Oh That I Were an Angel

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

Oh, to be more than I am.  

Ever wish to be more than you are?  As children we would often pretend to be someone of great accomplishment or have power beyond our own.  We would create an imaginary world in which we were the main character and do wonderful things. 

As adults we sometimes think what it would be like to be a child again.  Or, we consider what it will be like or how much happier we will be when or if such-and-such happens in the future.  These are usually innocent pastimes.  They become debilitating only when we take up residence in those unreal habitations of the mind.

Yet, in many ways we are more than we are.  The God who says he knew us before we were born  (Jeremiah 1:5), and to whom we shouted for joy before this earth was made (Job 38:1-7) must therefore be aware of much more about us than we do, with our limited memory of living with Him before we came here to earth.  Veiled from our memory are our experiences as angelic soldiers in heaven’s army where we fought against the forces of darkness and lies and perversions of truth.  (Revelations 12:7)  Yes, indeed, we are more than we are.  Now and then we may get a glimpse or have an experience that reveals that there is more to us – more memories, more knowledge, more experiences, and evidences of more strength and power hidden behind a veil of forgetfulness.  

There will come a day when, as Paul says, we will be known as we are (truly) known (1 Corinthians 13:12).  That will be a day when veils are parted and our complete and true identity will be reflected to us and the world.  Meanwhile, it remains important to (1) know something about who we were, (2) know who we are now – our strengths and limitations, and (3) continue to create ourselves in the image of our Heavenly Father – becoming what we are divinely ordained to become.

Today, we share the reflective experience of a young man who, like us sometimes, dreamed of being more than he is.

O that I were an angel

And be more than I am

I’d shake the powers of hell

And make of it a sham

O That I Were an Angel

O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!  Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption,  that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.  But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.  I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction… Now, seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?….For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true.

Book of Mormon    Alma 29:1-4, 6, 8

O that I were an angel

And be more than I am

I’d shake the powers of hell

And make of it a sham

With God’s trump I would speak

Loud enough to shake the earth

Declaring repentance for all to seek

Proclaiming redemption and rebirth

With a voice of booming thunder

I’d declare redemption to all

Driving wickedness and sin asunder

Redeeming sinners from the fall

But do I sin in my desire

For I’m not an angel but a man

And ought not be higher

Than the station in which I stand

Why should I plead or desire for more

Than that with which I’ve been allotted

Patient and content with what’s in store

And stay the course which God has plotted

Larry Doyle Crenshaw