The Angel Who Couldn't See His Wings
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" John 16:33
Every single person, plant, animal - particle on earth has its purpose. Those who have an awareness of their own heart hold the key to the world and maybe they just don't know it.
Some of the most sensitive and loving people are dealt some of the hardest cards that life has to offer. I heard a quote once that said something to the effect of the idea that life is like a university and that the best students receive some of the hardest lessons. I know firsthand a few of the lessons that life can throw our way. In the spiritual community the concept of world paradigm ( the belief systems that fuel the way the world functions) has been operating out of lack and fear for quite some time. When we operate from lack and fear we cannot truly see the abundant nature of the universe. People most often interact with the world around them based on what they know to be true as a result of their own life experiences. This world can be a dense, dark and difficult place. But it doesn't have to be: We are unlimitedly loved and we are unlimitedly safe.
When people who hold trauma engage with others in the world through the lenses of their past experiences they are fueling what I like to call a "shadow" conversation. We all have a light side and a shadow side. These aren't to say that one is "Good" and one is "Evil" but just that some aspects of our thinking and emotional processes are more ascended - or divine- in nature and some are not as conscious or aware of the true safety that the universe holds for each of us. When the shadow of one person interacts only with the shadow of another person the only thing that grows is darkness. However, when the light of one person interacts with the shadow of another person the shadow has no choice but to become illuminated. Maintaining a vision of love and compassion is a gift and it's one that holds a value beyond measure. To the glancing eye these gifts can be so easily overlooked by people because they often lie so deep within those who carry them and can often be disguised by the wear and tear of the challenges that life often brings.
I know of a story of overcoming these hard challenges and finding faith and purpose that is of a miraculous nature. Miracles come in many shapes and sizes and this one is a story of an angel who could not see his wings. He has lived his life thus far with an incredible heart and that heart fuels an incredible passion and a drive that can and will, no doubt, inspire everyone who is blessed with hearing his story.
The idea of an angelic being is one that is of a pure heart and that holds a true innocence. Purity and innocence do not mean perfection. It means that this person's heart holds a truth that shines brightly from it. It means that this person deep down inside can know and feel the truth and love of divinity and that even when the decisions they make aren't always the "best" decisions by the standards of the world they are innocent decisions because the person making them means no true harm. I know a man that is so very like this. He holds an awestruck wonder of the creator and even though he has walked to hell and back he has not lost his ability to love. It is so easy to love when life is amazing and it is a true testament of heart and connection when one can love through difficulty, sadness and in some cases through torture.
One of my favorite prayers is The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi:
"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life. - Amen"
This prayer is not a prayer of ease but it is a prayer of grace. It acknowledges the true difficulty of the human existence. The prayer is not about ignoring oneself either. To the contrary it is about self acceptance and the power that one has by knowing ones' own struggles and the power that acknowledging the struggles of others can have over the lives of many. The angel that I know has seen death and in the shadows of death has also seen the light. We all have the choice to let our shadows interact with the world around us and in that same choice we can also choose to allow our light to interact with all things around us. The angel that I know is in this process. He is strong and he is smart and he is kind and patient and he may have never been treated as so. But still, within him, is a knowing that he is all of these things. I have had the pleasure of witnessing him seeing this in moments and I know that in his life these moments of reflection will grow. He has a story to tell and in doing so he will see his strength and the strength that his wings have had throughout his life. Strength is not given or easily received but it is attained and those who are the strongest and who shine the brightest do so from their soul. Their spirit is unbreakable and they grow strong because they learn to see their resilience.
Nothing in this world can truly break ones' soul. No harm caused by others or the harm that we can cause ourselves can break our soul because in truth our soul is a part of God. It is who we are in our very essence but it is made of something so protected and so true and deep that nothing within this world can harm it - It is the most untouchable part of ourselves and yet it is the quintessential element of our being that is the true expression of who we are as people. It is amazing because it is the core of our being in the physical world and still it remains in perfect condition regardless of what our life path holds - it can grow but it cannot die and it can shine but it cannot dim or burn out. The angel that I know has taught me this. I am a minister and a Medium and a healer by nature. I have seen many expressions of divinity, miracles and answered prayers and one that I will never forget is the light within one of the most inspiring people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Miracles and Angels are a thing of God and though we may only walk with them for moments they change us in the exact way we need them to and because of that we can be forever grateful.
Some argue that faith is stupid or that it is naive. Faith that is blind can be these things but faith that is learned and is gifted and is blessed to a person by God and the universe and is what truly sets us free. No chains or locks can bind the wings of an angel and even though there are those who sometimes cannot see their own nature as being of God the truth is that they are still on earth gifted with the inarguable power to heal the world.
