Angels among us?
Etymology: The word "angel" in English (from Old English and German Engel), French (from Old French angele), Spanish, and many other Romance languages are derived from the Latin angelus, itself derived from Koine Greek: angelos, "messenger" The ultimate etymology of that word in Greek is uncertain.[2]
In Hebrew & Arabic the primary term for "angel" is "malakh", "malaika", or "malak" (derived from the Semitic consonantal root l-'-k, meaning "to send." This root is also found in the noun "Melakha", meaning "work", and the noun "Mal'achut", meaning "message". Other words referring to angels include kruv[3] describing young children, from which the English word "cherub" is derived. Another Hebrew term is Gil-Gulim, meaning "revolving," and angels are sometimes depicted as wheels with wings. Derived from this is the Hebrew term "Gal-Gal," "the rotation of fortune, change."[4]
(--Wikipedia)
What if "angel" was the word we use for the unbroken connection extending throughout all of existence -- all of being -- between what we call the Holy and what we call Ourselves? In other words, "angel" is the communicative intuitive remembering of wholeness, going to origin, open flow of awareness with no diversion.
If, for an instant, we become alert to the revelation of what is taking place, we are in the presence. We might say we are in the presence of angels, or we might say we are in the presence of Presence Itself. No bifurcation. Rather, a susurrus of sensate awareness seeming to suggest from a distance something that enlightens the action we are about to take, the thought we are attempting to reveal, or the reality we are longing to be.
Isolate and full, the moon
Floats over the house by the river.
Into the night the cold water
Rushes away below the gate.
The bright gold spilled on the river
Is never still.
The brilliance of my quilt
Is greater than precious silk.
The circle without blemish.
The empty mountains without sound.
The moon hangs in the vacant, wide constellations.
Pine cones drop in the old garden.
The senna trees bloom.
The same clear glory extends
For ten thousand miles.
- Tu Fu (712-790)
It is not yet easy to dwell in the understanding that all is inseparate and of a piece. We deal with spatials and temporals. There is an 'out there' and an 'in here' in our designations. The prospect that there is only 'here' and that every point along the line, every pause around the circle,
is every other point, every other pause -- even while positing the opinion that there is no 'other' -- intrigues us and astounds us.
In our myths, in the stories we speak out of the silence of 'not knowing', we attempt to draw a sketch of our longings and fears.
Michael (the name means "Who is like God?") is said to be the captain of the heavenly armies. He is mentioned in the Scriptures in Daniel 10:13,31; 12:1 (where he is said to be the prince of the people of Israel); in Jude 9 (where he is said to have disputed with the devil about the body of Moses); and in Revelation 12:7 (where he is said to have led the heavenly armies against those of the great dragon). He is generally pictured in full armor, carrying a lance, and with his foot on the neck of a dragon. (Pictures of the Martyr George are often similar, but only Michael has wings.)
Gabriel (the name means "God is my champion") is thought of as the special bearer of messages from God to men. He appears in Daniel 8:16; 9:21 as an explainer of some of Daniel's visions. According to the first chapter of Luke, he announced the forthcoming births of John the Baptist and of our Lord to Zachariah and the Virgin Mary respectively.
Raphael (the name means "God heals") is mentioned in the Apocrypha, in the book of Tobit, where, disguised as a man, he accompanies the young man Tobias on a quest, enables him to accomplish it, and gives him a remedy for the blindness of his aged father.
Uriel (the name means "God is my light" -- compare with "Uriah", which means "the LORD is my light") is mentioned in 4 Esdras.
(--from Michael and All Angels, Sept 29, http://satucket.com/lectionary/Michael.htm)
Rain drenches earth this celebration of angels. In Catholic tradition 29Sept is designated for the Archangels and 2Oct is for the Holy Guardian Angels. In a time of discouragement and disillusionment we long for equanimity and poise in the face of what is presenting itself.
It matters that we attempt to become and remain alert.
Every human and sentient being, every stone and molecule of air, water, mineral, and empty space -- we are all intertwined and interconnected.
If it be.
Your will.
Angels preserve us!