I Don't Do Angels

"Angels we have heard on high

Sweetly singing o’er the plains

And the mountains in reply

Echoing their joyous strains"

 

 I don't do angels. I mean it - I really don't

 

 I don't mean real angels, of course, but the myriad little cutesy decorative items found everywhere these days. You know the kind - everything from chubby naked babies, long-haired beauties in flowing robes , and masculine types with armor and swords to puppies, kittens, bears and monkeys - all depicted with wings, fluttering in air, and totally adorable. I don't do those!

The word "angel" comes from Hebrew and Greek words which mean “messenger” and is used to describe any agent that God sends to do his will. Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament of the Bible. They are often depicted as spirits, rather than physical beings, and don't have to be visible at all. But they can take on the appearance of men or women and sometimes appear in dazzling white and blazing glory. Sometimes an angel appears to be a man with highly unusual features.

Although some Bible passages picture angels with wings or talk about angels flying, most references say nothing about wings. And it does not always refer to heavenly beings; sometimes, the Bible uses these words for human beings, sometimes it speaks figuratively of things or events as "messengers", but it usually describes the whole range of spirits whom God has created, including both good and evil angels, and special categories such as cherubim, seraphim and the archangel. However, angels in the Bible never appear as cute, chubby infants - they are always full-grown adults. When people in the Bible saw an angel, their typical response was to fall on their faces in fear and awe, not to reach out and tickle an adorable baby.

In art, angels are often depicted with wings on their back, a halo, robes and various forms of glowing light. But angels are not limited to Christianity. The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of supernatural beings or spirits found in many other religious traditions, as well as occultism. Is it any wonder, then, that we find decorative angels in all shapes and sizes?
 

 

It appears that angels serve a valuable purpose. Their job descriptions might well include worship and praise, revealing, guiding, providing, protecting, delivering, strengthening and encouraging, answering prayer, and caring for believers at the moment of death.

 

So have I ever actually met a real angel? My first impulse would be to say no, but considering all of the above, I do believe I have - many times and in many different forms. I believe we all have.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

But the angel said to them. "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord..."  
Luke 2:9-11  

       

TIMBER!

Our house is old. Not ancient, nor historic - just comfortably lived in since the 1950’s when it was built. Although it’s had several additions over the years, the original part of the house has natural wood ceilings with thick, old, open beams and wide planks running across those. In the evenings the house plays its own symphony - moaning, groaning, and loudly cracking as the old beams contract with the cooling air. Morning sounds the same, as the wood slowly expands with the warmth of day. We’ve grown accustomed to the sounds, but visitors are often startled by the loud cracks.

Since the beginning, wood has been valued for making tools, houses, and myriad other things of use to mankind. Native Americans were the first to cut down and use trees in our area. Drift logs landing on the beach were welcomed and used, but they could not supply all the needs of a village. Thousands of years before the first non-natives arrived, they learned to fell the giant trees, using a variety of tools and methods.

Early explorers were impressed with the huge trees, seeking them from the very beginning for use on their sailing ships. The tall, straight firs and spruces were especially desired for ship spars - those tall, wooden poles which held their sails and rigging. They readily traded with the native people, gleaning their knowledge of the great trees and enlisting their help to acquire them. Although newcomers developed their own methods of logging, there is no doubt they observed and learned much from the Native’s methods.

There were no roads back then, only the water and a few native or animal trails, so people usually traveled by boat. In the 1850s, the first sawmills here were supplied with logs from trees growing near the water. Loggers began at the water’s edge and cut their way inland. Getting logs from forest to mill was a challenge and methods developed and changed as necessary to supply the growing need. Before the railroad arrived, loggers used horse and ox teams to drag logs over skid roads down to the water, where the logs were formed into huge rafts and floated to the mills. By 1881, a Seattle paper reported that the best timber had been cut from the shore of Hood Canal one and a half miles back for its entire length. The same was true for most readily accessible areas around the Puget Sound.