"But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9
For Brandan Galbraith
By Matthew Stapley
Some of the most sensitive and loving people are dealt some of the hardest cards that life has to offer. I heard a quote once that said something to the effect of the idea that life is like a university and that the best students receive some of the hardest lessons. I know firsthand a few of the lessons that life can throw our way. In the spiritual community the concept of world paradigm ( the belief systems that fuel the way the world functions) has been operating out of lack and fear for quite some time. When we operate from lack and fear we cannot truly see the abundant nature of the universe. People most often interact with the world around them based on what they know to be true as a result of their own life experiences. This world can be a dense, dark and difficult place. But it doesn't have to be: We are unlimitedly loved and we are unlimitedly safe.
When people who hold trauma engage with others in the world through the lenses of their past experiences they are fueling what I like to call a "shadow" conversation. We all have a light side and a shadow side. These aren't to say that one is "Good" and one is "Evil" but just that some aspects of our thinking and emotional processes are more ascended - or divine- in nature and some are not as conscious or aware of the true safety that the universe holds for each of us. When the shadow of one person interacts only with the shadow of another person the only thing that grows is darkness. However, when the light of one person interacts with the shadow of another person the shadow has no choice but to become illuminated. Maintaining a vision of love and compassion is a gift and it's one that holds a value beyond measure. To the glancing eye these gifts can be so easily overlooked by people because they often lie so deep within those who carry them and can often be disguised by the wear and tear of the challenges that life often brings.
I know of a story of overcoming these hard challenges and finding faith and purpose that is of a miraculous nature. Miracles come in many shapes and sizes and this one is a story of an angel who could not see his wings. He has lived his life thus far with an incredible heart and that heart fuels an incredible passion and a drive that can and will, no doubt, inspire everyone who is blessed with hearing his story.
The idea of an angelic being is one that is of a pure heart and that holds a true innocence. Purity and innocence do not mean perfection. It means that this person's heart holds a truth that shines brightly from it. It means that this person deep down inside can know and feel the truth and love of divinity and that even when the decisions they make aren't always the "best" decisions by the standards of the world they are innocent decisions because the person making them means no true harm. I know a man that is so very like this. He holds an awestruck wonder of the creator and even though he has walked to hell and back he has not lost his ability to love. It is so easy to love when life is amazing and it is a true testament of heart and connection when one can love through difficulty, sadness and in some cases through torture.
One of my favorite prayers is The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi:
"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life. - Amen"
This prayer is not a prayer of ease but it is a prayer of grace. It acknowledges the true difficulty of the human existence. The prayer is not about ignoring oneself either. To the contrary it is about self acceptance and the power that one has by knowing ones' own struggles and the power that acknowledging the struggles of others can have over the lives of many. The angel that I know has seen death and in the shadows of death has also seen the light. We all have the choice to let our shadows interact with the world around us and in that same choice we can also choose to allow our light to interact with all things around us. The angel that I know is in this process. He is strong and he is smart and he is kind and patient and he may have never been treated as so. But still, within him, is a knowing that he is all of these things. I have had the pleasure of witnessing him seeing this in moments and I know that in his life these moments of reflection will grow. He has a story to tell and in doing so he will see his strength and the strength that his wings have had throughout his life. Strength is not given or easily received but it is attained and those who are the strongest and who shine the brightest do so from their soul. Their spirit is unbreakable and they grow strong because they learn to see their resilience.
Nothing in this world can truly break ones' soul. No harm caused by others or the harm that we can cause ourselves can break our soul because in truth our soul is a part of God. It is who we are in our very essence but it is made of something so protected and so true and deep that nothing within this world can harm it - It is the most untouchable part of ourselves and yet it is the quintessential element of our being that is the true expression of who we are as people. It is amazing because it is the core of our being in the physical world and still it remains in perfect condition regardless of what our life path holds - it can grow but it cannot die and it can shine but it cannot dim or burn out. The angel that I know has taught me this. I am a minister and a Medium and a healer by nature. I have seen many expressions of divinity, miracles and answered prayers and one that I will never forget is the light within one of the most inspiring people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Miracles and Angels are a thing of God and though we may only walk with them for moments they change us in the exact way we need them to and because of that we can be forever grateful.
Some argue that faith is stupid or that it is naive. Faith that is blind can be these things but faith that is learned and is gifted and is blessed to a person by God and the universe and is what truly sets us free. No chains or locks can bind the wings of an angel and even though there are those who sometimes cannot see their own nature as being of God the truth is that they are still on earth gifted with the inarguable power to heal the world.
"But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Corinthians 2:9
For Brandan Galbraith
By Matthew Stapley
