In the world today people are seeking release from many things—financial pressures, mental and physical illnesses, fears, doubts, discordant human relationships, and so on. These troubles are not unique to our age. Throughout the Bible there are instances of people of that era needing release—and finding it through the comfort and guidance of angels.

Moses, Jacob, Elijah and other prophets, and other holy men and women all felt the presence of these angels, bringing them messages of confidence instead of inadequacy; of love for one's fellowman instead of hate and fear; of faith in God instead of shadows of doubt; and of physical healings instead of suffering.

Christ Jesus, the highest representative of God on earth, and many of his followers, also felt the presence of angels and heard their comforting messages—messages that equipped them with strength to go forward.

In the Bible records, angels are depicted as appearing in a human form. This description was the highest concept of angels that people had in those times, filled as their world was with superstitions and a largely anthropomorphic, material sense of the Divine.

Through Christian Science, Mrs. Eddy, a devout Bible student, brought to mankind a more illumined and spiritual sense of angels. She describes them as being wholly spiritual, without physical accompaniments—as spiritual thoughts instead of persons. She writes of them in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, this way: "Angels. God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality." ^{Science and Health, p. 581.} And on another page she writes, "Angels are not etherealized human beings, evolving animal qualities in their wings; but they are celestial visitants, flying on spiritual, not material, pinions." ^{Ibid., p. 298.}

In founding the Christian Science movement, Mrs. Eddy constantly listened for these "spiritual intuitions" to guide her thought and action. To her they were evidence of the Christ, revealing God's truth to human consciousness. These angel thoughts, or spiritual ideas, unfolded to her wonderful new spiritual views of God and man and the universe. They brought her peace, comfort, and healing in the midst of trials as she pushed onward to solidify her unique discovery of the allness of Spirit and the nothingness of matter—the discovery of the Christ Science.

We each can hear this same spiritual message coming to us and bringing us release from the pressures and physical troubles of our day. Through the study of Christian Science we learn how to lift our thought in prayer to God and listen carefully to hear these spiritual impartations. We can hear them telling us many things. They tell us not to be afraid. That there is nothing in God's universe to be afraid of. That God is the only creator, is wholly good, and could not create anything unlike Himself. That God's love for us is all-powerful and ever present. That we can be assured of God's never-failing support and guidance when we turn to the right hand and when we turn to the left. They tell us about the true nature of God, of His perfection and indestructibility, and of our own true nature as His perfect image and likeness.

In my own experience, these messages from God lifted me out of more than one critical situation that seemed at the moment to be bigger than God.

One such experience occurred recently while I was visiting some friends in a distant city. It happened on a Saturday night when I woke out of sleep feeling very ill. My first thoughts was that I wouldn't be able to do the things that were planned for the next day, including a great deal of walking. I had been so looking forward to this day and felt in despair at the prospect of not being able to participate as well as of spoiling the day for my friends.

I could not, at that moment, seem to get hold of any clear thought to assure me of God's loving presence. The physical evidence seemed too overwhelming. I repeated the Lord's Prayer and "the scientific statement of being" ^{See ibid., p. 468.} from the Christian Science textbook, but there was still no breakthrough. It seemed as though I was just repeating words.

Then I stopped saying the words and just reached out with all my heart to God to send me one angel thought to hold on to. I knew He would. He always had done so in the past.

Almost immediately the conviction came through loud and clear: "God is here!" It was as if a great light had suddenly been turned on—the light of Christ. I knew God was good, and I knew in that instant if He was here, nothing else could be here but good—no discomfort, no pain, no fear.

This spiritual idea came through so clearly, so positively, and so forcibly that the difficulty that had loomed so big simply melted away—there was no room for anything but good.

I fell asleep, and in the morning it was as if nothing adverse had happened during the night. I was able to participate in all the activities of the day freely and effortlessly, and I took the plane home the next day.

On the plane I pondered my experience and felt an increasing sense of peace and gratitude for God's dear, ever-present love, not only toward me but toward every one of us, wherever we might be.

No matter how dark the hour or how inextricable the situation might seem to be, these holy thoughts can cut through the denseness of material sense, calm our fears, and counteract the suggestions of evil, be they of sickness, sin, fear, or confusion. As the Psalmist knew so well, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." ^{Ps. 91:11.}

Every moment God's angel messages are speaking to us, keeping charge over us, reiterating His unfluctuating goodness.

This never-ending flow of healing truth is the coming of Christ, ever present in human consciousness. But we ourselves have a vital part to play in all this activity of good. It is, so to speak, to keep the lines of divine communication open so that we may receive these angel visitants and hear what they are saying. One might say we must spiritually position ourselves in order to receive their blessings and find release from our troubles, be they small or great.

Mortal mind, with its materialistic thinking, would attempt to clog the flow of these healing thoughts, obsessed as this so-called mind is with its own imaginations, superstitions, wonderings, self-imposed fears, and sickly attitudes. Thus it would claim to block the outpouring of God's great blessings, and we could find ourselves almost unconsciously straying into the byways and quicksands of error—entertaining thoughts of criticism, self-pride, human will, and so on, thereby depriving ourselves of the healing influence of these precious angel thoughts.

As we pursue the study of the Christ Science, we find ourselves becoming more and more alert to these negative suggestions of the material senses that would separate us from our highest good. We become ever stronger and stronger in recognizing their deceiving nature and powerlessness to secure a place in our thinking.

Sometimes it seems to take time to hear clearly what the angels are telling us. But even if it does seem to take a little while, we do not need to be afraid. The Christ messages will always come. And in place of the fear, we can rejoice and sing because we know there is no power that can keep God's thoughts from coming to us, bringing the sweet release we are seeking. "All unafraid I wait, the while / Thy angels bring release." ^{Hymnal, No. 136.} These reassuring words are from the Christian Science Hymnal and are used in the title of this article.

Feeling the angels of God's presence, We can never feel trapped amid the pressures of our day. We are never too far away to hear the angel voices. No cloud is too dark, no situation too severe, no fear too great, to silence these "spiritual intuitions." Even as we drive down our crowded freeways, attend our business conferences, make our trips to the market or school, engage in our church work, or walk on the beach, we can always keep our thought attuned to these angelic messages, feel their holy presence and healing touch.

They come so quietly, so gently, and yet so powerfully. It seems oftentimes that their presence is miraculous. At other times we scarcely recognize their full import. But at these latter times there is an "all is well" feeling within us. It makes us know angels have visited us.

Yes, angels, "God's thoughts passing to man," are always present. They indicate the ever-present Christ, shining through all the sordidness, fears, and ills of the world, revealing each one's inseparability from God—revealing man as happy, at peace, and well, forever free from the bonds of material sense.