Why "Gabriel" ?

Now that I've had this blog up (and running under this name) for a good while, there have been a decent amount of people that have inquired as to why I'm so digging on this Gabriel fellow. There are, of course, a host of different reasons, and it is with this issue in mind that I will compose this entry. Man, this feels like the beginning to the start of every essay I wrote in elementary school. So come, spread those wings and fly with me:

The Nature of Angels
First of all, you have to understand what an angel is and where the tradition of belief in such beings comes from. The word angel is derived from a Hebrew word meaning either "one going" or "one sent". As such, it can be used to describe either a human or a divine messenger. The human component will be discussed later, but it is the divine/spiritual sense of the word that I will first address.
The vast majority of Christian theological thought presupposes that these spiritual beings were created before man. Exactly when cannot accurately be surmised, but it is important to note that they are considered to have been created in the same manner of man (and indeed all created things). It is also interesting to consider that the angels were the only sentient witnesses (barring the Almighty) to our creation as humans. So perhaps their creation occurred before ours to signal that they would forever be in the service of humanity, through the will of God. Their very witness to our creation means that God considered it so special that he wanted others waiting there to not only marvel, but to also serve. And truly, every angel in heaven (or demon in hell) does serve some purpose. Even demons have to do their jobs, because there has to be another option (an evil option) for humans to grab so that free will can operate. So, in a way, angels are possibly the most purpose-driven of all creation. They embody their purposes, doing exactly what they were meant to. It's an interesting thing for humans to aspire to, but certainly not a realistic thing to expect. The odd thing is, angels primarily are seen in the Bible as being in the throne room of God, serving the Almighty. That means that, in order to provide for us, God takes his own servants and lets them minister to us. He is such a loving, caring Father that He gives of himself constantly in that fashion.
So, in a nutshell, to be a spiritual angel is to be in the service of humanity so as to be in the service of God. God loved us enough to not only send us His Son and His Spirit, but also His personal Stewards.
 
The Angels Four
Of the angels referenced in the Bible, only two are actually spoken of by name. Actually, there are three (in Catholic tradition), with the "extra" angel coming into play in the apocryphal book of Tobit. These angelic beings are known by name because of their significance within the hierarchy of such spiritual creatures. They are also given the distinction of being called Archangels, which is basically the name of their "order" of angels. Oftentimes archangels are equated with seraphim (six winged angels, as opposed to two or four), and I like to think that they ARE seraphim, just because that looks a lot cooler. Yes, even I am intensely shallow and superficial sometimes.
The way that I see the four main ones are through the eyes of spiritual gifts. Like I said, angels are the embodiment of purpose. That's why they were given no free will: God created them with a  one-strike-you're-out policy. So I interpret these key characters as being some of the best examples, or rather explanations of three key spiritual gifts.
Michael is the first archangel on the list. I list him first because, though he is not my personal favorite, he is widely accepted as being the head honcho as far as angels go. He is the defender of souls from the Evil One, and is often portrayed as cutting down Satan (as prophesied in Revelation).  With this in mind, I believe that Michael represents discernment. Discernment is the recognition of right and wrong, and acting accordingly based upon that recognition. For instance, Satan = bad so Michael gives him a big old slice of whammy.
Hand in hand with Michael goes Lucifer (aka Satan, Devil, etc.). He is the direct opposite of Michael, although he is considered to be more glorious than Mikey. He was the first angel to be created, and therefore is rumored to have TWELVE wings instead of six. Wow. Unfortunately for him, no amount of wings can make up for the fact that he's on the losing team. So, of course, I'm not too worried about Michael having any trouble slapping Lou down a few cosmic pegs when the time comes. Lucifer represents deception, which is not only the antithesis but also the direct enemy of discernment. It clouds the mind and blurs the lines of right and wrong, hindering a discerning mind.
Raphael, the apocryphal archangel, isn't nearly as cool or as important. He just shows up in the Book of Tobit and tells the main character that he beseeched the Lord for the healing of his blindness and for the devil to leave his son's wife Sara alone. So, therefore, I see him as embodying healing (I think that's a big "Duh!")
Finally, there's my main man Gabriel, who I'll discuss in the next section...
 
