The Pain of the Angel

Part 3


It was a pathetic sight to the human eye, though the human eye is limited. Limited by what it wants to see and what its brain allows at its limited capacity. Humans had figured out they only use a small percentage of their mind, but they had not yet realized that the unused capacity was reserved for a later time, a time when life transcends the physical.

There on a peak lay the wounded archangel recovering from a failed intervention on behalf of man. His body was curled, knees tucked to his chest. His wings were sprawled out in sharp unnatural curves, tattered and bloodied. Even in this weakened state, Michael’s strength was still greater than any Guardian, second only to the One who creates all. The Archangel lay suffering and anguished, the degree of his suffering was also second to none, but He who sees all. It was not his physical wounds, those would heal as they always did. It was not the fear of death from his wounds as his life could only be taken by the One.

An Archangel’s greatest time of suffering is when an intervention on the behalf of man has failed or come too late to prevent the harm. This is why Michael suffered today. He could not intervene as he did not know. He who gives life had known, but Michael did not know His mind anymore than he knew the minds of men or the timing of events that bring them harm. So he suffered, and his suffering turned to the thoughts that tortured him the most. His growing doubt in the One with ears that hear all. His doubt that there was a divine plan and that at a designated time the purpose of all would be made clear.

Archangels are created to protect humanity, all of humanity. They can not take a life in the process of doing so. They must protect both the murdered and the murderer, because He with all knowledge had issued a fiat that none were to be excluded from the kingdom’s gates. Michael thought of his brother Lucifer. Michael had repelled the battle against the kingdom and driven his brother,and his fallen, into the bowels of existence. Michael had wanted to follow Lucifer into the depth, slaying him, bringing an end to his influence upon creation, but had been stopped. He who breathes knowledge had decreed that even Lucifer was not beyond redemption and therefore must be allowed to continue.

It was hard for the Archangel to understand as his physical pain began to dissipate, his blood clotted, and wounds began to fade. It was always so that the internal pain far out lasted the physical for Michael, and for all Guardians of man that he commanded. In frustration a roar began to grow from the angel’s powerful midsection. It traveled through his chest. He bent his powerful neck back sharply and loosed the roar from his injured body. It was guttural,spirit deep. The sound could only be heard by creatures other than man, and by those who dwell in the kingdom. On earth a herd of elephants stampeded, a flock of a thousand birds suddenly changed course. In the kingdom, those that had been human fell to their knees, the Author of life simply absorbed the sound, and bowed His head as His heart broke, but He did not intervene to ease the angel's pain, He never did.