Fact: The Bible speaks of angels. Angels are described in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Christian Protestants aren't too big on angels though because we don't believe humans need intermediaries between God and individuals; Protestants believe that we are able to have a direct relationship with God without having to pray to saints, angels and the like. While there is a theological reason for shying away from angels if you're a traditional Protestant, I think there's more to it. I think we also shy away from "angel stuff" because it's come to be just too associated with New Age (a term that is usually said with disdain by "proper" Christians).
Nonetheless, there is something appealing to me about angels. Part of me likes the idea of having a guardian angel. Certainly, it is comforting to believe that each person has a guardian angel (particularly if that person is a suffering child). But isn't it enough to yearn for God? To desire that God is comforting us, protecting us? There's the image of two sets of footprints becoming one set . . . with the accompanying text, "it was then that I carried you" says God.
Still the appeal of angels remains for me. Very unProtestant of me, I know. As with many of my attachments and desires, I am choosing to believe that this one is the case of the right instinct but the wrong form. (Wha--??) I mean: the desire or pull I feel toward angels is a spiritual instinct that is right on track, but I've misinterpreted it. I have always focused on wanting to have a guardian angel, wanting to feel its presence in my life as though that would be the only way I could feel God's nearness. Now, I have to consider that perhaps my angel longing instinct isn't about having a guardian angel, but about being a guardian angel. Now my desire is no longer purely selfish, but agentic, empowering, (dare I use the word?): "vivifying."
Instead of cowering under the wing of an angel, I prefer the stronger, more faith-filled image of being the angel to all the people God has sent into my day. I can quietly rest in a secret assurance that I know . . .and that I can communicate without words that I know that there is nothing to fear because ultimately there is only One Power, One Life, One Love.
As if bursting my own idealistic bubble, I have to admit that this new image would likely quickly fizzle in the face of real crisis, but frankly that just doesn't matter. I can "be" an angel and have plenty to do in the little mundane interactions of my life right now. I accept that I am merely practicing being an angel. I can only hope that when I need to rise to the occasion of a "real" crisis, that either I will meet the challenge or that I will be forgiven for all too humanly failing. After all, I'm not a perfect saint; as an angel, I don't have to "succeed," I just have to keep trying.
Signed,
B.N. Angel ;-)
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