In Biblical times God's angels guided men and women along divinely illumined pathways. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is filled with accounts of the experiences of those who, by giving heed to the angels, were directed and protected. Such Biblical characters as Abraham and Hagar, Moses and Balaam, Elijah and Daniel, Mary and Joseph — all were blessed by these messengers of God. These same angels are here today, performing their eternal functions. No one who seeks their aid earnestly can fail to receive it.
But can a practical, realistic businessman be expected to seek help from fanciful feathered beings, flying in the atmosphere of imagination? Certainly not! Surely the angels that transformed Jacob's nature, inspired Gideon to liberate his people, and delivered Peter from prison were not wraithlike, whimiscal creatures. They were real, actual. They were God's own spiritual representatives, pointing out the way to mankind: the higher way, which is always practical.
Mary Baker Eddy reveals the true nature of the angels and their practicality in her definition in the Glossary of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 581) as follows: "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."
