Guardian Angels
“War broke out in heaven.” So begins verse seven of the 12th chapter of the Revelation to John. I’m not generally a fan of the final book of the New Testament. The passage appointed for today, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, reminds me why. War, dragons, the devil, wrath. It sounds more like The Lord of the Rings than the heavenly host.
This week as I prepared for the Wednesday celebration of the Holy Eucharist, I was inclined to skip reading this passage (12:7-12). But then guardian angels came to mind. Michael, as you likely know, is an archangel not a guardian angel. Though I suppose since he leads a war in heaven to protect us from the “great dragon” one could consider him a guardian angel, albeit one on steroids.
Angels are a part of most religious traditions. They show up often in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The angel of the LORD appearing to Hagar (Genesis 16). Jacob asleep in the desert dreaming of a ladder with angels ascending and descending (Genesis 28). The angel of the Lord who appears to Elijah in the wilderness to feed and strengthen him (1 Kings 19). Gabriel appearing to Mary to tell her she will give birth to the Savior (Luke 2). And so many more.
I don’t know that you can strictly call these guardian angels (Gabriel, like Michael, is an archangel). In scripture, angels generally appear not to guard but to deliver a message. The message is almost always some version of “Don’t be afraid. You are not alone. God is with you. Keep going.” While these angelic visits do not guard those who are visited, they do gird them by providing power and strength for the journey.
Whatever one may think of angels, perhaps we can agree that much of the time our guardian angels are not heavenly beings but human beings. I suspect we’ve all had the experience of someone — friend, family, or stranger — showing up unexpectedly to do just what we need at the very moment we need it. I remember an experience several years ago before Stephanie and I moved to Indianapolis. We were in the midst of a family crisis which required an enormous amount of emotional, mental and spiritual energy. Just when we needed to know we were not alone, our guardian angels showed up in the form of a small group of friends we’d trusted with information about the crisis. One Sunday they took us into the small chapel adjacent to the church, sat us in chairs, surrounded us, and then prayed for our family. Though nothing had changed, we realized we were not alone. Which is just what we needed.
I’ve never looked for guardian angels. If one showed up with wings, I might run the other way. But we don’t need to look for them. We simply need to trust they will show up when we need them. They won’t solve all of our problems or fix what is broken. But they will remind us we are not alone, and that God is always with us.