through sleepy eyes and there on my bathroom wall was the image of Jesus.  I was startled. It was an odd sensation having Jesus look back at me while using the bathroom.

The street lamp was shining through the leaves from the trees outside my window in such a way that the image of Jesus’ face was staring back at me. It was unmistakably Jesus.  It was comforting and yet strange.  I know people have seen images of Jesus and Mother Mary in strange places all over the world, but it has never happened to me before.  I took it as some sort of sign. Although I was not certain what the sign was, it was my guess it was not to worry.

I climbed back into bed and thought about it for a few minutes.  I didn’t quite believe it so I got up to look again and make sure.  Yep.  There he was, Jesus on my bathroom wall.  Okay, well then, I told myself I guess I won’t worry and I fell back to sleep. Several nights later I awoke in the middle of the night, again not sleeping well. It occurred to me to check out the bathroom wall again.  He was still there and it made me smile.  This time I told Jesus I was grateful for his presence and went back to bed.

It had been a few months since Jesus first showed up and I remember thinking he will soon go away as the leaves are starting to fall now.  The Jesus leaf experience was kind of cool, kind of strange, but it was definitely Jesus on my bathroom wall.

A year or two later I had to have some construction work done on my bathroom.  The window had to be replaced.  I was out while the work was being done and upon my return they had replaced my clear window with one that had frosted privacy glass.  I was surprised at my response.  Immediately I thought that Jesus would no longer be seen on my bathroom wall.  Of course the trees had grown over the last couple of years which had changed their shadows and reflections on my wall. Jesus’ image had not re-appeared since that first summer, but still I was sad.

It is funny how small things like this can impact us emotionally. One of my fond childhood memories of my paternal grandmother was of the two of us sitting on the lawn on a summer day and watching a baby cloud dissipate and then looking for images in the other clouds. To me that was magical.  We laughed and talked about clouds and vision and seeing things in other objects, like faeries in tree bark.  She was wonderfully imaginative and to a little girl, it was such fun to have someone help me believe in such things.

Many years later, but before I saw Jesus on the bathroom wall I was in Kauai with a group at a Spiritual Workshop.  It had been a good week and on the second to the last day we got up early and took a bus up to watch the sunrise over Wailea Canyon.  It was a lovely ceremony as we all stood there quietly chanting our call to the sun.  Then as the light of the sun started to reflect on the clouds our leader looked up into the sky and exclaimed “look at all the angels in the sky!” We all looked around the sky and were delighted!  It was filled with angel clouds!  Everywhere we looked there were angels in the sky.  That was a very special moment and we took that as a sign as well.  We were being watched over and the work we had done all week was being blessed.

Sometimes the magic of the Universe shows up and surprises us by placing these familiar and comforting images in unusual places. How else would we know Spirit was trying to get our attention and give us a message?  We just have to remember to look for the signs…in all the odd places.