My favorite movie angel has to be "Al, the Boss Angel" played by Christopher Lloyd in the 1994 movie "Angels in the Outfield". "No one can see me or hear me but you!" I enjoy movies like this for their spirit, no pun intended. Its a decent, clean movie about a baseball team that's falling behind, and a young fan who wishes for them to win.

Lines from Al to remember-"We're always watching!"
"It could happen!"

If angels are really like this, it's going to be a fun job.

It seems that God's primary use for the angels particularly in the New Testament is for communication. He sends angels to talk to all the characters prior to Jesus' birth. I suppose this is because by that point in history he had stopped relating to his people as directly as he had with Abraham and Moses and those before them.

I truly believe in angels!!!! I have encountered at least two of them in my lifetime. Please don't think I was on drugs, because I wasn't. When I had open heart surgery a few years ago I had a vision of an angel (actually a voice in a fog) telling me that I would be just fine after the surgery and that I would see my family again. Then the day before my Father passed away an angel appeared (the same foggy voice) to me and showed me a white casket in the middle of a white cross, the casket lid opened and a white dove flew out. I have no doubt what the angel was telling me! So when we discuss angels I take it more personal than movie angels. Although Clarence is one of my favorite movie angels so is Harry Dean Stanton (Gideon) in a little known 1985 holiday film called One Magic Christmas.

Right amoslanka, angel means "messenger."

MackDaddy, I believe you, I've met some too.

[I'm a Unitarian Universalist]
I always love the concept of angels, demons, god, jesus, what have you, all being normal everyday guys who hate their jobs and have names and lives outside of the anonymous prophet-like moments when they speak to mortals.
My favorite movie angel would have to be Michael. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117038/
As for demons, they seem to be punished while punishing [a clip from my favorite sketch comedy show involves a demon who is put on ouija board duty, graveyard shift, screaming at the anoying teenagers who ask irrelevant questions and he is forced to answer]

[[Capt Neptune, from yesterday, I was in Southport, NC. They have a big 4th of July thing and my uncle lives there.]]

I believe in Angels ~ I don't believe anyone is crazy to say they have been helped, shown the way & even comforted by an Angel at anytime in their lives.

I'm with Lovey in the belief that some are everyday people walking amongst us all & we have NO IDEA that it is happening.

The Angel industry may be one of the most lucrative for the business manufatctors & owners but it goes to show that the concept of sometype of being comforting & helping us humans out is mostly an universal belief regardless of religous customs. Maybe for a lot of people the sight & belief of angels is a sign of comfort to them.

As for my FAVORITE film Angels Clarence for Christmas miracles, but for an average Joe angel it's got to be James Mason playing The Guardian Angel to Lucille Ball in Forever Darling.

amoslanka said...
"I suppose this is because by that point in history he had stopped relating to his people as directly as he had with Abraham and Moses and those before them. "

You've just hit on one of my major issues with christianity as a whole... Why has god stopped communicating with man like he did (supposedly) with early biblical accounts? Why has the communication been relegated to a book? And we are not supposed to seek the communication, but instead have faith from nothing... In my search for the divine that was a crucial place for me and one I couldn't answer for myself.

Regarding angels, remember according to the bible, Satan-Lucifer-Devil was an angel... not god's equal. In the old testament, god sent an angel to be a "distressing spirit" to King Saul... not the bedtime story we think regarding angels. God sending an angel to do harm?

1 Samuel 16:14
Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him.

1 Samuel 18:10
Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul's hand.

Judges 9:23
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
Interesting…

In my heart of hearts, I prefer to believe, or at least to hope, that there are such beings as angels whose task it is to gently nudge us mere mortals in the right direction, or to be gentle messengers of things to come. I also then must believe that there are dark angels bearing messages of fear and hate which would help explain some of human kind’s acts of hate and violence. This may indeed be my way of rationalizing my actions, and the actions of mankind; but I’m OK with that.

I am both happy for and also a bit envious of those who seem to be more receptive not only to the concept of angels as protectors, but indeed, more receptive to their divine messages. My Mom was such a person and I know I always trusted and believed her.

I do know that there have been enough circumstances beyond my limited means that have helped me or my loved ones, when I needed them the most. I do believe in the soul, as well as a sixth sense; so belief in angels is not too steep of a leap of faith for me. I just hope I don’t encounter one of those fierce avenging angels that have been depicted in literature and movies.

I must also admit that I like the concept of another angel getting his wings just by the ringing of a bell.

There was a demon in the tv show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" whose name was "Angel".

I've talked with a friend who had an experience with an angel....that friend is a devout Catholic, she's not gullible or irrational either. I keep an open mind to such experiences. It belongs in the realm of faith. Stories of ghosts are like stories of aliens/UFOs, not very rational. But experiences with angels appear to be a different story. I wonder how much rerasearch has been done on it?

As far as Angel movies go, you left out two of the best... "Angel on my shoulder" with Paul Muni and Claude Raines rising out of the sewer to help. And "Stairway to Heaven." Then there was "The Man who could work miracles"...and I think Nadel definitely had an Angel handy yesterday...

Thank you for allowing me to participate. I think you all have a great community, with a lot of interesting banter. Mr. Peterman has always been an inspiration for myself, so naturally I'm thrilled to be involved here.

So Here We Go. I do believe in Angels. I'm not sure exactly what shape or form they take. I have a daughter that passed at birth, and her surviving twin mentions her at the oddest times. Maybe its coincidence. But I don't think so. I think she has a guardian angel that provides her with all the strength she needs at the appropriate times.

My only complaint is that her guardian could help me out a bit getting her put to bed.

To: JLPowell,

Welcome to our group. Keep coming back. You'll find the topics interesting and the comments stimulating. We are all different and come from various parts of the country and the world. We have a love of all things "Peterman" in common

Enjoy your visits!

JLPowell,

Welcome aboard and thanks for sharing your very touching story with us. All little ones resist going to bed, everything is so exciting.

Let's not forget "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" or his more recent depiction in "Heaven Can Wait".

Don't forget to ring a bell tonight!

To begin with, there's more than one deity. Even the christian bible says so. The christian god just wants to be first among equals for the Jews, is all. Fine, I say. But back to the point. There's PLENTY of gods out there, and they ALL have angels. The ancient Pagan and Heathen gods, unlike the god of the Jews, or muslims, or christians, actually hang around with their believers. It's a rather collegial relationship overall, if you're a Heathen, and you get to relate to the God of your choosing on a one-to-one level - not through some intermediary (human or angelic). The strangest thing of all is that these Gods actually show up! And if you have that relationship with a God, some of whom are actual patriarchs of families, well then it's a pretty good world, isn't it? Let the aloof, insecure, somewhat paranoid deities of desert mountains and wild-eyed zealots have their way. And let those zealots turn blue in the face trying to convince me that they know what their strumpet god wants me to do and not do, and with whom, and how many times, and in what position, and with what body parts (and NOT with some others, of course).

So my ultimate answer, of course, is NO I do not believe in a god who needs a support staff to do the things that need doing. I believe in Gods who think that a man believes in them best who asks their help least, for one thing. I believe in Gods who made their share of humanity PERFECT, not flawed. I believe in Gods who reveal themselves daily in an ongoing conversation, full of wit and no small share of good natured ribbing. They do seem to do an awful lot of laughing at us. This is to say that where some people would credit an angel on their shoulder, I give credit instead to a friendly God who relates to me as would a member of the family. I don't believe in little gods who hide behind books and prophets and threats of doom. Much like the bullies in the schoolyard, give a god like that a good smack on the nose and you'll see what they're made of.