.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Sinner, angel, saint, and beauty.
.
.
I have favored, among angels. Some are closer to God, some more distant. None should be taken lightly. Of the host, each has his place. They are seen, when they are seen, as handsome to the point of beauty. This confuses some. There is only one time, that I have read, in the bible, where an angel appears to have come in the form of a woman. But the witness(es) where sheep herders, in the wilds, I believe. It would be easy for such to confuse a youthful male, clean of whiskers, perfect in health, in robes, with a woman. So I am not entirely sure of that case, myself.
And while angels do have an unearthly beauty, even in male form, I would suggest some things. One, what those of earth take for beauty, in this case, is in fact a reflection of God. As a stone left near the fire to warm may give off heat when it is removed, so to do angels reflect transcendent radiance when separated from God for a bit. But what I see in men is much more.
From the most humble to, hopefully, the elite, there is no surety. We can not reflect God directly, for He does not present to us in this fashion. Through faith most of those who would shine stumble through life. We cannot depend on reflecting God's beauty, even should we will it, all of the time. Our forms are subject to ills and age. Our minds are ravaged by doubts, wants, and needs. We struggle with sin, and what comes from sin. And yet, in this very thing, we are elevated above angels. They see, we only can believe, at best.
Beauty, for some, truly is skin deep. For themselves, for others. Monsters, to some, those who are not beautiful are set aside. Those who are not successful are spurned. And, at times, correctly. At times, not so much. But often, in the ugly, in the diminished, in the ignorant, there lies the hope. It is how we deal with these people, and sometimes ourselves as such people, things if we aren't quite people maybe more for some of us, that makes us more than angels can ever be... minor mirrors. For we are free to rise above, accept more than just the perfect, and be who we are, as we are, and still reflect God. Above angels, if very humbly.
Angels, and more. Merry Christmas.
Oh ye of little faith. Dolphins. Seven of them, to be exact. Don't believe me, ask a young child and learn a piece of the wisdom of the ages. Blessings.
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Alan Watts, the famed British scholar and noted authority on Eastern philosophy, once remarked that angels are able to fly because they take everything so lightly.
ReplyDeleteAnd, for the most part, they can! It's sort of like knowing the answers to the test questions before taking the test. They don't understand two things, though. One, they didn't figure out the answers themselves. Two, they don't understand not knowing the answers. Even Satan knows they answers, he just didn't like them.
ReplyDeleteIf you have any notions of Enoch, you will find that, if it were up to angels, we, none of us, would be allowed into heaven. They are not a very understanding lot, for the most part. Understandable, if you can see where they are coming from, and have some sympathy for always having had the answers right in front of them. I give them some room on that, and... that helps me reconsider some notions I have for... other sinners, sinners who don't yet know or see... a bit.
I wouldn't call myself overly familiar with the book of Enoch, but your statement pretty much underlines why, for me, a lot of fictional and/or dramatic depictions of angels tend to fall flat (briefly remembering a wretched . . . and blessedly short-lived . . . sitcom from 1979 called "Out of the Blue"). It does no good for us to try and depict angels as being potentially understood or easily befriended. One might as well try to be best buds with a sunbeam.
ReplyDelete