I love angels, and the secret now surfaces, that I am an angel Who are these ministers, servants and sons of God who in their love and power of the Lord assist in the guarding, defeating enemies, redemption and salvation of humans to bring them into the flock of Christ joined together in the family of God.

Pure spirits, the closest image and likeness of the Creator, were the effect of a divine act of creation. A spirit world was produced, at once, in its fullness and in its grandeur. When, at the word of the Almighty, light's first rays lit up the primeval shapeless world, still wrapped in a mist as in swaddling clothes, a wondrous song, a joyful melody filled the new heavens with never-ending strains. The Lord recalls these primordial times when He asks: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?......When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made joyful melody. These sons of God, living witnesses of the creation of the material universe, were our Angels, the morning stars of creation.

In my own salvation, a guardian angel was most instrumental. I was treading the waters below, ready to be swallowed by the waves of the sea when from high above the heaven with a giant wing span an angel appeared to pull me out of the troubled waters below, lifting me upon the wings of love. My beloved angel is now always with me guarding every step I make.

Angels are all around us. I do believe that some of us human beings are angels unaware. Could it be that some angels choose to incarnate in human beings, yet also remain in heaven. This is again one of these mysteries that I believe is a probability. Angels are the greatest reflectors of God's light being pure spirits. Can some of us walk on this earth and have the other half of themselves be in heaven as an angel. I believe this is true.

It amazes me at all times as to the strong connection of the mention of wings within the angelic tribes. Wings, of course, give us the power and strength to fly away from the fallen angels whose wings have been clipped and who no longer have the subtle body of light as the angels from the heavenly world of God's Kingdom.

Jesus Christ is also known as the eagle. How amazing to know that "the wings of a great eagle" empowered the woman clothed with the sun to escape from Satan and the great flood, and to fly into the wilderness where she is protected.

Would someone share an experience with an angel.

It does not matter that thousands of beings are plunged into darkness. He whom we saw yesterday is on earth. His presence is enough to assure us that one day Truth will rule here. -The Mother

Without angels intermediating, it would not have been possible for me to read that quote today and type it onto the internet. As with "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, she was speaking of Krishna but an angel has translated it for me.

Have been picking my way through this book for a few weeks:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi.../0345395220?v=glance

She talks to them all day long. Rankings and functions of the archangels are included. Seems to be an admixture of Christian, Muslim, Hebrew and Theosophical interperetations.

Anyone who has escaped a near-accident in an automobile might well report angelic intervention.

Freebird, I assume that you dwell in a physicality
as a matter of convenience, but accept the angelic influences emanating from your Presence.

Angels are separate creations of God. No where in the bible do we find human beings turning into angels or angels turning into human beings.

Angelic ministry is real. For the bible tells us that they are just ministering spirits, sent to minister to us who are saved.

We as human beings should never put our trust in angels. Angels are just creatures of another order.Our trust must be in God and God alone.

I have heard umpteen number stories of people experiencing angelic help and getting messages from angels. However, one should be very careful with this, as even Satan appears as an angel of light.

I would advice people to conduct a thorough study on angels from the Bible. I have studied this topic in detail, and have found that many of the teachings given by Christians about angels are not biblical.

Yours safe in Jesus,
Sidharth

Angels sometimes do appear "like" human beings when visiting people, other times they appear in their glorified state. The bible teaches this.
------------------------------------------------
Quote:
-------------------------------------------------
"I do believe that some of us human beings are angels unaware. Could it be that some angels choose to incarnate in human beings, yet also remain in heaven. This is again one of these mysteries that I believe is a probability. Angels are the greatest reflectors of God's light being pure spirits. Can some of us walk on this earth and have the other half of themselves be in heaven as an angel. I believe this is true."
-----------------------------------------------
However,to this I strongly disagree.

Sidharth

"that I am an angel"

I disagree with this as well.

Sidharth

Hi Sid,

How wonderful to have you take part in our discussions.

It is a beautiful gift for us to agree to disagree and to learn from one another.

I do not have a preoccupation, worship, nor communicate with angels in any way whatsoever. Angels of God are ministers and servants to Him and instrumental in our protection, as guardian angels, and in other workings to benefit God in His love for human beings. As to their extent of service in these duties, much remains a mystery. I also do not rule out the possibility of an angel of the Lord coming to be with a child of God for their earthly walk. Who has the mind of God?, all of His ways are not known to us, and not all the mysteries are revealed to us.

