One evening I was invited as guest author to a long standing Book Study group. They read my book, The Lion of God: Archangel Ari’El and invited me to come chat with them. It was a rich experience. Two of the participants were Psychologists and the others were Administrators or involved in various aspects of Education. Their spiritual backgrounds were varied: Buddhist, Nature Centered/Pagan, Christian, Catholic, Methodist. Each of them shared something of their personal spiritual journey. It was a wonderfully juicy mix of people.
One of the questions that they posed concerned my first vision of Aslan. They wondered about the great fear and terror that I experienced when first meeting him. They shared from their understanding and expectations of angelic encounters. For most of them their expectation was one of gentle and warm loving. They were perplexed about this encounter.
In the writings of scripture, we are told several times that when an angel appears, the first words they speak are: “Fear Not!” One of the most familiar stories that we hear each Christmas is the Angels appearing to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem. Luke 2:9 tells us the shepherds were terrified!
In Matthew 28:1-10 two groups of people react in very different ways to the presence of the Angel who has rolled back the stone of the tomb and is now sitting where Jesus had been laid after the crucifixion. When the Roman guards saw the Angel, they were like “dead men,” in other words, they fainted from fear. However, when the women arrived at the tomb, saw the same Angel, who immediately said, “Do not be afraid.” The women were afraid, and they listened, followed the Angel’s instruction to go tell the others.
I urge you to read Chapter One of The Lion of God, which is the story of my first encounter with an Angel. I am deeply interested in what you think about this first encounter with Aslan. Write to me. Share one of your experiences. Ask a question. I’d love to hear from you.
