Fallen Angels

Many of us know “angels” who have fallen too close to the ground.  They may be members of our families.  Our job and responsibility are to pick them up, hold them close, “repair them,” and then let them go free if that is their choice.  

Holding them too close and for too long can suffocate them.  We are to heal and then let our “patients” go. 

 Singer and songwriter Willie Nelson helps us understand through his 1981 song "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" from the film Honeysuckle Rose.  This song was written and performed by Willie. The single was his 7th #1 on the country chart as a solo artist and stayed at number one for one week and spent 14 weeks on the country chart.  Here are the lyrics.  It’s a beautiful song you should YouTube. 

If you had not have fallen

Then I would not have found you

Angel flying too close to the ground

And I patched up your broken wing and hung around a while

Trying to keep your spirits up and your fever down

I knew someday that you would fly away

For love's the greatest healer to be found

So leave me if you need to, I will still remember

Angel flying too close to the ground

Fly on, fly on past, the speed of sound

I'd rather see you up than see you down

So leave me if you need to, I will still remember

Angel flying too close to the ground.

So leave me if you need to, I will still remember

Angel flying too close to the ground.

Willie has written many heartfelt songs.  Here’s the classic Mona Lisa he co-wrote with his sister Bobbie Nelson. The English title “Mona Lisa" comes from the subject's name and the Italian word “mona" (a contraction of the phrase ma donna) that means “my lady." The Italian (La Gioconda) and French (La Joconde) names of the painting come from the Italian for “jocund," which means happy or jovial.

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you

You're so like the lady with the mystic smile

Is it only 'cause you're lonely they have blamed you?

For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile?

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?

Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?

Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep

They just lie there and they die there

Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?

Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?

Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?

Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?

Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?

Or just a cold and lonely lovely work of art?

How many of us are cold and lonely?  Do we hide our broken hearts with our smiles?  If we answer "yes," then we are angels flying too close to the ground.  We must have our broken wings patched.  Fortunately, God's love is the tool to repair us.  As Willie sang, love is the greatest healer to be found.

Deacon David Pierce