In my counselling practice I saw and witnessed an angel during a session with a client. This angel appeared during a meeting behind my client. The angel's presence made my client fall of the chair. This person was a desperate case, yet shortly after the angel's appearance, he completely turned his life around for the better and last I heard about him from his physician is that he is doing exceptionally well.

In my own life there has been seen around me by a reputable surgeon a most powerful and revered angel who is mentioned in another topic, the Rainbow body.

I am well aware Sid of the fallen angels and the role that they play in the enslavement and attempted robbery of our crown. Jesus tells us: Don't worry about the one what he can do to your body, but worry about the one what he can do to your soul, our crown. "Let no one steal your crown".

In all of the great revelations angels where instumental in proclaiming good news. I disagree with you Sid in stating to never trust an angel. I would word it by saying: Know the source behind the angel, is the angel from God, or sent by evil spirit?".

I think the term "angel" is often used loosely to refer to anyone who is God's helper, or who relays God's message. As Sid notes, however, that's a little different from the understanding of them we find in Scripture and even Tradition, which hold that they are purely spiritual entities of all kinds who have been entrusted by God with various kinds of works. Metaphysically speaking, it would be impossible for an angel to incarnate as a human being, although they can indeed be very influential and even make themselves known to us from time to time.

Angels are working with man in this last hour to bring in the lost. I am aware of the angel of the God that the Lord has appointed by my side. When I am weak I turn to the Lord, and the angel of the Lord ministers strength to me. Just as God uses human ministers to minister His Word, He uses angelic ministers to minister His Word.

Reverend Angley, a man of God, who is being used by the Lord in a great way around the world relates his experience with angelic beings:

"In the divine visitation over forty years ago when He gave me the gift of discerning of spirits, the Lord told me that I must know the Spirit of God, the spirit of man and the spirit of the devil and be able to separate them.

The first time the Lord brought the devil to me was when He was teaching me the gift of discerning. He began by showing me angels coming in the distance, appearing as a tiny bit of light no bigger than the end of my little finger. The light would come toward me growing larger and larger until the angels took on form, and I would look into their faces. It was a blessed time.

Then one day I saw an unusual angel. I had never seen one like this; it was a different kind. I was completely absorbed. The light of this angel as it came toward me was dazzling. How many jewels would it have taken to make a person dazzle like that! When this light got very close to me, the Lord stripped off the dazzle, and there I was, eye to eye with the devil himself. I was completely astonished�but I wasn't afraid. I knew God was with me, and I knew He totally possessed me and was living with me day and night. I was startled because I had expected to see an angel.

The devil can appear as an angel of light. We read in II Corinthians 11:14, For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. I had seen it for myself. Because the devil can disguise himself so beautifully, he is able to deceive people who think they are getting visions from God when the visions are from the devil. Man didn't teach me this; God did."

I always instruct people to be moved by God's Word, and not by supernatural manifestations. The Word of God is the paramount.

In India we find lots of 'gurus' who have supernatural abilities, that counterfeit the gifts of God.

I do believe in God's holy angels, but never will I put my complete trust in them. I honor them just as much as I would honor a human minister who brings the Word of God.

If you read Reverend Angley's Crusade reports, you will find how he has an angel standing beside him and instructing him. Here are some parts of his crusade report:

"Now many, many angels were moving in, almost crowding in, there were so many. We had never before had a greater revelation of angels, a greater time of divine manifestations. Angels were in and above the congregation. The secret of it all was faith in the divine blood of Jesus.

Three hundred forty-seven eye conditions will be miraculously cured by the touch of an angel of God tonight, saith the Lord. The Lord was making Himself real, letting people know that it was never, never too late for His Children.

Reverend Angley is God's humble prophet, a man He has raised up to manifest Himself through so others can see the mighty works of Jesus and honor Him, receiving from His hands of abundance. Angels are as real to Reverend Angley as people are. The angel of the Lord, remember, always stands by his side in every miracle service. Actually hearing what the angel is saying, the man of God reports his words to the people, words sent from the throne of Grace. Untold hundreds of thousands of people have been touched by an angel of God in these crusade services in different countries and felt the holiness of God.

Since the angels moved in, the sacredness this night covered the crowd like a warm, warm blanket. Much doubt and fear vanished. Angels standing all around the congregation held back the powers of darkness. Other angels moved in among the people ready to touch them as they released their faith in what the man of God had told them, saith the Lord. To be in such a miraculous atmosphere was like being transported to a holy realm where all was shut out but the glory of the Lord. The presence of the Lord is overwhelming.

