Guardian Angels

“Writer Nancy Gibbs explores the questions many people are seeking to answer about the nature and role of angels in the universe. Gibbs states: By scriptural tradition, angels pull back the curtain, however briefly, on the realm of the Spirit. [And in] offering a glimpse of the larger universe, they issue a challenge to priorities and settled ways. Angels, she claims, seem to be a universal idea that cuts across cultures and spans centuries. Fifty-five per cent of adult Americans believe that angels are higher spiritual beings created by God with special powers to act as His agents on earth.

"The article concludes: For all those who say they have had a direct experience of angels, no proof is necessary; for those predisposed to doubt angels' existence, no proof is possible. And for those in the mystified middle, there is often a growing desire to be persuaded. If heaven is willing to sing to us, it is little to ask that we be ready to listen." (Source: Time magazine)

A recent Sunday New York Times editorial discussed the renewed interest in angels in popular culture and the number of current books about angelic visitations. The New York Times did not acknowledge the possible veracity of the stories, but also did not overtly disparage them. As the editorial put it: Many people, it turns out, still believe that in their hour of need ... the mysterious stranger who came to their rescue was no earthly friend but another kind of guardian.

In regard to the current popularity of angels as images and ideas, the editor reflected: We cannot give a definitive answer. We can guess, though. In a sectarian age, when people are being slaughtered for their differences, angels are nonsectarian well-wishers, common to Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Zoroastrianism. Bodhisattvas fulfill the same role ... in Buddhism, as avatars do in Hinduism. They are universal exemplars of grace and innocence ... a sweet antidote to the nastiness of most popular culture.”    

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