Song 17--Angels We Have Heard on High

"Angels We Have Heard on High"
Words

Angels, shepherds, the manger, a new born King, and the chance to sing one word for an extremely long amount of time. Glor. . . or or or or. . . or or or or. . . or or or or oria.  And then, more Latin--in excelsis deo!  Glory to God in the Highest is what that all means.  That night, as the angels proclaimed, was a night to give glory to God.  God had gone and done something miraculous, supernatural, unbelievable and worthy of glory.

When I reflect on this song, my mind goes to those angels appearing to the shepherds.  Here are these guys watching over the flocks.  Not very exciting work, but good work if you could get it.  Could be kind of dangerous as there were animals who liked sheep and all those shepherds had were their staffs.  I guess you could say that a good night was also a boring night.  This was one good night that was far from boring.

Instead of spotting a wild animal or just sheep doing something dumb, they see an angel appear and the whole area lights up like the Fourth of July finale on pause.  The poor guys are terrified.  They've never experienced anything like this before.  They've never seen X-Files or E.T. or attended a course on Angelology.  They're shepherds!  The angel announces "Don't be afraid!"  That's about the only thing I could imagine being is afraid--very afraid and down right freaked out.  I don't know why they didn't just run away, but they didn't.  They listened to the angel who tells them about a savior being born and where to find him.  Then the sky bursts open with more angels singing and praising God.  WOW!  I bet they wished they had a cell phone with a camera.  They go and find Jesus in the manger just like the angels said they would.  They then tell everyone they can find and go back to their sheep praising God.  What a life changing experience. Truly a good night.  (See the Gospel of Luke for this story.)

One question this song makes me ask is "do I believe in angels"?  Short answer yes, angels are spiritual beings.  Some of these angels serve as God's messengers.  Long answer is that I believe the "spiritual" world is closer than we think or act.  I see it as a world that is intimately involved with us on a daily basis.  It is not a place out there, but a dimension that is woven in, out, over, under, around and through our very existence.  On my own I am incapable of accessing it, sensing it or interacting with it.  I seem to be more bound to the physical then the spiritual.  Yet the spiritual feels like my true world.  Where I can be my true self.  I sense my physical self is real, but without my spiritual self, it is an empty shell.

On Christmas God melded the physical and spiritual world together in a whole new way.  He brought together the physical aspects of humanity with the spiritual aspects of Himself.  So now, because of Jesus' life, death and resurrection I have access to be my true self.  I am not bound to what I can see, feel, touch and hear.  The spiritual world is alive and well and accessible.  God has made a way for us to experience life as we were meant to experience life--a life of freedom and a life linked with Him.  A life beyond our physical existence.  In the sky that night over Bethlehem, God opened a window into the world that exists side by side with us.  The shepherds saw the spiritual angels interacting with the physical world.  We are designed to be physical and spiritual without separation—just like Jesus. This Christmas, in addition to seeing the beauty in the lights, the songs, the presents, the services, take a moment to open your heart and mind to see that for which you were made.  A life of freedom.  A life beyond.  A life of fullness.  A life with Him.