Today commemorates “The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel.” Michael, a Hebrew name that asks the rhetorical question “Who is like God?” (answer: no one), is one of a very select group of Super Angels (aka Archangels) and is known as the Protector, the one who fights off Lucifer’s demonic minions and protects Judaism and Christianity from the forces of capital-E Evil.

And, in general, angels are thought of as protectors. We speak of guardian angels, and of asking angels to watch over those we love, those who are traveling, those who go to war. Oh, we adore, ignore, or cringe at the thought of the representations we typically see of fat, semi-nude, rosy-cheeked things with wings (sometimes harps) that serve almost as garnishes to religious iconography and greeting cards. Yet, setting aside these depictions and all that is cute (or, if you must, cutesy) about them…really, what are we talking about when it comes to angels, and how in the world do these whatever-they-are protect us?

Once again, I look to etymology here. “Angel” comes from the Greek word meaning “messenger.” So the idea here, shorn of Hallmark and Hummel, is that there is something special about messengers, something that can protect us.

Indeed! Think of the messages we get–by phone, by email, by interior revelation, by word-of-mouth, by inspiration at hearing others speak, by unexpected juxtapositions that make us see things we’ve never seen before. Messages inform us. Messages reveal news to us. Messages warn us. Messages encourage us. Messages summon us together. Messages send us out. Messages tell us of great news. Messages relate us to faraway events. Messages break bad news to us. Messages send out calls for help. Messages keep us connected. Messages keep us from forgetting. And, in each of these cases, messages connect us. That is the very raison d’être, the sine qua non, the thing that must always be true for something to actually be a message–it connects.

And Messengers do the work of connecting. My father was a letter carrier for the better part of three decades–he made it possible for people to send and to receive messages. Over the years (this all being before email), he delivered news of births, marriages, and deaths. He delivered draft notices, and college acceptance letters. He delivered overdue bills and he delivered Social Security checks. He delivered gifts and he delivered handwritten pleas for forgiveness. He delivered Book of the Month Club selections and A&P circulars. He delivered letters written to Santa and sympathy cards. He was part of the means by which people connected and communicated.

He was part of the infrastructure that, in the end, connects people and thereby safeguards their lives.

This line of thinking is all new territory for me with this post. I’d love to hear from you: Can we be angels?