MINISTERIAL MUSINGS: “Angels Unawares"

Isaiah 61:1-2

Hebrews 13:1-2

I have a friend back in Kansas City who is a psychologist.  Her identity is irrelevant, except to say that this person — who is as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside — is the single mother of a young boy.

One day, her son asked her to explain what she does for a living.  Her response was, “Well, the people who come to see Mommy are actually angels whose wings are broken.  I try to help them fly again.”

Tears came to my eyes when she told me this.

Are those not the people who walk among us?  Is that not us?  In this world that is littered with child abuse, rape, murder, war, prejudice, hatred, swine flu, and whatever else lies in wait to “break” our wings, are we not all angels looking for some sort of respite?

If that is true (and I believe it is), then all of us are called to be healers as well.  The renowned Christian devotionalist Henri Nouwen once claimed that the best pastors are wounded healers.  It isn’t just clergy, though.  In a sense, we are all wounded and we are all called to be healers.  In so doing, we are entertaining “angels without knowing it,” as the writer of Hebrews declared.

Look around you.  Do you see someone who is struggling to fly?  Do you see someone who is wobbling around in circles like a sparrow who has fallen out of a tree and injured one of her wings?  That sparrow is frantic (even though she may not show it), because she knows that the alley cat hiding around the corner senses her vulnerability and the feline is getting ready to pounce.  What will you do to help her?  Or do you see that young robin that has fallen out of his nest and is unable to fly, because he is too young.  He is at the mercy of the elements.  Are you going to stop and lift him up to his nest where he will find safety and nourishment, or are you going to just walk by, because, really, “it isn’t your problem”?

Those with broken wings are trying to fly all around you: at the bus-stop, in the hospice wing of the local hospital, at the abused women’s shelter, in the soup kitchen, in the unemployment line, in the makeshift cardboard home under the bridge, and in line next to you at the grocery store.  Who knows?  One of those broken-winged birds may even be in your home.

What will you do?  What will do to help someone fly again?  At some point (if not now) you are going to need someone to help you fly again, too.

The Rev. John Tamilio III is the Religion Columnist for The Lakewood Observer and the Senior Pastor of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Tremont.  He can be reached at johnt@pilgrimalive.org.  JT3 lives in Lakewood with his wife and their three children.