The Swish of Angel Wings

The Swish of Angel Wings

A young mother was standing in the kitchen making breakfast one spring morning. Her little garden was in full bloom with fresh flowers and the smell of honey suckles filled the air. It seemed as thought winter had finally passed and spring was here. As she looked out the window into the backyard, she noticed that the garden gate had been left open. Her little three-year-old daughter, Lindsay, had toddled through the gate and was sitting there on the railroad tracks playing with the gravel as if it was a perfectly safe and sensible place to play. The mother's heart stopped and panic took over her body when she saw a train coming around the bend and heard its whistle. As she raced from the house screaming her daughter's name at the top of her lungs praying that she would get there in time or that Lindsay would hear her, she suddenly saw a striking figure, clothed in pure white, lifting Lindsay off the tracks and into safety. While the train passed, this being stood by the tracks with an arm around the mother's precious little girl. Together they watched the train go by. When the mother reached her daughter's side, Lindsay was standing alone (Smith).

Throughout recorded history, angels have touched mankind. People have admired and feared; welcomed and shunned; honored and rebuked; conversed with and ignored them. Angels have been described as stunning, awesome, wondrous to behold, and so

ordinary as to pass unnoticed amidst a crowd. Man has noted warring angels and peaceful angels: they have been declared both improbable and undeniable. Despite what anyone may think of angels the topic has made its way into people's hearts and lives; angels are still a constant belief and comfort to many.

In the Bible there are angels to be read about from Genesis in the Old Testament to the last chapter of Revelations in the New Testament. Angels are mentioned more than three hundred times in the Bible playing many crucial roles: carrying out God's commands; forming a heavenly court; and protecting and bringing messages to people (Anderson 8). The word angel comes from the Latin word angelus, the Greek word angols, and the Hebrew word mal' ha; translated these words mean messenger and one who is sent (Charlesworth). "For the angels are only spirit-messengers sent out to help and care for those who are to receive salvation" (Heb.