Creation's fall and the assignments of angels

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021119.cfm
Genesis 1:1-19
Mark 6:53-56

Frank and Ralph, two immigrant angels who had settled in Woodland Park, Colorado, watched the traffic halt, wait, and start up again at the four corner stop near the Walmart. The bitter wind and biting cold on this February day did not concern them. Angels don’t freeze or overheat. Nonetheless, they wore warm clothes, in order to not draw too much attention. They were told to be discreet, which none of their superiors believed would be successful. Yet, their migration from the angelic realm to creation’s universe was a decision made by God, as questionable as it appeared to be.

Indiscretion, however, more fit these two angels than not. Two rather tall men standing on the side of the road on a cold weekend morning, watching the traffic but not wearing shoes, might catch almost everyone’s attention. Shoes had not yet become a logical part of their ensemble.

Ralph, the tallest of the two, leaned forward in order better swing his head to the left and right. Frank leaned back and forward to watch the traffic go by. That’s what they were up to. They stood a few feet back from the pedestrian spot reserved for waiting cross-walkers studying the movement of cars. At first the traffic of vehicles seemed perfectly obedient to the blinking of the many red, green and yellow lights that hung above or stood on posts in the intersection from every direction. 

As time passed, however, they noticed an odd pattern. The cars frequently increased their speeds at the onset of the yellow light. This did not fit their understanding of the three lights’ purposes. Many drivers seemed wholly intent on blowing through the intersection at breakneck speeds before the yellow turned to red. Aggression when the light turned yellow was not what they expected.

“I thought yellow might always mean to slow down,” said Ralph.

“The data is leaning toward speed up,” Frank noted, leaning far back to see behind Ralph at his left. “256 folks have slowed, and almost 300 increased their speed. I’ve also calculated that almost every person who’s raced into the intersection has grimaced. Their heart rate has also increased.”

“Yeah, and those who’ve slowed down are quite unhappy. Yellow is not a pleasant color.”

“Absolutely not.” agreed Frank.

A car slowed down near the two angels, then stopped in front of them. The passenger window lowered, and a driver leaned toward the pondering Frank and Ralph.

“You guys OK? Trying to get across the highway?” The man was well dressed and his car looked both clean and new.

Frank walked up to the door and leaned down into the open window, and replied to the driver with his own question. “What’s you opinion, sir? Is the yellow light meant to slow drivers down or to speed them up?”

The driver stared at Frank, and then over to Ralph who also approached and looked into the car, his eyebrows lifting back and forth as he attempted to hear the coming conversation from this friendly driver.

“Uh …”

“It’s a bit perplexing, isn’t it?” said Ralph.

“It’s more of a warning, I suppose,” said the driver, speaking slowly. “Get your butt in gear, or slow down and wait. Everybody’s got to decide which makes the most sense for them.”

He looked back and forth at the two angels, wondering if they were trying to cross the road, thinking now that maybe not.

“You guys need a ride someplace?”

Frank turned to Ralph, who shrugged.

“Where’d that be?” asked Frank.

“Uh …” 

“We haven’t figured out where all of these folks are going,” added Ralph. “Some are in a real hurry, and others seem sad that they’re going anywhere at all.”

“We’re thinking we’re just fine here, actually,” said Frank.

“Well, OK, then,” said the driver. “Just thought I’d ask.”

“And why’s that?” asked Ralph.

“Uh …”

The angels peered at him, waiting patiently this time for an answer.

“I saw the two of you standing out here in the cold. I felt prompted to pull over and see if you were all right. If so, then I won’t bother you.”

“Prompted?” asked Frank.

“Yes, you know … concerned for you and wondering if I could help out.”

Angels do not brush off interactions with humankind. Now that Frank and Ralph were assigned, in the sense of angel assignments, to a retired life among creation, in visible form, they had not yet shrugged off an encounter as coincidental. Nor would they. That was not suggested to them as part of their new life by their superiors, which implied their angelic nature should remain. 

“We’re not actually undercover,” Ralph said. “The prompting provided to you is meaningful.” Frank nudged him with his shoulder, frowning at him.

“Pardon me?” asked the driver.

Frank opened for the back door of the car, got in, and Ralph followed him. “Take us wherever you feel prompted,” Frank said, lightly touching the man’s left arm, which he hung over the center console between the front seats to better see them. He was taken aback by their entry, but calmed quickly at Frank’s touch. Warmed, but not by any heat. 

“My name is Randall,” he said. “Randy for short.” He hadn’t been called Randy since he was sixteen years old, but it just came out. 

“I’m Frank, and this is Ralph.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ralph said, forcing a smile. He’d been practicing conversational phrases. His handshake had the same soothing effect as Frank’s touch.

A few minutes later, and after several more standard conversational attempts on Ralph’s part — regarding the weather, the time of day, the smell of the air, and an awkward reference to the complications of clothing — Randy pulled into Grandmother’s Kitchen, a breakfast and lunch restaurant in town. Randy ordered them all coffee and muffins, which delighted the angels far beyond the expectation of their new friend. Thankfully, Randy thought to himself, no one had noticed the angel’s missing shoes, and the subject hadn’t yet come up.

“These are amazing!” Frank said, munching on his second muffin.

“Are you two new in town?” Randy asked, which developed into a lengthy explanation of the angel’s retirement, odd obfuscations about being extremely old but aware that their life did represent a “new” experience, and a reference to a 33 year period where they had worked intimately for Jesus, the Christ, quite a long time ago. 

“What ministry were you in?” Randy grasped that the angels were trying to keep quiet about some part of their past, but he had no idea about their creation before the creation of the universe, nor their assignment as Jesus’ personal angelic bodyguards during his lifetime on earth.

“Protection, basically,” Frank said. 

“It was difficult,” Ralph said, not letting down his guard, but feeling comfortable with Randy, especially as the muffins and coffee kept coming. “Jesus got us into troubling situations.”

“Metaphorically speaking,” added Frank, realizing they were getting awfully close to saying too much.”

Angels had been quite active in human existence early on, but individual angel assignments as guardians didn’t really come into fashion until Jesus’ time. Frank and Ralph were no longer on such guardian assignments. They’d been partnered up for two thousand years, since Jesus’ resurrection, guarding believers around the globe — more than forty different people. They felt pulled to be Randy’s protectors, while at the same time verbally communicating with a human for the first time since Jesus.

“Let’s just say that since creation’s fall the need for guarding folks from evil has been a big job for quite a few, … uh, …”

“What Frank’s trying to say, Randy, is that we’re out of the protection business for now, and we’re just getting started on this whole retirement thing.”

Frank slapped Ralph on the shoulder, nodding. “That’s well said, Ralph.” He was impressed. Such awareness of the importance of that elusive “discretion” surprised Frank.

“OK,” said Randy. “Well, I’ve got to get going. Just wanted to make sure you two are fine, and it seems so. I’ve got the bill on the muffins and coffee, so don’t worry about it.”

He stood, shook their hands, and politely backed away and walked out of the restaurant. Randy thought he’d done his part, and though he liked to two of them, had a bunch of other things to get to. He also wanted to escape before anyone noticed their missing shoes and some sort of ruckus began.

“Nice fella,” said Ralph.

“Yeah,” nodded Frank. “By the way, Ralph, what’s this ‘bill’ thing he’s talking about?”

“I don’t know. Should we ask for another muffin? They’re terrific!”