It was indeed an unusual night; people were already repenting of their sins. "Every hand raised; everyone say the sinners' prayer. Oh, God, I am so sorry I sinned against you, but I have come home. I'm going to serve you, Lord, the rest of my life. I believe that Jesus died for me, shed His divine blood for me. I believe that the blood washes away all my sins, all of them. Now I know I am redeemed; I know without a doubt I am saved and have my passport to heaven. I will see heaven one day for myself! Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul, for giving me a ticket to heaven! I will live free from sin and serve you all the days of my life, for I know not one speck of sin can enter the gates of Glory!"

As the angels were in place around the congregation lined up, standing like people, the trio sang "Four Days Late." Jesus was four days late at the tomb of Lazarus, but still He was on time. "Come out!" He called to the dead body of Lazarus, and out he came fully alive.

But in that holy atmosphere as the trio was singing, there was a disturbance in the crowd. While people were praying and praising God, a few were hindering the work God was trying to do. At the end of the song, Reverend Angley addressed the problem: "You children who are running around: Get a seat or leave the stadium. You're in grave danger; God is angry with you for disturbing people, cheating them out of what God was seeking to do for them as He was performing His miraculous work. God help you is all I can say. I just turn you over to the Lord; whatever happens to you happens, you caused it. Some of you when you come to death's door�and it could be much sooner than you think, although you're very young, saith the Lord�you'll remember this night." - Mozambique Crusade

" "Angels are here; we are surrounded by angels," said Reverend Angley. He had looked into the eyes of an angel who had come across the platform while the trio was singing. Angels encircled the crowd; they were even behind the platform holding back the powers of darkness. Other angels moved in among the congregation, standing as tall as the people.

"When an angel touches you, you are healed," said the man of God. "Use your faith; God is moving. You who have already received, use your faith for someone you love who needs a miracle. Angels will touch many tonight."

A woman was there representing six different people in her family suffering from AIDS. Five would be healed, and the sixth one could be healed, but he had mistreated God, spit in the eye of God again and again. He was there that night. "Sir, you're going to die unless you give your heart to God," said Reverend Angley. "The devil is destroying you. Your body has been taken over with that awful death disease, AIDS, and God is your only hope. You can't play with God. If you don't mean to live for Him, don't tell Him you will. You must mean any commitment; you must mean this." The choice was his: God or AIDS.

"Sense the presence of the angels," said Reverend Angley. "They bring in a heavenly atmosphere." And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:7,14). Who are the heirs of salvation? The born again.

As angels worked among the people, the Holy Spirit poured down. This mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit is that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17).

God was doing great things in the invalid section. "Get ready to walk if you can't walk," instructed the man of God. "God with His wonderful love and grace wants to heal you."

Now angels were touching people all through the crowd. "Remember, as an angel touches you, the miracle, the healing is yours," said the evangelist.

An angel's touch is the same as a touch from that nail-riven hand, a touch of Jesus' precious blood that brings the miracle. The Bible tells us that with His stripes we are healed, His blood stripes.

"Give yourself completely to the Spirit and the will of God," continued the preacher. "Tell the Lord you want to be just like Jesus, to talk, to walk, to love and have compassion for lost humanity just like He has and to help bring in the endtime harvest throughout the whole earth." "- Namibia Crusade


Sid

For some the new birth experience may be tender, yet others know of the terror and death pangs of their old lives. I fit into the second catagory.

The darkness was my birthing place. I was deep within it when the sound of the angel's trumpet sounded: "Let there be light". On the wings of a cherub, our beloved God, HaShem, came and lifted me out of these dark troubled waters and brought me out to fill me with His light and His life in me. Praises to Almighty God.

A poem by Rilke

You darkness that I come from,
I love you more than all fires
that fence in the world
for the fire makes a circle of light for everyone
and then no one outside learns of you.
But the darkness pulls in everything;
shapes and fires, animals and myself,
how easily it gathers them!-
powers and people-
and it is possible a great energy
is moving near me
I have faith in nights.-

Hi Sid,

Rev. Angley's service and ministry to God is a most precious gift. Thank you for sharing his work with God's angels present during healing services.

I wish he would have time to join us on the forum and share with us. Where is his ministry located?.

Blessings to Rev. Angley.

Freebird,
Reverend Angley won't have time to come to Discussion Boards as these, as he's too busy winning souls in foreign ground. Probably you can go to his web site. His ministry is an international ministry, and he has all the nine gifts of the Spirit. I have been to countless crusades, but in Reverend Angley's crusades there are physical manifestations of the presence of God, that will help unbelievers to believe. The miracles and healings take place in large numbers. You can view miracles on his web site. Here it is : www.ernestangley.org
Sid

I really like the old instructional manuals that were given to educate priests prior to Vatican II, as they're strongly influenced by Thomistic philosophy and theology, and thus permeated with deep faith and sound common sense.

