Do You Believe In Angels?
Ever since I was a young girl, I have been fascinated by the concept of guardian angels. Probably because I have always been in dire need of one.
Every morning before school, my mom would instruct my three sisters and me to "take our guardian angels with us," and we would roll our eyes, of course. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's in the backpack."
But I can't help but wonder if that's why my twin sister walked home from a car accident that surely should have taken her life and how I managed not to get mugged all those nights I passed out cold in the off-campus housing area of the University of Dayton called "the ghetto."
The writings of bestselling author (and friend) Joan Wester Anderson, especially, have long inspired me. I get goose bumps every time I read her story about her son and a friend being saved by an angel in the middle of a snowstorm on an isolated country road in Indiana.
A tow truck appeared out of the blue, offered to pull the stalled car to a nearby friend's house. But as soon as the two boys turned around to pay the kind and generous man, he was gone. And there was just one set of tire tracks in the snow: that of the boy's car (not the tow truck).
Writes Anderson in "Where Angels Walk":
Angels don't submit to litmus tests, testify in court or slide under a microscope for examination. Thus their existence cannot be 'proved' by the guidelines we humans usually use. To know one, perhaps, requires a willingness to suspend judgment, to open ourselves to possibilities we've only dreamed about. Was it an angel? Our family will never know for sure. But on Christmas Eve in 1983, I heard the whisper of wings as a tow-truck driver answered a heavenly summons, and brought our son safely home.
Joan now has company because another believer, or translator, if I can use that term, has published a book of conversations with angels. In "Angels In My Hair," Irish mystic and author Lorna Fitzgerald Byrne describes her encounters and conversations with angels, and in doing so, offers readers a message of hope and love. She writes:
As you sit there reading this--whether you believe it or not--there is an angel by your side: it is your guardian angel, and it never leaves you. Each one of us have been given a gift, a shield made from the energy of light. It is a part of the guardian angel's task to put this shield around us.
To God and the angels we are all equal; we all deserve to be protected, to be cared for, and to be loved, regardless of what others might think of us--good or bad. When I look at someone I can physically see this shield around them; it's as if it's alive.Your guardian angel is the gatekeeper of your body and your soul. He was assigned to you before you were even conceived; as you grew in your mother's womb he was there with you at every moment, protecting you. Once you were born and as you grow up your guardian angel never leaves your side for an instant; he is with you when you sleep, when you are in the bathroom, all the time--you are never alone. Then, when you die, your guardian angel is there beside you, helping you to pass over.
Byrne was brought up in poverty and suffered from learning disabilities, and has had her share of skeptics. Yet she's won over many who were not prepared her sense of serenity and innocence. The Irish mystic once told a reporter that she doesn't like to call herself a psychic, and is even afraid to say she is a healer even though she says she sees things about a person's life and helps the person to understand it.
She also refuses to "tell fortunes," explaining that she feels "that is too dangerous."
I confess that I am still a tad skeptical. My theological training has me questioning some of Byrne's simplicity. However, "Angels In My Hair" certainly proved to be an engrossing tale that managed to intrigue and inspire even this cynic.
I hope Lorna is right about an angel sitting with me as I write this. I could the company and protection.
What about you? Do you believe in angels?
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Yes I belive in ANGELS and I also belive in GOD. Theres a lot of times of should of been killed,but My ANGEL have spared my life. I belive one of my kid's that didn't make it down here that went back to Heaven is my ANGEL. Watching over me and my kid's down here.
Of course I believe in angels. I want to write a book about encounters with angels. I will give you an example. I was at work, the railroad, and I received a call from a passenger about upgrading to a sleeper. The passengers were seniors and during our conversation we were disconnected. So I attempted to call the passenger back using the phone number in the reservation. When the call was answered a woman was on the line, I told her who I was trying to reach and where I was calling from. To my surprise the lady said that she thought that I was calling to say that something had happened to her elderly parents on the train, because they had not heard from them in 3 days. I assured her that her parents were having a good time on the train and would arrive shortly. The woman told me that she and her family was just walking out of the church after praying that they would hear something from their parents. She said her cell phone rang and it was me. Now, I take over 500 calls a day, what is the chance that I would call someone that was praying for a call? I'm in California, they were in New York.
There is no doubt there are angels. While we all think of angels with wings- the reality is they are people sent to perform tasks in our hour of need.
God works in strange ways-he does not yield to comminity. We all would flip out if we saw somethings with wings or some spiritual beings. God gifes us Instead our realitiy. He send us what we can recognize in our framework.
Angels are everywhere. They are the volunteers, the men and women who see a need-any time and any place-and they fill it.
Belief in supernatural spirits might be comforting, but it's harmful to society as a whole. And the concept of a guardian angel is especially ridiculous when you consider the number of people who are injured or killed every day. Is it too much to ask that people act like adults and take responsibility for their own lives, without relying on imaginary friends? Apparently it is.
The problem I see here is that both the secular atheists and the religious fundamentalists desacralize nature. They are both reductionists. One reduces it to mathematical formulae and the other to literal script from a text. It's all black and white with no room for unexpected weeds in the cracks.
