Editorial March 17, 2003 Issue

Do Michael and Gabriel get along?

John Selover

They're so different. Michael is a fighter. Gabriel is a minister of love. You'd think they couldn't be in the same town together, much less in the kingdom of heaven. But that's where they are, and they're also with us.

Not personalities, but they're angels. So of course they're right here, and of course they get along. Can you imagine angels not getting along? The author and Christian leader and teacher Mary Baker Eddy described angels as "God's thoughts passing to man ..." (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 581). And it's not conceivable that God's thoughts could not get along with each other.

The compatibility, and mutual necessity, for Michael and Gabriel came with great force at a challenging time early in my career. I had just taken on a new job, and some self-examination was needed in order to meet the demands of this work. I had always felt at home with Gabriel. Mrs. Eddy described Gabriel as having "the more quiet task of imparting a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love" (ibid., pp. 567–568).

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