What follows is a section from one of them on angels -- a topic about which Thomists reflected much, for in doing so, they came to a deep understanding of the nature of spirit (including our own). I've scanned the work and haven't edited it for formatting, nor even run a spell-check, so it might be a little sloppy. Still, to give you the gist of it:

quote:

A BOUT OURSELVES, THE ANGELS KNOW ALL there
is to be known from the post of an observer who
needs no relief, misses nothing, forgets nothing. Be-
yond that, the angels, all of them, easily penetrate
into the regions of our imagination and memory, areas
about which the human observer can only guess;
which means that our daydreams are not purely
private affairs, they are shared by the whole of the
angelic world, our sentimental journeys into the dear
days of long ago are never solitary trips. We are not
nearly so much alone as we imagine, whatever the
hour or the place. In relation to the friendly angels,
this is to our infinite comfort, and often enough to
our acute embarrassment; while it brings home
clearly our weak defenses against the hostile horde
of devils, the help we unwittingly and constantly give
to our bitter enemies, and our own desperate need
for help from powers on a par with these enemies who
so completely outmatch us.

THE ANGELS CAN INTRODUCE PICTURES into our
imagination, they can reach into the storehouse of
memory and parade the past before our mind's eye;
but there the great natural powers of the angelic
world grind to a halt before the impregnable sov-
ereignty of our intellect and our will. Not even the
highest of the angels knows what a man is going to
do next; the most gifted of the angels cannot know
what I am thinking at this moment. In this privacy of
soul, we are the equals of the angels; this territory is inviolable to all but almighty God Himself. Such is the stature of man's dignity. We are spiritual as well as physical; we are free; our intellect and will are not to be tampered with by any created force. So our thoughts, our deliberate desires, our loves are our own; for them we ourselves must take full credit or full blame. The angels can suggest through imagination and memory, they can coax, entice, threaten, or frighten through these avenues of our sense nature; but we are the ultimate masters in command of our lives.

B0TH ANGELS AND MEN BOW DOWN in humble union in matters of faith. Here every truth is God's secret not to be discovered by anyone less than God, not to be known unless God Himself make the truth known. That divine life can be and is shared, that heaven's welcome waits for those who welcomed God, that hell's misery confirms the sinner's choice, that the Son of Mary is also the Son of God, that the living Christ is present in the Eucharist, Calvary renewed in the Mass, that grace pours into the soul through the sacraments-all these the angels know only as we do: by believing them on the word of God. Angels are a part of nature, as we are; their powers are natural powers. What they have of the supernatural, whether it be life, truth, action, or goal, is theirs only through the boundless generosity of the only supernatural Being, God Himself.


JUST AS IN US, the sweep of knowledge marks out the horizons of love, so in the angels, to match that superb knowledge, second only to God's, there is a driving power of appetite that comes closer than anything else in creation to imaging the power, the
intensity, the constancy and finality of the divine will. Knowing a little we can love a little; loving a little, we insist on knowing more of that lovableness; knowing more, we love more and insist again on more knowledge that there might be more love. The heart never actually outruns the head, for we have to see to love and the heart has no eyes. To know something of the magnificient perfection of angelic knowledge is to prepare oneself for the breathless rush of angelic love.


THE ANGELS ARE NOT DRIVEN to their activity by
a knowledge outside themselves, directed by another intelligence, as are the plants; they are not caught up necessarily in the immediate appeal of this or that particular good, as are the animals. Rather, like us, they are free agents; their love is their own. They can take or leave any good that creation has to offer. The explanation of this is roughly paralleled in our capacity for vision. Our eyes can see brown, black, purple, blue, violet and all the rest precisely because they are not determined to any one of these things but to color in general, any color, all colors; if they were made only for brown, they would see nothing else. Our wills, and those of the angels, are not fixed to any one good, but to good, any good, all goods, even the infinite good; and so our wills and theirs can reach out to any good, or they can reject any good save goodness itself seen nakedly in the vision of God.


