In The Bible, Old and New Testament alike, celestial visitation among the rank and file is commonplace. God, as well as any number of His lieutenants, call on all manner of ordinary mortals, generally advising them to adopt some sort of action or mission. In some of these encounters, actual conversations take place, especially if there’s a misunderstanding. For example, God and Moses meet routinely. Abraham, Jacob, Zechariah, Elisha, Paul and many others shoot the breeze quite often.  Other visitations come in the form of dreams and visions — fire breathing horses, chariots, golden candlesticks, a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, frogs, dragons, temples and hosts of angels governing over complicated rituals. You know all too well that eminent theologians have dissected the Scriptures and have decreed what is indeed fact, what is metaphorical and what is allegorical. None of it can be bogus, else all of it might be suspicious. So, you see, learned clerics throughout the world somehow make sense of Divine revelations and you go with the flow, trusting in the centuries of their combined wisdom. But you must admit to a certain despondence. Countless nights you lay awake staring into blackness, incessantly invoking the appearance of God, an angel or any other spiritual entity. After years of pleading, you cannot reconcile the utter lack of response — not a glow, not a glimmer and not a whisper, not to speak of a Booming Voice calling your name. And where is Clarence, assuring you with his sweet smile that you’ve had a wonderful life worth living? Nowhere to be found. You imagine there must be billions — or trillions — of such angels with nothing but eternity on their hands. Seems only logical. Would it be such a dreadful imposition to pop in on someone who has the welcome mat out? On any given day, one of the lesser cherubs could easily make a cameo appearance at your bedside, say, for a minute or two. Not a lot to ask. Reserving spiritual visitation for the Biblical centuries seems discriminatory at best, and shameful at worst. To be sure, many individuals in “modern” times claim divine connections and there’s no absence of self-proclaimed messiahs, some unfortunately residing in high places. Joe Smith founded his own religion following a close encounter of the first kind. In a ’94 Newsweek survey, no less than 13 percent of Americans claimed seeing or sensing an angelic presence. But there’s no compelling evidence that God or any of His minions are engaged in personal pow-wows with anyone. If He would simply authorize a celestial courier to visit, or make a personal appearance Himself, you would gladly take the opportunity to offer Him a little marketing advice. You would recommend He identify 1000 of his most trusted Heavenly residents, preferably those who had earned their wings, to simultaneously visit 1000 of the world’s most devout atheists. Each angel would deliver precisely the same message. You can’t presume to dictate that message, but a simple “Hello” or “Yes, there is a Hell, Matilda” would do very nicely. You can only imagine the universal impact of 1000 stunned atheists, swearing in unison, in their native tongues, witnessing to an identical message. Since this fantasy is a product of deranged thinking, you decide to file it as a possible screenplay idea. But your frustration will not allow you to abandon your nightly supplications. However impatiently, you will continue to proffer your invitations. You will ask and wait and ask again. Just one brief, quality visit. After all, who mandated that The Bible should be a closed book? Maybe it’s time to draft the 28th Book of the New Testament. High time.