Angels Fly,,,,

My husband read aloud this bit to us from the American Chesterton Society. He read it in Gilbert which is one of our favorite magazines.

Pope Benedict is quoted as saying:

I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it's very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take everything too tragically. I'd also say it's necessary for my ministry. A writer once said that angels can fly because they don't take themselves too seriously. Maybe we could also fly a bit if we didn't think we were so important.

My husband has liked this particular Chesterton quote for a long time. He even put it on his website which also contains some scans of some Chesterton first editions and other memorabilia that he owns. I thought it was funny that the Pope remembered the same line that has become part of our family anthology of proverbs. The original is:

Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.

Dr Thursday points out that in context, Chesterton was comparing angels to the devil:

For solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap. It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light. Satan fell by the force of gravity.