BUT ANGELS ARE CREATURES, they are not God.
Like ourselves, they cannot rest content within themselves without excluding happiness and making a home for misery. Like ourselves, they must reach outside themselves for the lovableness that will still
the insistent demands of the will. Only God is totally sufficient unto Himself, for only God is infinite goodness, only God has no end to attain but only goodness to share. Only God is home for the love of the angels, as He is for our love; they too must make their way borne or remain forever exiles, wanderers in a world as empty and cold as a prison cell, for love's fire is the divine flame or it gives no warmth.

T0 THE APPRECIATION OF OUR NOBILITY be it
said that the angels are no more free than the least of men. Liberty does not come in spoonfuls, it is not doled out in differing degrees; it is magnificently full or it is non-existent. We are, then, no less responsible than the highest angels for the use we make of that liberty; and it is this awful splendor of responsibility that frightens men into an attempt to deny their humanity. The record of our use of it gives us grounds primarily for humility, since we are so often wavering, weak, timid both in our virtues and our sins. The angels suffer no such imperfections: their virtues are gestures of sweeping grandeur, their sins plumb the depths of the malice of hell. The movement of their wills, in other words, is a worthy complement to the instantaneous perfection of their knowledge.

IT IS AN AWESOME THING to be loved or hated by
an angel; one hardly less overpowering than the other. Nothing will arise to change that love or hate, there will be no belated discovery of goodness or evil, no error of judgment to be corrected, no rival to detract from the totality of love's embrace or hatred's spleen. The angel loves or hates instantaneously, with all the intensity of its unimpeded nature, irrevocably, with utter generosity or malice, in a roaring flame of consummation of its desire.

Phil:

Worth reading more than once. But I find Thomists, unlike phenomenologists, tend to pull up short re: the capacities of the psyche through natural grace, particularly the ability of humans to partially know one another beyond sensory means, even though inviolability remains.

I'm not sure where you find this shortcoming among Thomists, w.c. I've never come upon it. Can you give an example?

Well, I may be misunderstanding Thomists, Phil. But it seems I run across some allusion like this, as in, from your post above:


Not even the highest of the angels knows what a man is going to do next; the most gifted of the angels cannot know what I am thinking at this moment. In this privacy of soul, we are the equals of the angels; this territory is inviolable to all but almighty God Himself. Such is the stature of man's dignity. We are spiritual as well as physical; we are free; our intellect and will are not to be tampered with by any created force. So our thoughts, our deliberate desires, our loves are our own; for them we ourselves must take full credit or full blame. The angels can suggest through imagination and memory, they can coax, entice, threaten, or frighten through these avenues of our sense nature; but we are the ultimate masters in command of our lives."


I don't think parapsychology demonstrates, even in evidence for pre-cognition, an ability to know another person's mind, but does reveal our connectedness, such as in a mother's knowledge that her child will be hurt prior to the tragedy. That much isn't possessing or penetrating the child's mind. But I think the research does show that conscious will tends to function or lag behind subsconscious will, the latter giving rise to knowings as of the pre-cognitive variety. I don't think, however, that our thinking processes are fully our own, although our actions are in terms of what we choose to do. Unconscious volition can be stopped based upon conscience, for example, although what we'll think next is often not known even by ourselves. So I wouldn't call us "masters in the command of our lives."

w.c., I don't read that quote to be suggesting that the angels can read our minds so much as our memory and imagination. The Thomists didn't view those as part of our spiritual intelligence inasmuch as animals seem to have memory, emotions and maybe even imagery in their consciousness as well (e.g., a primitive language and dreams). They believed the intellect/reason was our spiritual intelligence, and what was going on there was private, although its affective resonance was not -- angels could read this. All the "masters in command of our lives" is meant to say is that we truly do possess inner freedom and aren't being pushed around by angels or even God.

The Thomists recognized that we know each other beyond sensory means; maybe I'm not understanding you here. But we communicate presence through our words, actions, and so forth. Their understanding of "connaturality" resonates very well with your "letting in" practice -- that we know something through direct participation in its being -- that we actually take it into our spirits and actually "know" it directly, a kind of natural union. To them, this was what Biblical knowledge entailed -- experiential knowing, rather than deductive understanding. Jim Arraj goes into this at length in some of his books when speaking of natural vs. supernatural knowledge of God, the latter enabling a participation in and knowledge of God's Being via God's self-communicating grace.

quote:

The intellect ought not to be conceived apart from the other faculties of the soul. This knowledge by inclination in the wide sense is above all intellectual, but it is the intellect working in a wholistic sense through the senses and the imagination, and through the cogitative faculty, which is a kind of sense instinct. These faculties can create "a certain sympathy or connaturality... in virtue of which the intellect will be spontaneously inclined toward this or that judgment." (21) In addition the will can interact with the intellect in an analogous fashion: "...as soon as there is love the imprint of what is loved is in some way in the Will of the one who loves, not as image or likeness, but as impetus or impulsion... And.. if love is habitual that which is loved will be constantly in him who loves, in the manner of an impetus or an impulsion which will ceaselessly urge him on. Then, at the least relaxation, on the slightest propitious occasion, the soul will be invaded by the thought of what is loved; and where reason could not have recognized it, love will do so... it is a question of recognizing and not of knowing, truth surges up in intelligence under the stimulus of love, and thus it can be said that the mind is taught by the heart." (22)

- http://www.innerexplorations.com/catchmeta/mmm2.htm

Phil:

Thanks. That helps clarify, as I suspected the issue was mainly my need to read and re-read the Thomists. Arraj's quote in the last half of the paragraph you cite is especially helpful in describing "connaturality," as it alludes to the soul's ability to know and be known without having to resort to reason.

Findings in parapsychology really do seem to support this notion of self-other inviolability, as the information gained about another person, through telepathy or pre-cognition, is more like reading memory, or an "affective resonance."

Good clarifications.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4

Who is the Angel of the Lord?

http://www.gotquestions.org/angel-of-the-Lord.html

Speaking to Abraham on Mt. Moriah the Angel of the Lord unequivocally identifies Himself as "The Lord" (YHWH or Jehovah) Genesis 22:10-18

Phil: Thanks for the link on angels. For whatever reason, I am being drawn to that part of God's creation and need to satisfy my emerging interest as much as possible.

In your post of 28 May 2006 you entered a quote from a Thomist or directly from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and I have a question regarding the last paragraph of that quote: "IT IS AN AWESOME THING to be loved or hated by an angel; one hardly less overpowering than the other. Nothing will arise to change that love or hate, there will be no belated discovery of goodness or evil, no error of judgment to be corrected, no rival to detract from the totality of love's embrace or hatred's spleen. The angel loves or hates instantaneously, with all the intensity of its unimpeded nature, irrevocably, with utter generosity or malice, in a roaring flame of consummation of its desire." So the question is: does or can an angel forgive? Now, granted that I'm coupling forgiveness as a human requirement to forgive our enemies, often which we may hate for a perceived injury, but how does that circumstance or those circumstances affect angels? The quote also seems to say that "malice" felt by an angel is irreversible, but from a human perspective I see that as creating all sorts of dysfunctional issues on the human condition in the personal realm, the social realm and the global realm.

John, I don't know about angels and forgiveness, of course. St. Thomas' conception of pure spirits like angels is that they have no unconscious dimension, so what they choose is chosen with their whole being. That part makes sense, but whether they can change their choices once made . . . who knows.

What's prompted your recent interest in angels?

I apologize for not getting back to you with regard to the question you asked when you responded to my query about angels, but visit www.longviewlambs.com and you'll get a pretty good idea of where I've been and what I have been doing. Although enjoying myself thoroughly, I have fallen behind in corresponding in a timely manner. Also, I haven't been able to further my research with regard to angels. But in answer to your question, "What prompted your recent interest in angels?" here is what happened.

I was one of the presenters at a recent event here in Chicago that hosted a Positive Aging Conference. My topic addressed diet and exercise. While I was scurrying around to find IT people help me set up for my powerpoint presentation I kept passing a room where the topic was going to address "Dreams in the Second Half of Life", to be delivered by Harry Moody, Director for Academic Affairs for AARP. I thought the topic to be of interest and decided to attend. However, when I went to listen to that presentation I happened to wander into a room that was addressing the topic "Angels in the Second Half of Life." Well, it was a most interesting presentation and I have since been drawn to learn more about the angels, who also are one of God's creations. How and why I was "led" into the room presenting about Angels in the Second Half of Life rather than Dreams in the Second Half of Life is a matter for another discussion. Whatever "led" me into that room, though, is now urging me to follow up and try to understand what part angels play in the welfare of mankind. Jesus talks about angels, Jesus was visited by an angel during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter was released from prison by the power and efforts of an angel. The gospel message first spread to Africa because an angel moved Philip to the eunuch returning to Africa. And many of the prophets of the Old Testament were inspired by angels who delivered the word of God to them.

So, if you come across anything that can help me further my quest and understanding about angels, or should you garner any insight about angels I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to me. Have a many blessings and Happy Easter.

Sounds like your guardian angel steered you into that workshop. It is indeed a most interesting topic.

Happy Easter to you as well.