Falling Angels

Jun 21, 2013 | Angels

Last week during my reading group, one woman produced a “show and tell.” It was a silken fragment of a World War II parachute, in green-brown jungle camouflage, that had been used in the invasion of Normandy.  We passed it from hand to hand, remembering the meadows of...

Massacres and Angels

Jul 26, 2012 | Angels

Like many people, I’ve been trying to swallow the latest Colorado massacre, and how it is possible for a mentally ill man to buy 6,000 rounds of assault-weaponry firepower without anyone noticing anything untoward.  Or to carry weapons into a movie theater without...

Angels as LUMBERJACKS

May 2, 2012 | Angels

Not long ago I gave the basic Angels 101 talk to a group of about 200 people: What are angels; why do they come sometimes and not at others; to one person and not another?Telling stories jogs memories, and afterwards at a reception many people came over totell me...

Animals and the Afterlife

Feb 16, 2012 | Angels, Pets

My friend’s beloved and aged dog died not long ago. My friend was in a state of grief and there I sat helpless to comfort her—for what can assuage the loss of a dog, or cat, a horse, mouse, parrot, or pet snake? Our animal relationships are pregnant with meaning and...

Skittish Angels and Christmas Tales

Dec 20, 2011 | Angels

I’ve been thinking lately about how skittish angels are— “Now you see them, now you don’t”; and about how hard it is to hold onto those compelling moments when something extraordinary uplifted you with joy—the sense that “all is right with the world,” or,” I am...