To hear God's angels—no headset necessary

When I go walking outdoors, I like to put on headphones and listen to hymns on tape. One day I wondered, “What if I could always wear earphones, relaying messages straight from God?” And then I realized that God is sending messages to us all the time.

Depending on your concept of God, this may or may not sound like a great idea, but I think it’s heavenly. That’s because in my study of Christian Science, I’m learning that our Creator is pure, invariable Love, who cherishes each of His children beyond imagining.

Infinite Love has to be more full of love than a trillion suns are full of light—so Love’s messages can’t help but be harmonious and peaceful.

Mary Baker Eddy refers to these holy messages as angels. She defines angels in her book Science and Health as “God’s thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality.”

So while angels aren’t supernatural winged creatures, they help us in very tangible ways by inspiring us to do good and by counteracting not just some evil, but all evil.

The Bible declares that these messages are precious. “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.”

Have you ever tried counting the grains in just a handful of sand? It’s clear that God’s messages are incalculable in number.

So why does it sometimes seem we’re not hearing these messages? One answer is that we aren’t always listening.

Our attention is pulled in different directions every day—and some of the ideas that come our way are anything but Godlike. Whether conveyed aloud or coming to us as our own thought, if they’re not good messages, they’re not from God.

Christian Science calls these negative thoughts aggressive suggestions of evil, or animal magnetism. If we accept them as true, they may persuade us to think, or do, what would be opposite to our natural inclinations.

These messages, which are not from God, imply we’re inadequate, sick or guilty, or that we have some other undesirable trait.

But we have a practical recourse when barraged with disturbing messages. We can open our hearts and listen to the angel messages that help and heal.

Part of the definition of angels in Science and Health says their mission includes “counteracting all evil.” There’s an angel message to counteract every single destructive idea that comes our way.

That’s so comforting to me. If I’m feeling overwhelmed, ”twenty thousand, even thousands of angels,” are busy making harmful suggestions null and void. With authority and might, these thoughts reveal my worth as a spiritual creation of God, full of love, wisdom and goodness. These are messages worth hearing.

No one drew on angels more than Christ Jesus. When facing Pontius Pilate, who could condemn him to death, he declared, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions [72,000] of angels?”

Angels heralded his humble birth, guided him during his ministry, cherished him during the crucifixion, brought about his resurrection and lifted him into his ascension.

And like Jesus, everyone is worthy of receiving these powerful angels, regardless of religion, race or gender.

How do you recognize angels? Mrs. Eddy explained in her Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896: “When angels visit us, we do not hear the rustle of wings, nor feel the feathery touch of the breast of a dove; but we know their presence by the love they create in our hearts” (p. 306).

I remember when my daughters and I were sweetly guided by God’s angels. As we walked across the parking lot of a shopping mall, Joy, then 9, picked up a small bracelet she saw lying on the pavement.

She was thrilled, but I asked her to put it down. I was sure a little girl had dropped it by mistake and I wanted to leave it there in case she came back for it. But the girls pleaded, and later, I thought that they must have been hearing an angel message. At the time, I relented because I didn’t want to spoil the fun.

As we walked into a department store a few minutes later, however, I was surprised to meet an acquaintance coming out. While we chatted, Joy tugged on my arm and whispered in my ear to look at my friend’s necklace. The necklace matched exactly the bracelet my daughter had tucked in her pocket.

My friend hadn’t noticed that the string of expensive pearls had slipped off her wrist, but she was very relieved we’d found it. She’d recently purchased it for her daughter to inherit, and she was so grateful that she gave my daughters a generous reward.

We can always count on our all-knowing Father to give us the exact thought—the angel—we need at the right moment. And no equipment is needed!

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