1st entry (2009) - We are one another's Angels

Angels: genderless beings with a pair of white feathered wings; a gentle countenance always bearing a kindly and happy smile, and sometimes having a golden halo around the head. This was my earliest impression of what angels are. As I got older, angels took the form of innocent children wearing white tunics, singing hymns or carols.

Later in life, the Christian perspective of angels appeared to dominate: angels are the heavenly attendants of God, always singing His praises. They are also messengers of God, protecting the children of God from evil demonic forces or bodily harm. On a television programme I watched, some people even related personal encounters with "angels" who came to their rescue in life-and-death situations.

In the Christian Bible, angels appeared to have hierachies, like legions of heavenly soldiers. They were given names (e.g. Michael and Gabriel) and played significant roles in biblical history. And the devil was supposedly a fallen angel - banished from heaven because it thought it was greater than God.

A well-known drama serial, Touched by an Angel, like many Hollywood films, depicts angels disguised as humans, receiving missions from God to help people in need. A famous romance movie released 10 years ago, City of Angels starring Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan went one step ahead to explore the possibility of humans having romantic (and even carnal) relations with angels and vice versa. Angels occasionally feature in Japanese anime/manga too, and in some anime/manga the conventional meaning of and associations with the word "angel" is subverted e.g. D. N. Angel. and Burst Angel.

Angels are not unique to Christianity (or Islam and Judaism). According to wikipedia, in Zoroastrianism, each person had a guardian angel called Fravashi. In the Bahá'í Faith, angels are actually humans who through the love of God have consumed all human limitations and have been endowed with spiritual attributes. Angels probably existed in folklore for as long as fairies, deities and supernatural beings have. Interestingly, Hinduism and Buddhism do not have similar parallels. Devas (देव) are technically not angels although they have some similar characteristics (e.g. invisible to humans, genderless, and having supernatural powers). Buddha or various Bodhisattvas (बोधिसत्त्व) are certainly not angels.

I believe angels exist, but I do not believe that they are the only ones capable of doing good in this world. So what if angels really do come to the rescue of those in trouble? Do we fold our arms and do nothing to help? We can be one another's "angels" - by helping another fellow human being with our whatever God has blessed us, and supporting those around us in times of need. Like the caption of the picture in Beautiful.mag's website says, we are angels with only one wing (each) - we can only fly when we embrace each other. How apt!