"Let us stand aright! Let us stand with fear!" - this is what the Archangel Michael said to the other angels when Lucifer and his legions rebelled. Let us not turn away from God, but be attentive.It is utterly incomprehensible to me - the idea that there are angels everywhere, that they worship with us at the Divine Liturgy, that they watch over and protect us, because I lack the purity of heart to see them. But they are there, always. When my son pulled down a five-drawer dresser when I was out of the room, and yet bore not one scratch, was the Archangel not there protecting him? When a friend, while driving a jeep in Iraq, was shot at, so closely, that bullets were scattered in the backseat, was this not the Archangel protecting him? There is so much holiness here on earth, yet most of the time we walk around with our eyes and ears shut - we do not see and we do not hear.
Today at Liturgy Sasha was being especially rebellious - I had to take him out three separate times. I was not able to focus on anything but just trying to get through the service without losing complete control. But I stood there and I did remember - I am now in the Kingdom and the angelic hosts surround us - Christ is in our midst. If I can just be attentive, keep myself turned toward God, then I really have nothing to fear. If I continue to be vigilant, then I will recognize Christ when he comes in His glory. I will hear Him say - Good and faithful servant, draw near.
Yes, let us be like the angels, who constantly stand in the presence of God, who do not rest, but forever keep their eyes and ears attuned to Him. Yes, let us be attentive, lest the Bridegroom comes and we are not there.
1 comment:
Katya, I really love your blog and I'm glad you started it. I too was recently reminded of guardian angels and have made a decision to be more conscious of their presence. When I converted to Orthodoxy, I thought the prayer to one's guardian angel was a little weird, maybe just a sentimental folk custom that had somehow found its way into the official prayer book, and I decided to ignore it. But recently I had this important conversation with a Roman Catholic nun. At one point in the conversation I was telling her a little about Esme's (my daughter) tendency to be wakeful at night. As the conversation was ending and we were saying goodbye, she promised that she would pray to Esme's guardian angel to watch over her and bring other angels by her side so that we would both rest well that night. As it turned out, we both had the most peaceful night we'd had in ages (I was traveling alone with her at the time, so she had been especially wakeful since leaving home). Anyway, (sorry this is so long), ever since then I have repented of my former perspective and have tried to say a prayer to Esme's guardian angel every night before I put her to bed. I take it seriously, and I can feel the reality of it-- if not fully, at least in part. You are so right when you say that there is a world of holiness that our hearts are too hard to see.
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