Isle writer publishes ‘Awakenings’ From staff reports The Daily News Published January 7, 2007 “Awakenings in an Age of Angels,” by Angel Eliza, Pittsburgh, Pa., RoseDog Books, $18, 170 pages. Angela Butler has been a goat farmer in Hawaii and poet. She’s now a resident of Galveston, a night-shift dispatcher for a hospital and the author of a new book, “Awakenings in an Age of Angels.” The book, published under the name Angel Eliza, is unusual in that it includes what Butler calls an updating of The Gospel of Thomas. It also includes poems, stories and essays that elaborate on the message of that gospel. In the first century, many communities had gospels, collections of sayings that were attributed to Jesus. Most of these gospels were rejected as the church’s teachings became more uniform. Butler said the gospel is often described as a Gnostic text, a view she rejects. Many members of the church share a belief that angels, who are messengers of God, did not stop visiting man with the end of the biblical age. “We believe that Jesus is the highest angel and messenger of God,” said Butler, a member of the Church of Thomas. She said the church meets in homes, as did worshippers in biblical times. “We’re big on dreams,” she said. She added that, in ancient times, people saw visions as God’s way of communicating with people. Many of Butler’s stories have a dream-like quality. Her parables are intended to inspire compassion for others. Butler said her favorite was “Clair and Thumper,” a story about two street kids who make friends with the story’s narrator, a bookstore owner. Although the two are rejected by society, they love the neighborhood. They show that love by cleaning it up and trying to discourage the drug trafficking that is suffocating it. Some drug dealers stop selling. But others take a harder line. Beatings fail to discourage the two teens, who eventually are found dead. The story’s narrator wonders whether the two were angels in disguise. “I cried for a week after I wrote that,” Butler said. “That’s one of the stories that came directly from a dream. It was almost like taking dictation.” In an explanation published with the book, Butler wrote that it’s an attempt to share her inspiration. “I have not come to minister to sinners — they have Jesus,” she wrote. “I have not come to teach saints — they have God. I have come to awaken the angels.” Copyright © 2007 The Galveston County Daily News