Angels...And the Spirit of Christmas

“Be not forgetful to entertain angels, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Heb. 13:2


Our angel, we’ve had her for years. She occupies the uppermost branch in our evergreen tree which, this year, is 11 feet tall. The oxygen is thin up that high, but she seems not to mind. With her gold-inlaid wings spread wide, a rose at her breast, she smiles upon us, especially at night with the lights on.

Clothed in light and mystery
Her place secure atop the tree,
The Angel of The Heavenly Three
Broods in silence The Nativity.

You see, Christmas is about new birth, and angels are never far from new-born babies. These mysterious and ethereal spirits are well-documented throughout The Holy Word:

“…(who) makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire,…ministering spirits sent to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation…”.

And Christmas, if it is nothing else, is a time for imagination, and contemplation of intrigue and mystery of angelic spirits. Even the secular world has conjured up its own spirits in Christmas…notably such as St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, and the ghost of Jacob Marley.

For Christians, angels are intricately connected throughout the conception, birth and life of The Christ child. The birth of Jesus, divinely purposed and spiritually attended, was also intertwined with the common elements of this world---a stable, a manger, barn animals, shepherds and cold weather. Could angels, so integrally part of the birth of Jesus, be associated with the nativity of all births? Who is to say?

All new births are miracles …a creative mystery of profound proportions. Can you remember the birth of your children, or family members? In “the old days,” men were not allowed in the “delivery room,” but relegated to a “viewing room” with a large plate glass window. The child, your child, was brought up in an incubator or by a loving nurse, held up to the window for all to see, and to wonder, to marvel.

Not so today, I’m told. Men are now required to be a part of the delivery process… fainting is not allowed. My generation of men would not have been able to pay this price!

We wonder, “What might the future hold for a new-born baby?” Some cynical persons may even dare to ask, “What good is any new-born baby in these days?” The question resounds unanswered, unanswerable. Do angels know? Perhaps, for it’s said, “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways…”.

At Christmas the 16th century English melody, Greensleeves, is one of my favorites:

“What child is this who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.”

To intrude into the sphere of angels is to leave one awed, confounded and mystified. Late at night in this season my family sleeps. With the dog in my lap and all lights out except those on our tree, I commune with our angel and ask such questions. The Spirit of Christmas always creates in me a new birth.

In a barn in Bethlehem a Child was born over 2,000 years ago. “What Child is This,” we wonder? I ask this question to my angel. In silence, and haloed in light, I think I hear her say:

Who is this Child I hear you say?
Why, He is the Answer to a better way.
This Child of Peace in Heaven holds sway
And He is the Promise of a much better day.

In a quiet peace I wonder at the Promise of a much better day my angel promises … while I imagine The Possibilities.

May the joys, hopes and child-like wonder of Christmas never cease in your home and mine. Merry Christmas!


Bud Hearn
December 24, 2008