I half-paid attention to a few minutes of a documentary on the History Channel the other night about "Angels" and the role they played in myth and Christianity etc.Once life stops moving so quickly, thus preventing me from posting as frequently as I would like, I will have to do some research into this popular idea. I know they are mentioned in the bible, but also have obvious ties in mythology, which is interesting, but does an omniscient God really need helpers? Or maybe they are his PR staff?
I remember a small glossy print my Grandma used to have hanging in her house. It showed two children crossing a rickety wooden bridge over a fast-moving stream with a large vibrant angel behind them. [See photo in this post.] It was a comforting photo and talk of guardian angels occurred in the household I grew up in. But how far off is this notion? Does the obsession with angels rank up there with the cult of the Virgin Mary? Is God an abstract afterthought when it comes to how people view the popularly iconic angel?
There is even a prayer that I recall from childhood: "Angel of God, my Guardian dear. To whom God's love commits me here, Ever this day, be at my side, To light and guard, Rule and guide. Amen."
This is, when it comes right down to it, a prayer to an angel.
[Thou shalt have no other gods before me?]
I'm always seeing tacky angel-things on people's bumper stickers such as "Never Drive Faster Than Your Angel Can Fly". I read these and they seem so spiritually immature to me. Childish, even. Like "Never Leave Your Closet Door Open Wider So the Monster Inside Won't Squeeze Through".
I just think our focus should revert back to God, his love and our gratitude and connection towards him, not his mother, not his messengers (if they be angels), etc.
Time to do some research.
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On a separate note, I would also like to take this time to express my joy over the inauguration of President Obama. "Obama Lifts Hand, Raises Nation"
2 comments:
Nope.
No angels.
No demons.
No need.
And if there are? Where are the angels for all those kids in Sudan, Ethiopia, the Balkans in the 90's, Congo, Germany in the 40's, where are the angels when some cabbie gets snatched and sold to US secret forces for bounty and shuttled off to Gitmo? Where are the angels for kids abused and forgotten? Angels. No.
When people use the term 'angel', it is almost as if it is in context to the most divine a *human* can get.
So when someone says, "Oh you're an angel!" Is it because they cannot say "Oh, you're god-like"?
I once referred to my late father-in-law as "pieces of angels" in a metaphoric attempt to describe his kind nature. It was not a literal citation, but it was the best I could think of. Everyone knows what angels are. They are a cultural icon as well as religious.
An angel might be that buffer zone that lies between complimentary (to the human) and blasphemy (to God).
I'm leaning to the "not" too, but I am still in research stages and would like to understand their exact purpose from a biblical standpoint.
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