Angels? in the 1980s?

HOW would you like to have a guiding message from infinite wisdom when you feel uncertain or mixed up? Or a comforting sense of the presence of divine Love when you feel depressed or unhappy? In other words, a visit from an angel! Perhaps you think that such a thing may have happened long ago but is pretty unlikely in today's world. Certainly those in the Bible who relied on God -- many times in desperate circumstances -- were not let down. God helped them. Often His help is described as coming in the form of an angel. For example, an angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son, which he had thought was required of him;1 an angel strengthened and sustained Elijah in the wilderness;2 and an angel shut the lions' mouths so that they did not hurt Daniel.3

Many people in modern times also rely on God's help and have received it in the form of an angel message, a spiritual intuition from God.

Recently my son and I were traveling in a foreign country, finding accommodation as we went along. One day we sat in a town square with nowhere to stay. My son had asked at all suitable places without success. I had recently been studying the subject of angels, reading from the Bible, including the verse ``Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.''4 I had also read the definition of angels in the Christian Science textbook by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science. Part of the definition reads, ``God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect.''5

I thought, ``Now is the time to ask God for an angel message.'' So I turned my thought to God in prayer and listened for an intuition. Soon I felt guided to ask again at one of the houses advertising rooms. The owner repeated that she had no rooms left, but just then a friend of hers arrived, and she was happy to take us in. My son and I were very grateful, and in awe at the quick result of the spiritual intuition.

Of course, I do not mean that the woman who took us in was an angel! She was friendly and an efficient storekeeper; like us she had a need, and the God-derived thought, obediently followed, brought us together for mutual good.

The Christian Science textbook states: ``Angels are not etherialized human beings, evolving animal qualities in their wings; but they are celestial visitants, flying on spiritual, not material, pinions. Angels are pure thoughts from God, winged with Truth and Love, no matter what their individualism may be.''6

But how can one learn how to hear ``pure thoughts from God''? A good way to start is to get to know God as the Bible reveals Him. We are told in the Scriptures that He is Spirit and Love. We can also gather that He is Life and Mind, the one infinite source of intelligence, which imparts precisely the thoughts we need as we're receptive to His direction.

We may feel that we're separated from Him by a wide gulf of ignorance or unworthiness. It's true that sin can make us feel separated from our creator, and it must be faced and overcome. But regardless of the challenge we can take heart! The Bible tells us that God made us in His own image, and this is who we really are. And because this is the spiritual truth of our being, we can come to feel and prove His care.

As our infinitely wise and loving Father-Mother, God does not withhold His wisdom, intelligence, and love, but pours them out to us in unlimited measure, all the time. If it doesn't seem that this is happening in our experience, the reason may be that our attention, perhaps even unwittingly, is turned in a very different direction -- a materialistic one.

The choice is ours, and we can strive each moment to turn our thoughts toward God, Spirit, divine Love. The clamor and glamour of the material world may constantly demand our attention, but God has given us the power to respond to the true attraction of spirituality and wisdom.

God's angels guide us, not only in big events but also in the small daily decisions that enable us to complete our tasks efficiently. I have found that as I have been ready to give up a heavy, rigid plan for my day, and have instead listened for, and followed, angel intuitions, I have accomplished more with less struggle. Let's always be listening for these intuitions from divine Mind and happily obey them.

1See Genesis 22:10-12. 2See I Kings 19:4-8. 3See Daniel 6:22. 4Exodus 23:20. 5Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 581. 6Ibid., p. 298. DAILY BIBLE VERSE: I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Psalms 85:8