Special Post: An Old Man with Enormous Wings

“The parish priest had his first suspicion of an impostor when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers. Then he noticed that seen close up he was much too human: he had an unbearable smell of the outdoors, the back side of his wings were strewn with parasites and his main feathers had been mistreated by terrestrial winds, and noting about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels.”

I have chosen this passage because I feel that the full meaning of this text is not quite clear when someone first reads it. I almost feel that the meaning goes a lot deeper than just talking about an imposter who is mistaken for an angel because I believe the man really is an angel, but perhaps, just not what we would have imagined an angel to look like. When reading this a second and a third time, I could not help but notice the connotations and hidden messages behind the words. I felt as if the author wanted to express feelings of ignorance towards the church as they preconceive things that are not actually true. However, this passage could also be taken the opposite way, in which people in leadership see the stupidity of the church because of their ability to believe in any given thing. Because of these two recognitions of the text, is why I have decided to interpret it.

The central theme of the play, I am still trying to figure out, but I believe that the central theme of this passage has to deal with the church and it’s ignorance to the true and what has been made into a pre prescribed belief. The author starts this passage off by explaining how the man did not respond back the priest in Latin, which was “the language of God” , or much less, even acknowledge the priest’s presence when he entered the chicken coop, where the angle was locked up. Be describing this, this is what made the priest cautious about this man because he did not do the things that “the church” believed an angel should do. The interaction between the man and the priest went on as the author illustrated what the man looked like in the eyes of the priest, which was unacceptable in his mind because of the features that the man possessed. This reminded me of how we, as the church, pick apart how others look and act so we can decide if they are living a real life after Christ or not. Through this passage I was able to comprehend the fact that we really have no idea what is going on in another person’s life, so we have no room to judge others for how they look, because ultimately God sees their hearts and who they truly are. Next, the author ends this particular passage to complete the priest’s analysis on the man, which concluded his thoughts to say, “nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels.” On First reading, this line of course stuck our to me, but it was not until the second or third reading when I questioned whether or not this priest even knew what an angel looked like or not. And if not, how does he know what an angel was supposed to look like. Later in the story it described how they “tried to make him eat some mothballs, which according to wisdom of the wise neighbor woman, were the food prescribed to angels.” This connection made be think, maybe this passage is striking at how “wise people” may not really be that wise and to listen to them and not God, stupidity within itself. This passage also reminded me of biblical times when Christ came to the world, but He came in a way so unexpected that the Pharisees and Sadducees did not believe in Him, but the “low life’s” according to social status did. I found it increasingly interesting that this same situation happened with this man, who I believe to be an actual angel. He was sent to this house, but because of his incredibly un tampered and un natured characteristics, it was what the priest was expecting out of an angel, who are supposedly supposed to “measure up to [a] proud dignity.” Throughout this reading, I really felt that the author was trying to throw out what people expect and open their eyes to the possibilities of new and other truths about spirituality. For if we continue to live in a mindset that is infatuated with a narrow way of thinking what, than we might miss a divine meeting in actual truth.

I feel that it is vitally important, not only for myself, but for others, to understand this passage and really dig deep to find the meaning of what lays behind the words. Being closed or narrow minded prevents us from finding the truth and engaging in conversations with others. We have to learn how to remember that we may be wrong, and we must be open to the fact that others may be right. Also, another important fact that I feel we cannot miss from this passage is that people, whether they are priests, foreigners, or even our friends, are all just people and not a single one of them knows everything about what is true and what is not. Therefore, our only hope and our only confidence should be placed on God as we continue to question everything, everyday what truth really is. We should never be taking anything at face value, but rather we should be taking the time to intellectually think about things, thoughts and ideas and take them to God as the final word over any matter. One last thing that I feel we can take from this text, is the fact that sometimes we may not find the answer to things, no matter how times we pray or call on God’s name. In these situations, we must remember that it is not because God is incomputable or because He does not hear you, but rather, because it is probable better for us not to know the answer anyway. In these times, the answer of, “I do not know”, may be the only thing we can fathom to say, but regardless, we need to realize that we can move on and live life to the fullest, even though there are mysterious left tangled, and unable to solve.