The Man who loved Angels

The Man who Loved Angels is a posthumus publication of a book Anthony Strano was still working on at the time of his death in 2014. The book is a curious and unusual amalgam of autobiography, personal development and fiction, all combined to serve the reader at many different levels. As a result, one can read the book repeatedly and each time take something different from it, because each time we read, we are also different within ourselves and our minds become open to different things. The author introduces the book by describing it as about the making of an angel. He refers to once being asked “Are you going to call out to angels, or are you going to be an angel?” It is the belief that we all have within us the possibility of becoming an angel that inspired Strano to create the character of Michael, an orphaned youth in the early 1900’s who is unexpectedly offered an apprenticeship with God to become an angel. We follow Michael’s story which starts as a narrative, and then mutates into the reading of Michael’s journal as he captures his thoughts, realisations and experiences as a daily student the ‘School for Angels’. At this point, there is an unstated invitation for the reader of Michael’s journal to actively accompany Michael on this part of his journey. The journal entries are a richness of personal experiences, meditations and ‘Pause for Reflection’ questions specifically addressed to readers, as if we have now entered into the book and are fellow students. These questions are very direct and one realises that the intention of the book is not a ‘passive read’ but where Strano is calling out from the pages “Come on, this is about you, too!” There are wonderful journal entries to enjoy: Tips for Safe Flying (Examples are ‘I must go beyond myself to find myself’, ‘When I change, I find the solution); The Qualities and Role of an Angel; and Doubt (yes – we all have to fight this demon of self belief!) At the end of the journal entries we have Michael’s graduation as an angel – and if we have chosen to use the journal as a means of spiritual study and self transformation, there is the suggestion that we too now hold this qualification. The final part of the book returns to fictional narrative and describes Michael’s return to a world in turmoil – the battlefields of World War One. Strano uses this as an example of how angels can work through the mastery over thoughts, time and matter. At the time of writing there are 26 conflicts currently in the world and countless additional incidences of civil unrest flare up every week. The need to reach and to help many is overwhelming, and as human beings we are faced with the limitation ‘one body can only be in one place at one time’. When we become angels, we have learned to master both time and matter – we become unlimited and subtle. Angels go beyond all limitations. “Are you going to call out to angels, or are you going to be an angel?”