Angels, by any name, exist in many world religions. Whether they are Buddhist 'devas', Muslim 'malaikah', or Mormon ministering spirits, angels play important roles in many faiths. Both Old and New Testaments mention angels. In the book of Daniel there are references to individual angels by name: Gabriel (God's primary messenger), and Michael (the holy fighter). Then there are the well-known examples in the New Testament when the angel appeared to Mary foretelling the birth of Jesus, and another angel was with Jesus in the wilderness.
Angels are understood to be messengers from the Divine. Christianity has built on this legacy usually considering angels as our guardians and helpers. We are brought up as children to believe in this special relationship with our angel who will look after us. This does not necessarily mean keeping us out of harm, but hints at our life-time interaction between our guardian and our soul.
A UK survey within the last ten years found that 76% of young people between 13 and 17 years old believe in angels. A much higher percentage than those that believe in ghosts, witchcraft, and vampires; although recent films and TV series may have promoted the vampires!
Celts believe that our angel joins us at birth, that small children can see their angel, and that it is with us until our end. This angel has special responsibility for our life, to watch over us and keep us in touch with the Divine. They are particularly important in our relationships with others e.g. we may be thinking of a friend only for that friend to call on the phone.
The secular world dismisses such notions of angels; visions or voices in the mind are considered suspect and a reason for treatment usually with drugs. Of course some individuals may need treatment for harmful thoughts and actions, but for the majority such intervention is unnecessary. Many sane people have a kind of inner voice that helps them along: a narrator, a muse. We need not believe in the paranormal for this to be real, but instead to think of it as part of our self that we have personified: our intuition or our conscience. If it helps us rather than harming us, then maybe it is another way of describing our own 'angel'.
In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus presents his unique Teachings which break with his Jewish tradition including Pharisees and the hypocrisy of many of its beliefs, rules, and practices. So it is somewhat of a surprise to find 'angels' in logion 88:
Jesus said:
The angels with the prophets will come to you
and they will give you what is yours.
You also, what is in your hands
give that to them,
and say to yourselves:
On which day will they come
and receive what is theirs? #88
We know that both angels and prophets are messengers; one in spirit form the other in physical form. They work within ourselves in various ways through our thoughts, visions, emotions, relations, and responses
Prophets are the most obvious messengers bringing us a view of our relationship with the Divine. We must be discerning in recognizing those few that are true messengers and the many that are false. Prophets however can come in various disguises; a beggar could be a silent prophet reproaching us on the corruption of wealth for example.
Jesus asserts in this logion that the angels and prophet WILL come with a personal message from the Divine to each of us. In response we must act on our understanding of the message i.e. give them what is in our hands. We could miss or ignore the message, but be sure that they will return over and over again, to press us towards our response.
Therefore we need to be alert, to be awake, to keep our antennae tuned to everything around us at each moment; to be open and ready for the visit of angels.