Your Guardian Angel

Your guardian angel is your link to the divine. The word "angel" comes from the Greek and means "a messenger." The concept of guardian angels goes back thousands of years to the Assyrian and Babylonian civilisations where they were believed to protect palaces and temples. However, this gradually changed. Many people in the Christian tradition believe that every baby gets assigned a guardian angel at birth. Jesus referred to this when he said that the angels who look after children always face God (Matthew 18:10).

About 150 AD, a man named Hermas wrote one of the earliest Christian bestsellers, Shepherd of Hermas. In it, Hermas wrote of his personal angel-shepherd who acted as his guardian angel and helped him on a daily basis. Moving forward almost 1,900 years, Pope Pius XI said that he prayed to his guardian angel every morning and evening. When he had to speak to someone who was opposed to him, he asked his guardian angel to communicate with the other person's guardian angel first, to eliminate any potential problems.

We all have a guardian angel that watches over us, and tries to help us in subtle ways. Not long ago, I spoke to a woman who had narrowly escaped being run over while crossing a road. She felt a force push her to the side of the road moments before a car raced past. She attributed her lucky escape to her guardian angel.

Small children often believe in guardian angels, but often lose faith as they grow into adulthood. Regardless of your beliefs, your guardian angel continues to communicate with you in thoughts and dreams intended to inspire, help and counsel you. However, your guardian angel will never interfere with your free will. Occasionally, when the situation is urgent, guardian angels act in a more direct way. When Sir Ernest Shackleton, the British explorer, was returning from the South Pole, he knew that "one more" accompanied his party. When Sir Francis Smythe was attempting the final stage of his ascent of Mount Everest on his own, he was aware of an invisible companion. "I could not feel lonely, neither could I come to any harm," he wrote afterwards.

How do you recognize your guardian angel? Ask your guardian angel to communicate with you in quiet moments. Become aware of your dreams. Heed the quiet voice that warns you when you are tempted to do something wrong. You will gradually realise that your guardian angel is with you all the time, and is willing to help you in everything you do.

Your guardian angel is your own personal guide and teacher. As you accept your guardian angel's presence your life will gradually improve. Small upsets will no longer bother you, and you'll find yourself more loving, accepting and compassionate. You'll also become aware of the spiritual in every area of your life.

Richard Webster is author of 80 books, including Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians, Miracles, Michael, and Gabriel (all published by Llewellyn Publications). His website is http://www.psychic.co.nz

MORE RESOURCES:

Religion vs. spirituality in Indonesian literature - Jakarta Post

Rice puts vampires behind her, focuses on spirituality - Deseret News

Hafez poetry is imbued with spirituality of Quran: Khorramshahi - Tehran Times

Spirituality and Credit - CBC.ca

Norris Burkes#39; Spirituality: Honoring memory of those who have ... - Baxter Bulletin

Upcoming programs focus on male spirituality - Catholic Star Herald

Finding a place for faith in the workplace - Telegraph-Journal

#39;New atheism#39; is gaining its voice - Arizona Republic

Retired United Church minister works with local Unitarian Fellowship - Daily Gleaner

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/liveit/article/444929cid=1256418951ei=LZvxSJK4IILUyQTIkMDDBwusg=AFQjCNGnyEsgRfoq1JPTV0BtuZsHmUQqdQRetired United Church minister works with local Unitarian Fellowship/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fDaily Gleaner,nbsp;Canadanbsp;-/font nobr21 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1There also needs to be a bspiritual/b side to the process. This is that area in which I hope to work. quot;For me, bspirituality/b today must involve both the b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/liveit/article/444930cid=1256418951ei=LZvxSJK4IILUyQTIkMDDBwusg=AFQjCNEiN1qXkhFmhlxmH0OMRU9M_LH5aQThe role of Mac Campbell explained by Unitarian Fellowship member/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Gleaner/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1256418951hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Pastor seeks to enliven church image, spirituality - YourHub.com

Spirituality - Google News

RELATED ARTICLES

Book Ends
In the responsibility we have as Christians, we are displayed before non believers as a set of books that should be read. Once the Holy Spirit comes upon us, our library grows into the fruits that are produced in our Christian walk.

Zen and Peace (The Road To Lasting Harmony)
Presently, many of us live in uncertainty. Due to the world situation and the many changes in society, there is a sense that at any time, our lives may be disrupted.