I'm a secular atheist and I don't reduce nature to mathematical formulae. I find nature beautiful - which is to say experiencing nature seems to cause my brain to release oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine while suppressing epinephrine - which I find beautiful.
If you think mathematical formulas are all black and white and predictable, you haven't seen fractals!
I don't believe in angels and I don't believe in Santa Claus.
Yes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWl0symJItM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xjSgcGTvc
Some guardian angel cartoons:
http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/g/guardian_angel.asp
I gave my guardian angel the bum rush. Rotten deadbeat did nothing for me except hide my keys and crash on my couch.
in the early years of the space race. two russian cosmonauts were rescued. as they were tumbling into galaxies unknown. they looked out,of the capsule. in front of them were two gigantic,well muscled men that took their space ship back into the proper galaxie. this was kept silent for years. due to the godless soviets.
And you believe this story why?
I'm curious how they traveled all the way to another galaxy!
This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. First of all, the nearest star is Alpha Centauri, and it is over four light years away from Earth, and it would have taken centuries for any 60's era spacecraft to reach such a destination. Alpha Centauri is in our own galaxy.
So to say that an Earth vessel drifted into "galaxies unknown" and was brought back to the Milky Way is almost more absurd than saying that a spacecraft was rescued by muscular space angels.
Small world, isn't it. But then again, maybe they had a lot of time on their hands.
Wow! I'm impressed! Now, I have this bridge in New York that I'd like to sell you. It's really cheap...
For those of you skeptical of angels, are you also skeptical of the Old Testament God? I can't see much difference. The OTG is anthropomorphic, allegedly watches over us but can also be mean spirited and judgmental. The OTG seems to be industrial strength compared to the rather benign angels most people encounter. How can the 80 % of Americans who believe in God all be wrong?
Yes, but even when I still believed in God I thought angels were ridiculous. I mean, convincing yourself that the immaterial exists somewhere else is one thing, but that it is right next to you? That's what little kids call imaginary friends.
How can 80% of Americans be wrong? Same way that the 1 billion Muslims in the world can be wrong: they were indoctrinated into a belief system since their earliest memories and it is such a part of their lives, cultures, worldviews that they can hardly question it.
"For those of you skeptical of angels, are you also skeptical of the Old Testament God?"
Very.
I see your very and raise you two very verys.
How can the millions of people who believe in Visnu be wrong?
How can the millions of people who believe Muhammed talked to angels be wrong?
How can the millions of people who believe Buddha ascended to Nirvana be wrong?
How can the millions of people in the past who believed in Zeus be wrong?
Because it's fiction. Of course the Old Testament god doesn't exist. Why 80% of people believe such fiction to be reality is something I'll never quite comprehend, but a large number of people thinking something can't be used as evidence to prove it's accuracy. People used to think the world was flat, people used to think the sun revolved around the Earth, Columbus thought he was sailing to India, etc.
Ummm... yes...
Aren't you?
80% can easily be wrong. Ever heard of mass hysteria?
I am familiar of hysteria at masses.
I was an alter boy.
Religion removes 47% it's weight in excess reality.
"What about you? Do you believe in angels?"
...in a word, no.
Believing in angels is preposterous. Guardian leprechauns on the other hand is another matter, they do exist. Ever since I suspended my secular doubts and put my trust in my guardian leprechaun, I've been less likely to stub my toe and step on toys my young daughter leaves out. I just know that everyone has a guardian leprechaun who is there to protect our feet and shins from bumping into things in the dark while stumbling around at night for a late night snack.
When I was a Boy Scout, Bigfoot stopped by our campfire one night. He scared the beegeebers out of us, but he just wanted a cup of hot chocolate.
When I was about 11 the local news did a piece on how Bigfoots (Bigfeet pl?) were migrating east and would be in PA by mid summer. I took out the trash every night in record speed.
No.
Absolutely. There's thousands of years of evidence.
Read this: Angel Gabriel Walks Among Us: Part 1 http://bit.ly/YAa6B and Part 2 http://bit.ly/pSnpX A preview of book Angels on My Stage
Evidence? You just gave me the hiccups.
Let's run a test. Guardian angels have been credited with the protection of people in car accidents - so let's simulate some. We'll take a thousand people; half of them claim to have guardian angels, the other half do not. We'll use one of those car crash tests you see all the time, except instead of a wall, we'll have the test subject. We have the car approach the subject at 50 mph.
Assuming none of the subjects get scared and try to jump out of the way, will we find a significant difference in the mortality rate for either group? Well, I don't know - nobody's ever done this sort of thing before. After all, it would be unethical - unless we knew for a fact that the subject wouldn't be harmed. But then, if you would fall into the "claims to have a guardian angel" group, you believe there is an angel who protects you. Clearly, your angel will keep you from harm, so performing such a test on you would be perfectly ethical. Want to volunteer?
wasn't their time. i will stay with the angel thing. rather than a secular spineless know it all.
Hahaha, yes, I'm a know-it-all for saying I do NOT know something exists. That's a funny joke.
You are a secular know-it-all because you don't believe in dragons.
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