The Appearance of Gabriel
Gabriel shows up in the Old Testament twice, to Daniel. He is not referred to as an angel, however, with Daniel merely calling him "the man Gabriel". As I have said, though, angel can have that double meaning of both human and divine messenger. Plus, there are other examples of when angels appear as men in the Bible (i.e. the appearance of three men to Abraham and Sarah).  It is Gabriel who helps him out with the interpretation and reception of prophecy (and if we remember anything about Old Testament prophecy, a great deal points to the Messiah). Fast forward to the New Testament. Gabriel shows up to Elizabeth to fortell the birth of John the Baptist (the guy who will introduce the Messiah), and to Mary (who BIRTHS the Christ child). It's also assumed by some that Gabriel is the angel that announes the birth to the shepherds.
Let's unpack this, shall we? First of all, all of this is in direct relation to prophetic works, specifically those prophecies that deal with Jesus (our Savior). So I don't think it's too huge a leap for me to want to use him as an example for the gift of prophecy. Simplified, that gift entails understanding what God is trying to communicate through you and then just communicating it. That's exactly what Gabriel does too. He's called the Angel of Annunciation, the patron saint of telecommunications and postal workers. He specializes in knowing what needs to be communicated and then delivering that message fast.
The other part of this will finally explain what his "Secret" is. The one that this blog is named after. The one that my screen name is after. Etc. The Secret that he carried around was Christ - his message of love, his life of service, his triumph through death. I like to think that this was something that God trusted only to Gabriel, his best messenger, to know until the time came for it to be revealed to the world through the life of a carpenter's son. That's how I feel, the liberation that I have experienced through Christ is a secret that I have. Though I tell everyone I can about Him, and I live my life so as to testify to the wonders of having faith in Him, the relationship that He and I personally share is something that is not duplicated with anyone else. Each person has their own unique relationship with Him, even if that is a non-relationship. That means that He longs to share the "secret" of Himself with everyone and anyone. It's the only thing that can be private and public all at the same time.
Bottom line, I love Christ. And because I love Christ, I respect Gabriel a whole bunch for doing his job. That's it. That's all. I'm not trying to worship or glorify a created thing rather than the Creator. I merely respect the fact that Gabriel does a job well that I try to grow more and more in everyday. He's an inspiration for myself and anyone else who believes that they are called to exercise the gift of prophecy. I'll try as long and as hard as I can to be the human "angel"/messenger that I'm called to be. And as long as I try, I'll still be a fan of my man Gabriel.

So sayeth The Brad...

A Consideration

I've been thinking for a long time (and by a long time I mean about a week, if even that long) about an interesting business venture.
SPOILER ALERT: this is going to be a classic example of why I'm not a business savvy person; I'm going to just announce a genius, unclaimed idea into an open area (the internet) and give no thought or guard against those that could steal the aforementioned idea.
So, here it goes. AOL Instant Messenger (or AIM for the extreme web geeks who will want me to abbreviate) is by far the easiest and most popular way to instant message friends, family, and those that you are currently stalking. One thing I noticed was, due to the widespread popularity of this free service, many people have (since AIM's inception) racked up quite a few screen names. I, myself, have gone through about seven (including my current and hopefully final one, SecretOfGabriel). Multiply this by even half the number of people that use the service, and you have a hefty amount of screen names already taken. And we're talking ACCESSIBLE, easy to REMEMBER screen names. Not the ones with a clever name stuck in the middle of random words or numbers; not the ones where they couldn't get the real name on their first try so numbers are substituted for letters (example = B33RL0V35M3). I mean quality, simple names. Sadly, there is currently no real market for these used screen names. They just get cast to the wayside, apparently never to be used again. Well my idea is that I start making them, or buying them off of people, and just selling the suckers on eBay. Or somewhere.
Granted, there are currently TWO sellers on eBay that are doing what I'm talking about. But it seems they only have the one screen name to sell, and they're both pretty crappy names to begin with. So apparently this some virtually non-existant competition in this market. I'm not a bad screen name creator. I've come up with such classics as SpartanMascot and CrappyActor, I could surely come up with many more and sell them to make some decent pocket change. And the best thing is that it requires no shipping or anything, you just wipe the name clean, tell everyone on the buddy list "See ya later" and sell the password for some scratch. Then, just when you think it can't get any better, there are expansion possibilities. I've noticed that names for blogs run the same course. For instance, I recently changed my name on MySpace to Dangerous Angel, so I did a quick search to see if anyone had a blog by that name. Well, it turns out that some jerk weed does have a site. Which would be okay, normally. I mean, he seems pretty intelligent, and was writing the beginning of some interesting work. But he just stopped. After ONE entry. And this was TWO YEARS AGO. So that domain has just been sitting there for all that time (and when you consider that blogs only became popular around 1999 or 2000, this is almost half the blogging history that this thing has remained dormant). The sky is the limit. We can begin taking advantage of these free services whenever we want! So hey, if anyone wants in on this idea before it takes off, just let me know (it will be a definite plus for you if you know of any screen names already that people may be willing to part with).

