The angel’s gesture is precious and powerful to meditate upon, and yet what amazes me even more is the posture of God as He awakens Adam. The kind of image I pray will stick with me…that an angel will help me call up when I need it most.
Thank you for this series of essays. They are helping me restructure my view of reality. I was wondering if you could clarify what you mean when you say, "However, they cannot read my mind." How do you propose interacting with the Angelic? Does it have to be verbalized out loud?
You're very welcome! Restructuring our view of reality is one of the fundamental goals of this newsletter.
The consensus among theologians seems to be that angels do not have direct access to our private thoughts. In general, speaking aloud is not necessary to make our thoughts known to them; we can address them through silent, interior speech. However, I emphasized speaking aloud because in the example I gave, I was in a classroom and needed to speak aloud anyway, because students were present. My specific point in that example was that I cannot expect the angels to take knowledge directly from my mind and relay it to the students. In order to make that knowledge available to the angels, I must communicate it effectively.
That's my understanding of the situation, yes. Theologians seem to agree that only God has full access to our interior life—the angels, demons, and saints cannot know our private thoughts, motivations, desires, etc. But if we silently communicate with the angels and saints by addressing thoughts to them, they can "hear" us, either because that is inherently how the spiritual realm functions or because God perceives our communicative intention and makes those thoughts available to them.
Wonderful, deepening of thought. I can see why you were excited about the last image. It's truly touching. Thank you so much for sharing your deep insights. They are a gift.
The angel’s gesture is precious and powerful to meditate upon, and yet what amazes me even more is the posture of God as He awakens Adam. The kind of image I pray will stick with me…that an angel will help me call up when I need it most.
You're right, the depiction of God in that sculpture is fascinating.
Thank you for this series of essays. They are helping me restructure my view of reality. I was wondering if you could clarify what you mean when you say, "However, they cannot read my mind." How do you propose interacting with the Angelic? Does it have to be verbalized out loud?
You're very welcome! Restructuring our view of reality is one of the fundamental goals of this newsletter.
The consensus among theologians seems to be that angels do not have direct access to our private thoughts. In general, speaking aloud is not necessary to make our thoughts known to them; we can address them through silent, interior speech. However, I emphasized speaking aloud because in the example I gave, I was in a classroom and needed to speak aloud anyway, because students were present. My specific point in that example was that I cannot expect the angels to take knowledge directly from my mind and relay it to the students. In order to make that knowledge available to the angels, I must communicate it effectively.
Are you saying that angels have no access to our thoughts but can “hear” thoughts addressed directly to them? Would this be the same with the Saints?
That's my understanding of the situation, yes. Theologians seem to agree that only God has full access to our interior life—the angels, demons, and saints cannot know our private thoughts, motivations, desires, etc. But if we silently communicate with the angels and saints by addressing thoughts to them, they can "hear" us, either because that is inherently how the spiritual realm functions or because God perceives our communicative intention and makes those thoughts available to them.
Thank you for the clarification!!
I'm sending this to my sister Debbie Georgianni...thanks Robert!
You're welcome, and thank you for sharing the article, Mike!
Wonderful, deepening of thought. I can see why you were excited about the last image. It's truly touching. Thank you so much for sharing your deep insights. They are a gift.
This was a beautiful, touching read. Thank you.
This essay touched me deeply, God Bless you for your work and the generosity of sharing it.😇🙏
.....to help us rediscover reality.
😌🕯️📿⛪✍🏼🌙🌐🌳☀️⚓⛲ ♥️