Jack saw angels and not the kind I would ever wish to meet. He was close to seven years old and was entirely comfortable with the fact that he had seen angels outside his house, protecting him and his family. The young boy described them as sword-wielding, radiant beings who struck holy terror everywhere they went. They were not the slightly odd Barbie dolls that we put on the top of the Christmas tree. These creatures meant business.
The dictionary definition of an angel says ‘an agent or messenger of God.’ When we look at this in the context of the Christmas narrative their role seems to be to explain that our protagonists should not be terrified, even though some horrifically terrifying event is about to take place.
That is how they announced themselves each time in the Christmas story.
Do not be afraid, you’re thirteen and you’re going to have a baby.
Do not be afraid, you’re fiancee is pregnant
Do not be afraid, you are going to be the first to see Emmanual.
Do not be afraid, you need to flee your homeland to protect your child.
Cast your mind back to the beginning of this year and consider what the angels, the sword-wielding messenger, might have said to you:
Do not be afraid, you’re going to be separated from your loved ones
Do not be afraid, your way of life is going to be drastically altered
Do not be afraid, homeschooling for six months is awesome!
Do not be afraid, you’re going to be unemployed
I guess we would have run a mile; questioned everything, and found ourselves meditating, even fixated, on the end of those sentences, not the beginning.
This week as we look for angels as a sign of the arrival of Christmas let’s take a minute and remember to stay in the first part of the sentence. And, whatever the new year brings, do not be afraid.
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