So sayeth The Brad...

Insight # 4

They say that my Archangel counterpart speaks to babies while still in the womb. There he imparts the knowledge that the baby will, in due time, need. Well, you're all in a womb of delusion, and it's about time that I slapped you upside the head with some truth. This is profound insight #4. I have declared it to be so, and so it shall be.

Being nice is unattractive.

So we've all heard that stupid, worn-out phrase "Nice guys (and ladies) finish last" right? I'm sure we've all used it or referred to it at one point in our lives. Well, for all the young adults out there, this phrase isn't completely untrue. It's just much too vague. You see, there is a REASON why nice people finish last. No, it's not because the guys lack the backbone or the fortitude to go and ask girls out while the jerks do. It's not because the girls fail to show interest to the guys, while all the bitchy, slutty ones do. Just because you're a nice person doesn't mean that you automatically are one of those that become extremely introverted and basically implode into themselves. Being a gracious human being doesn't liquify your backbone. Now, CAN nice people be spineless, and DOES that contribute to a small percentage of nice ones that get run over? Yes, of course. But, as this society is apt to do, we like to make a broad assumption about ALL nice people based on this very small minority. That's not fair, that's not accurate... That's just plain stupid. So let's stop, shall we? Alright, now the true insight, the real secret, is about to be unveiled. The reason that nice people (at least in the young adult age group) finish last is because NICE people are UNDESIRABLE. As much as you hear any girl say, "Oh, I just want a guy that will treat me right," or a guy say, "Oh, I just want a good girl," it's ALL a facade. Not everyone offers this lie on purpose or out of malicious intent, mind you. It's just that somewhere, deep down, it is only an extreme few of us (at this point in our lives) that want a nice girl/guy. Think about it: most guys find a girl that is cool to hang out with and provides no drama as boring. However, they LOVE the girls that play hard to get. Girls automatically assume that a guy who caters to their needs is a suckup, and that he doesn't have the kind of backbone that they not-so-secretly desire. They, of course, go for the guys that are concerned only with themselves, because that translates to them as "He can provide for me". We don't want what is THE BEST FOR US. Is this really so hard to believe? Look at the first insight I wrote. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY WANT. It's still true. Just cause I wrote that a few days ago doesn't make it less applicable. This , however, is the specific time in people's lives that, when they look back upon it in their twilight years, they say "Oh dear God, what was I thinking?" They experimented with drugs. They got drunk and didn't go to class, or woke up next to someone with three teeth. They fooled around with the same sex. But, most often, the day dream that prevails over all others comes back to "the one(s) that got away". We end up regretting the fact that we didn't stay with John, the sweet guy from campus. Or we didn't stay with Susie, the wonderful co-worker. Or whomever it was, whatever name goes with that regret. That's what leads to mid-life crises where we get sloshed and call up these ex's "just to see how they're doing". What could possibly be the reason for this? If it obviously turns out that these are the people we want to be with LATER in life, why doesn't everyone just get with them NOW? It's a very simple answer, and it can be expressed by another worn-out-but-true phrase: Hind sight is always 20/20. You look through any stack of photos and you're bound to see things in that picture that you didn't realize in the moment it was taken. In the same way, when we recall past experiences through memory, we remember how we should have acted, thought, felt. It's a sad, but true, state of affairs. As we are now, the flawed young people of this world, we are generationally retarded when it comes to doing what is best for us. Is there anything that the genuinely nice people of this day and age can do? No, short of completely changing who you are. And trust me, as someone who went through that, its not worth it. Be who you are destined/meant to be, nothing more but CERTAINLY nothing less. All I can do for us is send out a call to everyone else: WAKE UP. Realize today the reality of tomorrow. You WILL look back on this time in your life with regret if you continue on this path. Yes, I believe that there is a person that God destines each person to be with. Yes, I believe that we need to ready and prepare ourselves to be good enough for that person. But what if that other person doesn't shape up in time? What if we miss the chance because we're at one end of the scale and they're on another? Please, everyone, live with the mindset that what you do now DOES have consequences in the future. Be ready for who you're destined to be with. CHANGE YOUR MINDSETS, NOT YOUR PERSONALITIES. There, I'm done. I'm spent. This entry entailed several weeks of thought. Gabriel out.

