Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Lectionary: 455/650

Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun. I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice.

The image on the right side of this page depicts an angel protecting a man sleeping in the street. I suppose he is homeless, and needs more protection than the street can afford. 

Most of the familiar images of guardian angels -- at least the ones Christians prefer -- describe the guardians of children. Parents must often pray that an army of God's spirits will guide, protect and shelter their impulsive, rambunctious wards from all harm. 

Adults, we suppose, should be able to take care of themselves -- unless they can't -- which is often the case. 

In fact we all need protection. No one has eyes in the back of their heads; no one can foresee every threat or danger. 

A recent NPR article told of the Russian, Stanislav Petrov, who kept a constant watch against the United States:

He was on the overnight shift in the early morning hours of Sept. 26, 1983, when the computers sounded an alarm, indicating that the U.S. had launched five nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Fortunately, he hesitated. An all-out nuclear war, he thought, should begin with far more American ICBMs. The warning proved to be a computer glitch and the world was spared that night. Despite the rank stupidity of thousands of nuclear weapons built and aimed at so-called enemies, one man with common sense chose not to act. 

There is still a lot of stupidity to go around. Persistent pollution, climate change denial, bigotry, drug addiction, alcoholism, abortion, suicide, and so forth: we need God's angels to protect us from ourselves.