A is for Angel

I am at the beginning of a blog challenge that will continue for the next 26 days and will challenge me to write a blog post every day but Sunday’s. For those of you who choose to follow me through this challenge, you will note that the posts are alphabetical in their content. Yes, for the next 26 days, I will be posting blogs on a topic of my choosing that is in line with the letter of the day. It’s kind of Sesame Street for writers.

Being the first day of the month and the first day of the challenge, today’s letter is….

A

I know. You’re shocked. But now that you’ve overcome your angst (see what I did there??), let’s move on.

It’s pretty hard these days to roam the local bookstore or social media site and not find something about how an angel did this or how heaven received a new angel due to the passing of a friend of loved one. People will often say their “guardian angel” saved them from an accident or is exhausted from having to work so hard to keep their charge in line, and while these are all lovely thoughts, I can’t help but wonder how many people actually believe in angels. I don’t mean the general concept of them, but the reality of them. Do angels really exist?

I, for one, have always believed that they do and find it interesting that many people who call themselves Christians are willing to accept the idea of angels and even demons – at least as they are presented in the Bible – but are not willing to actually believe that spiritual beings exist – angels and otherwise – with us here in this plane. As a matter of fact, many will go so far as to say that belief in such things would be heretical.

Huh.

Now, forgive me if I sound argumentative here, but I know for a fact that angels are mentioned numerous times in the Bible, so are we suggesting that they simply stopped existing once the Bible had been written? Or are we saying that they never truly existed in the first place?

For me, I guess I choose the heretical view. To me, to suggest that spirits of all kinds don’t exist is a prime example of how we limit the power and gifts of God.

Let me try to explain.

Being the ever curious person that I am, I recently spoke with not one, but two individuals who claim to have the ability to speak with souls beyond this physical world. In both cases, they indicated that all of us are surrounded by angels all the time – people known and unknown to us – who travel with us for a variety of reasons. Now I know what you’re saying. Of course these individuals said these things – they get PAID to say them!

Okay. You’re right, but the more I talked with them and the more I meditated about their insight, the more secure I felt in that concept. Now granted, I did walk into the meetings with these individuals believing this world has more to it than what I can see, but in a sense, don’t we all believe that? I mean, we can’t see gravity, but we know it is reality. We can’t see the air we breathe (most of the time) but we know that it’s there. And for those of us that believe in God, we believe in a being that not only created us, but guides us, protects us and loves us and there is absolutely no way to see Him. So why is it such a reach to believe that God, as a spiritual being, created other spiritual beings to be here with us?

Here’s the thing.

I believe in a God that is far bigger than the one we as typical Christians profess to know. To me, the world God created has numerous dimensions and realities and, yes, these other dimensions and realities exist in a spiritual world that I will only be a part of after my passing. By the way, I also believe that maybe – just maybe – there are other worlds out there with other human beings that are yet to be found – but that’s a post for another day. Suffice it to say I find it hard to believe that a God that could create this world and everything in it – all of the unique beauty and power that this universe holds – would limit that power and beauty to just this physical plane.

Second, for those of us that believe the Bible is the Word of God there are numerous mentions of celestial beings in both the Old Testament and New. I neither believe that these beings simply went away after the Bible was written nor do I believe that they were merely folk lore meant to either frighten or calm those reading the Word.

Third – and this is probably the most outrageous for you traditionalists – I don’t believe that we as humans can reach the full understanding of or love for God in the few decades that we have on this planet. Because of this, I believe there has to be other means through which we continue to grow and learn; ways we can fully realize who we were created to be in God’s image. I don’t believe that once we die, we are suddenly given the rest of whatever knowledge we are lacking. I mean, what would be the point of being here at all and going through the trials of this world if God is simply going to give us the knowledge we are lacking when we die? Now, I don’t have any idea what that “other reality” looks like, but I have come to think that maybe we travel as spirits after this physical life so we have the opportunity to learn through the lives and experiences of others. And maybe, just maybe, those who have fully become who God intended them to be are allowed to come back and guide those of us still on this journey. I

Clearly, I can’t know any of this to be fact, but here is what I do know from my own experience.

I have had an angel speak directly to me to tell me I would survive a life-threatening situation.

I have had messages presented to me that were warnings to other people about events I knew nothing about but which played out exactly as I was “told” they would.

And I have had the power of angels with me when I have called upon them and they have provided me peace, strength, guidance and joy when I was unable to find these things elsewhere.

Yes, I know that many of you will say that is the presence of the Holy Spirit – and I agree that it is. But who’s to say that the presence of the Holy Spirit is not found with the angels God allows to travel with us? Why is the idea of other spirits around us such a frightening and heretical concept? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks for joining me on day 1 of this new journey! See you tomorrow!