Angels in ordinary.

Dear friends,

I’ve not met an angel. Or, at least, not met one in such a way that I can look back and say “that was an angel.” I do however, know someone who believes that they did, with complete conviction. This is a very sensible person, a lawyer, even, not in the least prone to “wackiness”. I don’t doubt my friend’s word. I know enough about the world to know that there is a great deal that I do not know. The word “angel” or “angels” occurs 340 times in the Bible, 230 of these in the New Testament. The testimony of Scripture will suffice for me. The word angel means “messenger”, but a closer look at Scripture shows that these beings have a much wider remit. They reveal God’s law, they praise and worship God, they provide for and protect God’s people, they carry out God’s will, they give guidance, guard and punish.

The existence of angels, whether evidenced by personal experience, human testimony or Biblical witness, is a reminder of the spiritual dimension of the Creation which we (ordinarily) only perceive dimly. The angels “live” in this dimension, but are somehow able to intersect with the world of humanity, and have agency here too. They like us are created beings under God, and are also subservient to Christ (as the gospels demonstrate).

My friend’s situation was one where help was suddenly provided, and protection given. She was walking alone one afternoon in a local town, and a group of young men approached her and began harassing her in a threatening and intimidating way. She kept walking and they began to follow her. She was unable to shake them off. There was no one else around. She doesn’t know how, but a different young man suddenly came alongside her, took her arm, and said “Come with me.” He led her quickly to a place of safety. She turned to thank him but the street was completely empty again. The young man had disappeared. And her harassers were nowhere to be seen. “It was as if he came out of nowhere, protected me, and left as quickly as he came,” she said. How she described the matter reminded me of St Peter’s miraculous escape from prison, recounted in Acts 12:1-12.

Take courage, then, my friends. There are things in this world that we cannot see, and help is sometimes provided in unexpected ways. Thank God for his angels, and their many works. (My friend in the story above is now an award winning lawyer, working for some of the most vulnerable in society.)

Worship Services for Sunday 14th June

9.30am Morning Prayer at St John’s Stoke Row with Canon Kevin Davies

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Canon Kevin Davies.

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Nature Notes

It has been a depressing week in the garden. The extreme early heat stress has caused the broad beans to lose about half of their small pods, even though the blackfly have been brought quickly to heel. The subsequent high winds have broken a number of the tender climbing bean shoots, and the pink clematis coming into flower by the front door was battered down from where it was beginning to frolic at guttering height, and the blooms are now cowering mid way up the plant, their stems broken away. Then the cold and intense rainfall have put the outdoor cucumbers into shock, and the strawberries, lured into ripeness by the heat, are now prey to rot, slugs, and and almost biblical plague of mice. To cap it all, we also lost a friendly toad, who would have been most welcome in the strawberry bed, where he could have feasted on the slug buffet to his heart’s content. Looking on the bright side, green woodpecker has been about, along with goldfinches and pied wagtail. The lettuces (under plastic, against the pigeons) will be started this week, and the courgettes in the raised bed are shrugging off the rain. These, at least, are looking like they should. But, then, if it all worked as it should, it wouldn’t be gardening, would it?

May the Lord guard and guide us. And may our eyes and hearts be open to hear His voice, and to welcome the Servants whom He sends.

Your Rector, Canon Kevin.