ANGELS UNAWARES
HEBREWS 13:1-6
10 25 09
ANTHONY E. ACHESON, M. DIV.
This passage from the New Testament Book of Hebrews begins with the importance of welcoming strangers, and specifically welcoming those who come across our path who are in significant need. The author says in verse 1, ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels unawares.’
This has been a full week in Nancy’s and my household in a couple of different ways. We had a sobering and unexpected experience last night. We had agreed to be house-sitters and dog-sitters for Nat and Cilla Bonney-Smith this weekend, and have been staying in their house for the last couple of days. Last night at about 4 a.m. a commotion woke us suddenly with the sound of breaking glass, a loud voice, and also some agitated and lively barking form the dog we had come to keep watch over.
We both jumped out of bed. Nancy got to the front door first. When she got there, she was greeted by the unsettling sight of the extremely bloody and badly damaged face of a young man who had been in a serious car accident. He appeared to be seriously injured, and in shock. In those first moments, we immediately had to deal with two conflicting sets of emotions. At first we felt an overwhelming desire to help this person, but at the same time, we weren’t sure who he was, what he intended, or even if the accident was a ruse so he could invade the house or commit an assault. So, after we called the rescue squad, we went out and tended this young man in the small ways that we could. Rescue arrived quickly and took care of our unexpected visitor, who turned out to have been in a legitimate accident. He had broken the window by accident as he was trying to rouse someone and get help. That was an instance where there was a stranger in need, and we were called upon to extend hospitality.
That incident specifically brought to mind a recent trip I’d taken to Chelsea, Vermont on Monday. As we tended the wounded man, I found myself remembering the two teenagers from Chelsea who had committed a double murder in New Hampshire only a few years ago. The couple opening their door to those young men also had been unsuspecting, helpful and welcoming to the two teenagers, only to be stabbed to death by them minutes later. That situation definitely crossed my mind last night, as I considered: was this person truly a mere stranger in need, or was he a danger? It turned out he was not a danger to us and it was a privilege along with several others to extend the help he needed. We kept our faith that we might be entertaining an angel, unawares. And, despite ourselves, we heeded the words from the Hebrews reading today: “Let mutual love continue … So we can say with confidence:
The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?
In our second reading for today, the poem of Rumi, we are also reminded to be open to unexpected guests. In this poem, however, the guests and the visitors are not external human beings, they are mental events, if you will, hat come into our hearts and psyches. Rumi wrote:
This being human is a guest house
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness
Comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all! …
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing,
And invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
We know that welcoming something unexpected and fearsome from the outside can be difficult. As in the example I just cited, we often don’t know how to do that.
Alongside any such hard to handle challenges that come at us from the outside, there are equally unwelcome visitors that come upon us from within. I have had an experience along those lines recently as well. In the last two months I’ve had some symptoms months that led my doctor to schedule me for a cardiac stress test in Burlington. The cardiologist there told me reassuringly on Wednesday that my heart appeared strong, that I had not had a heart attack, and that he would not put me in a high risk category. But he also mentioned that he saw what he called, ’some irregularities,’ in my EKG. He wants me to come back for another test, which he described as a nuclear stress test, tomorrow morning. This will involve my being injected, first, with a dye that has radioactive isotopes. After that takes effect, they will give me the stress test again a few times, during which they will take pictures of my heart to determine how well the blood is flowing while I exercise.
As you can imagine, hearing those words about, ’some irregularities,’ on the EKG,” came as an unwelcome guest. Afterwards, as I drove home, it struck me that this is the first time in my life I’ve ever heard a doctor tell me there might be an issue that could require significant medical treatment. Monday or Tuesday night I could hear two quite different reports. I could hear that I have a cardiac problem that needs attention. I could also hear that everything is fine. Right now, though, my experience is one of waiting and of uncertainty. That uncertainty is a guest that I am experiencing on an immediate, gut level, as unwelcome. But when I am able to step back from even just a small amount from the anxiety I have been feeling about it during these last few days, I am aware that I the uncertainty of this situation is giving me a choice. On the one hand, I can certainly resist and judge this unexpected news, and put a negative cast on it. But I have another choice available as well. I can allow a voice within me that says, ‘This is what my reality is today. I’m feeling a buzz of anxiety that is somewhat unctomfortable, but is also clearly manageable. So I can just allow that anxiety to be here when it comes up without getting too worked up about it. I’ll find a way to be present to this anxiety today, and then I’ll see what happens tomorrow and Tuesday and trust that I’ll find a way to be with that, whichever way it comes down. [Editor's note: these tests came back clear, indicating no underlying cardiac problems.]
During my drive home from Burlington last Wednesday, I was surprised that my immediate reaction to hearing that I had to come back for the second test was not primarily anxiety [although that did come in later.] My initial reaction was much more one of sadness. It was the sadness of realizing that when one gets to a certain stage in life, it’s a reality that medical issues are going to arise; and that they are going to have to be dealt with, and that’s less the case when you are younger.
So, Rumi’s words are very powerful. This being human is a guest house. And the guests that he is talking about are not are not just the guests that come and break a window, or who come knocking at your door at night; the guests are joy and depression, an insight, a dark thought, a shame. The guests could be a thought of malice, a fear or an anxiety. Rumi closes and says, ‘Be grateful for whoever comes.’ You could add to that, be grateful for whatever comes because each is sent as a guide from beyond.
One other reaction I’ve had in the last couple of days since the late night waking, and the doctor’s appointment: I have a deep gratitude for the realness of the resources of my faith. There is a realness of being able to say ‘This is so, and today is okay, and tomorrow will be okay, and some days will be easy and some days will be hard. ‘ There’s tremendous gratitude at the profound truth of the fact there is a larger intelligence at work in the world
So my prayer for all of us is that we all might grow in our ability to welcome the strangers and the guests who come unexpectedly, many of whom bring great joys, some of whom are scary. Some of them may be literal bloody faces at the door in the dead of night. Or, they be may be fears that arise within our psyches. May we all learn more and more to welcome those guests, and to be reminded that by so doing, we may indeed be entertaining angels. And we ask and offer all these things today in the name of the living Christ, who taught us the way of joy and hospitality in the ways that we live, in the examples that we set, and the teachings we set forth. We ask and offer all these things in His name. Amen.