The Power of Simplicity in Holistic Living
What does it take to live life holistically?It definitely does not require a degree from well known university, a high paying job or huge bank balance. Holistic living has nothing to do with all that!Holistic living simply means?.

Word Sculptures of a Mystical Experience
The Mystical Experience"The mysteries of life become lucid ? and often, nay usually, the solution is more or less unutterable in words." -- William James, "The Varieties of Religious Experience"I don't remember who came to my door.

The Lord is My Shepherd
An acrostic prayer poem.The Lord loves me and is gracious unto me.

What Are You Leaving On The Table Of Life?
Our Creator is an infinitely loving and generous provider - and yet most of us have trouble asking for help or for those things that are rightly ours to request. We insist on doing it all alone and then wonder why things go so far downhill so fast.

The Problem with Anger
As Christians, we know we need God in every aspect of our lives do we not? We need God to work on us because some of us are so spiritually immature that it is hard to distinguish Christians from non-Christians. Thus, God commands us to do certain things for our own sake - not His.

Looking Back With A Pained Expression
Anyone who tells you that the path to self-actualization is an easy one has never walked it. Along the way, we meet - head on! - the skeletons in our personal closets, and the process of coming to terms with our past and al that it brought into our lives is a long and solitary one.

Why is Kabbalah so Attractive to Hollywood A-Listers Like Madonna, Britney Spears and Demi Moore?
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA: Of course we may never know the real answer, but speculation could be that Kabbalah is a mystical and practical approach to evolution and growth.I, for one, am tired of so-called "spiritual gurus" who can't pay their bills! (And they certainly can't tell you how to do it either.

Christian Forums: The Heroic Battle Between the Forces of Good and the Demon of Anti-Access
Saturday I was hangin' ten on my Dell when I ran across a Christian Forum. Not just any Christian forum, THE Christian Forum.

Answering a Soul Call
Is life challenging you to take a bigger leap? Are you restlesswith the status quo of your daily routine? Do you feel you areflying blind with an invisible co-pilot?Often times, the soul calls to us in the midst of a crises ortwo-by-four. When pieces of your heart are all over the flourthere's a quickening that seems to come from the beyond.

The Winds of Change
Humanity is entering a very critical time in its path of evolution. The winds of change began to blow over eighteen years ago at the event you call Harmonic Convergence but the only ones who felt this at first were those many call star-seeds or light workers.

Do Unto Others Marketing
We've all heard the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Did you know that this little proverb is also found in all the world's major religions? From the New Testament we read, All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Why Good Things Happen to Bad People
One cannot ask why bad things happen to good people without also feeling the same tinge of injustice when we contemplate why good things happen to bad people. This is the question that anguished the Psalmist.

100 Steps To Eternity
There is a chronology of events from creation to the eternal kingdom of God, which is distinctively presented to us within the scriptures. Like a three-dimensional picture, the more intently we focus on God's word, the more clearly we begin to see the complete picture emerge.

A Mothers Battle
The tongue is such a tiny little organ. Yet, it can be one of the most powerful weapons.

Choosing Peace, One Shift at a Time
It doesn't matter what magazine or newspaper you pick up these days, there it is! the evidence of violence; the killing of innocent people, the terror of aggression and destruction. How do we, as caring, compassionate, conscious people maintain our inner peace in the face of war? Is it responsible to turn from the glaring headlines, close our eyes, go within to connect with that place of inner peace? What if those headlines have stirred up our visceral fear reactions and we are disturbed and angry? When outer circumstances create worry, helplessness and judgment how do we shift our inner attention so that we send peaceful thoughts, rather than more anger and hatred?The Nature of ShiftingHave you ever seen a Magic Eye picture? If so, you know what it's like to stare at a page of little dots, blinking and wondering, "When am I ever going to see the hidden picture?" Frustrated, you take a deep breath and draw the page closer, then farther away, but still all you see is dots.

Secrets of Effortless Action
Action dakini gets everything done.When wanting and grasping hold swayThe dakini has you in her power.

I'm Too Busy for Me
Everyone is busy nowadays. It's hard to find time for anything.

Loving Kindness - A Meditation
The practice of meditating on loving-kindness may be over two thousand years old. Although it may feel a bit mechanical at first, many who have used it experience greater feelings of compassion and love towards both themselves and others.