Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501230023
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At least, that's what you'd think, given the number of magazine articles, books and television shows on the subject of the mysterious celestial - though increasingly terrestrial - creatures.
O I'm having some trouble with the whole angel concept, myself, and am beginning to feel left out of this new "personal angel" phenomenon.
Actually, confusion about angels goes way back. Biblical references are often pretty vague. Messengers from God sometimes seem indistinguishable from mortal men - they're always men. Other times they are certainly not mortals, but brilliantly robed in white or hovering in the sky.
That may make the current confusion on just what angels look like and what their functions are understandable. Nobody's been very clear on it.
On the one hand, popular books and TV shows have outlined numerous cases of mysterious strangers - Mark Twain would have loved it - appearing out of nowhere to help stranded travelers, usually women, who've had a flat tire in the middle of the Mojave desert. These angels nearly always disappear as mysteriously as they materialize, leaving no trace of their existence.
These are the types of angels popularized on TV in both quasi-documentaries on the subject and in weekly series such as "Highway to Heaven" and the short-lived "Touched by an Angel."
Those characters were hopping around from mortal to mortal trying to help them over life's rough spots. This is a point of confusion for me, since many of the notions currently in vogue about angels center on an individual having a personal, faithful, enduring "guardian angel" who's there through thick and thin.
These are not to be mistaken for regular old human beings who act angelically and sometimes are referred to as "angels."
I also get confused by stories about people whose recently deceased loved ones come back to help them in times of need or warn them of impending danger. I get the feeling those who've had those experiences aren't quite sure whether these activist apparitions are ghosts or angels. That's one of the problems in the generally delightful film "Ghost," in which the dead man's ghost also acts like a guardian angel - at least for a short time - for his widow.
Another view of angels is the one characterized in Frank Peretti's book "This Present Darkness," in which a vast armies of supernatural, superhuman creatures representing good and evil are doing constant battle. They exist in an unseen dimension outside our human one, though they can also interact in our physical world. Angels battle demons over the fate of human souls, in this scenario.
I have to admit, though I don't buy the description, it does at least follow its own logic. If one believes in angels as guardians of good, it makes sense to believe in demons as purveyors of evil. And it makes sense that two groups of such powerful entities would conflict with each other.
A traditional Protestant view was of angels as seldom-seen intercessors between God and man, a distinct creature meant primarily to serve God in heaven. That's the one I grew up with: "Yeah, angels are real, but don't be on the lookout for any, since they've shown up only a half-dozen times in the entire history of humankind."
I guess that's the notion I'll have to live with, even if I'll miss the comfort of having a mighty guardian at my shoulder.
by CNB