The Knowledge of Angels

Ich weiss jetzt, was kein Engel weiss."
I know now, what no Angel knows.
Damiel, Wings of Desire



In Wim Wenders flawed but very beautiful film Wings of Desire the angels seem to have witnessed so much in history and time that there is a weariness about them as if they have seen too much. I love the scenes in this film of the angels in Berlin, riding the subway, walking along the streets, perched atop statues and landmarks, invisible to all but the innocent. The silent thoughts of the living made loud and palpable to the angels. Peter Handke, the novelist and playwright, wrote the screenplay, sending pieces of it at a time, monologues mostly, to Wenders during the filming. Wenders and the actors improvised most of the rest. Having read Handke's novels I feel as if I recognize easily what parts of the film belong to his hand. For myself I could stay among those scenes of the angels moving about the city, of their witness. There is something peaceful about it, something so comforting, as if I could feel myself an angel beside me.

I don't know why the preoccupation with angels today. I have been trying to write something about bookshops for over a month but have been unable to really find what I want to say. Then I find myself confronted with images of angels, mostly from frescoes in old Russian cathedrals and monastaries, most of them destroyed from water damage. Communism wasn't very easy on the frescoes having used the churches to store anything from grain to tractor equipment. But the power of these paintings is still felt. Not for the first time I was reminded of Wenders film and the idea of angels among us. This takes me to Billy Collins wonderful poem Questions About Angels, a witty, muse filled speculation on how angels might actually pass time (go to
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=176044 for the full text of the poem).

Questions About Angels brings me to my own musing about angels among us, more specifically those people who have been angels in our lives. We all know them, every life has at least one and sometimes, if you are truly aware, more than one. These are people who seem to have access to something more wise than the rest of us, to a little more patience and generosity, to something perhaps divine. You see this in their smiles, the look in their eyes and their actions, whether it is giving a poor person the jacket off their back or a sad soul the compassion in their heart. These are the people who lift you and make you a better person by their very presence, or the thought of their presence, in your life. They are living angels, made real but possessing a divine spirit, put here to help us no matter how small or great the need. But you see it is up to us to recognize them and accept their help. Wenders and Handke got that part just right; you need innocence to see them, an open heart. I remember so well one scene in the film where a man is sitting on the metro, his thoughts filled with pessimism and doubts about himself. Damiel places a hand on the man's shoulder and slowly the man finds strength and encouragement. Surely we all can recall such moments in our lives. I know the angels in my life and I am so grateful they exist.

Be aware of the angels among us.