The Impermanence of All

I was outside tonight at 1:30 AM and just sitting on a bench in front of Old St. George. Usually my jaunts into the ebony nightfall of Clifton are habitually static; meaning that I stay in one place and just soak up what the night has to offer in terms of temperature and beauty. However, on this particular eve, I really felt that God was leading me to get up and walk a relatively short distance across the street so that He could show me something. So I did, because long ago I grew tired of not listening to what He had to say and command. And the best part is that I was not disappointed by what I found.
From across the street you get a pretty nice picture of what The George looks like as a whole. It's very picturesque, very beautiful, very awe-inspiring. But from its impressive facade, overlooking the long stretch of Calhoun street, I really got to receive a better sense of what impermanence truly is. Very simply put, impermanence is this world, this "reality" that we are living in for a short while. You don't get a sense of that as a Christian until you consider that that means EVERYTHING that we behold on this earth, EVERYTHING that we think we should hold dear (barring God, His service, and our place in eternity) is transitionary and ephemeral. That means our families. That means our friends. That means the house we live in, the bodies that we try to sustain, the works that we create. Every single, solitary bit of it will not stand up to the wear and tear of the eternal. All will pass away and be as if none of it ever existed. All we are left with in the end is the God of the Universe and His Kingdom.
One thing that we sometimes fail to see as impermanent, however, is the earthly Church. Think about it: one day, it will cease to be needed, because the faithful will be in the presence of the Almighty. Does that mean that the Church as we experience it now has no bearing? No, of course not. What it DOES mean is that one day the houses that we have built for Him will be pushed aside and all will be welcomed into the houses that He has prepared for US.
This came to mind as I noticed the cracked and missing shingles on the roofs of the towers; the broken-in windows on the facade of The George; the clocks that have long ago stopped moving their hands forward in time. That church was built on the assumption that there would always be a congregation for it. There would always be a "church body" at 42 Calhoun St., in the heart of Corryville. More than a hundred years ago, that was the reality on which The George was founded. However, now it stands as a community center; its potential being realized through the spiritual discussion that gets brought up within its many rooms. I like the reaction I get from some people when I tell them that the building was de-sanctified as a Catholic church in the nineties - that reaction is usually one of despair, sorrow, or pity. It's a prime example of people assuming eternity on something that is not.
A building is a building, a shrine is a shrine, a book is a book, an artifact is an artifact. Are some of these more God-serving than others? Absolutely. Is the Bible, for instance, much more than a book? It's words are, yes, but it's binding is not. We were never told to worship the building in which we conduct worship. We were never told to praise the pages on which the word of God was written. We were never told to venerate the wood on which Christ was hung. In fact, we were told specifically NOT to do that (graven images, anyone?). But the words that Paul spoke in Romans were true: we, somewhere along the line, began to worship the created rather than the CREATOR. If all in this world is ephemeral and impermanent (as it is), then we are called to worship our Father God who alone always has been and always will be. He needed no one and nothing to create Him, and He in turn created all of us. And while everything else that he created for us, and we have "created" for ourselves, may wither away, He allows us to join Him in eternity. Now, personally, I think that that is pretty darn praiseworthy.
Man, that took a lot out of me for so late at night. Hopefully that helped someone.
Gabriel out.

So sayeth The Brad...