Human need is nothing new. In 950 BC, mighty King Solomon set out to build his massive temple, followed by an impressive palace. To complete the projects, he needed quality materials and highly-skilled craftsmen. Being practical, as well as wise, he established a working relationship with Hiram, king of Tyre to acquire all the timber he needed. He completed both in 20 years.

Apparently, “bigger is better” is not a new concept, either. Exactly how much house, furniture, and toys are enough? Enveloped and protected by the native woods in our home, I wonder - at what point does “need” become “greed”?

So Hiram sent word to Solomon:

"I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and pine logs. My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will float them in rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household."

1 Kings 5:8-9

By your messengers

you have heaped insults on the Lord.

And you have said, 

"With my many chariots

I have ascended the heights of the mountains

the utmost heights of Lebanon.

I have cut down its tallest cedars,

the choicest of its pines.

I have reached its remotest parts,

the finest of its forests..."

2 Kings 19:23

Cedar Lessons

“Mom, look at me!” My eyes traveled up and up, then locked on the small, partly obscured shape halfway up the tree. “I see you.” I shouted back. “You look really small.” “You too!” came the answer.

At the tender age of 5, our son had asked to climb the huge, old cedar tree in our back yard. My father had been highly protective, always warning me to be careful and I was determined not to raise our son that way. So I told him he could climb, reminded him to be careful (!), and watched him disappear into the greenery. I had no idea he would go so high. “Take your time coming down.” It seemed a very long time before he emerged, unscathed, at the bottom.

That was nearly 30 years ago and the tree was old then. I have no idea what age it is, but it still graces our yard, dwarfing everything below it. At 50 feet, it hasn’t nearly the 230 foot height such trees can reach. Surrounded by native ferns, star flowers, huckleberry, Oregon grape, mint, St. John’s Wort and the graves of 1 hamster, 1 guinea pig, 2 dogs, and numerous goldfish, baby geese and ducks, it has become a family shrine of sorts. I can’t imagine living here without it.

This is a Western Red Cedar, common in this part of the world, and could live up to 800 years. Although not a true cedar, this slow growing, naturally durable tree has been valued by humans over time. Producing long lengths of timber with true, straight grain, its heartwood has natural decay resistance. Free from pitch, its wood has superior insulation value, is lightweight, easy to work, easy to finish, weather and insect resistant, and flat-out beautiful. Long before our European ancestors arrived, bringing a thriving timber industry with them, it formed an integral part of the spiritual and practical life of local Native Americans.

Jerzy Strzelecki

Across the world, other huge, old evergreens live on - the majestic Cedars of Lebanon. True cedars, these ancient giants can grow up to 80 feet, spread from 30 to 50 feet, and live more than 1,000 years. These, too, have been highly prized since time immemorial. As early as 3,000 BC, Babylonia was importing wood for its temples. 4,700 years ago, Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Sumeria, stripped the land bare in southern Mesopotamia for timber to finish his magnificent city. Much later, King Solomon formed a trading alliance with King Hiram of Tyre to acquire all the cedar wood he needed to build his huge palace and temple in Jerusalem.

BlingBling10

Today, precious few of our old growth Western Red Cedars remain - likewise the venerable Cedars of Lebanon. If trees could speak, oh what stories these could tell! Still, the lessons are there. Perhaps we should begin to learn them - beginning with those in our own backyard.

Jerzy Strzelecki

Consider Assyria, once a cedar in Lebanon,

with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest;

it towered high, its top above the thick foliage.

The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall;

their springs flowed all around its base
and sent their channels to all the trees of the field.

So it towered higher than all the trees of the field;

its boughs increased and its branches grew long,
spreading because of abundant waters.

All the birds of the air nested in its boughs,
all the beasts of the field
gave birth under its branches;

all the great nations lived in its shade.

It was majestic in beauty, with its spreading boughs,

for its roots went down to abundant waters.

Ezekiel 31:3-7

Cedars of Lebanon picture files from Wikimedia Commons