Clark Echols' Swedenborgian Opinions

Having Jesus In Your Heart 9

2010-06-22T17:42:00.001-07:00

“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:18-25

Everybody has a part of their consciousness that is tied intimately and irrevocably to their five senses. I have some confidence, then, when I believe that you are just like me in wanting a miracle to happen. This is especially true when I am afraid. I don’t mean afraid of the unleashed dog in the park. I mean afraid of hell. Now, when I catch myself praying for a miracle of an empty parking space, I easily dismiss it as a light kind of reliance upon the Lord. But when I am anguished with guilt and even shame at what I have done, it is very dangerous to ask the Lord to miraculously take away the mistake and so my guilt. If that happened, my repentance would be empty, my regeneration halted, and my journey to hell unimpeded.

So think about the people Jesus was trying to reach. How would we feel if a small group came along saying they had the answer to all the world’s ills and prophesied that the cure is here! That’s what the newly chosen Apostles were telling people. And Jesus was not only saying it (“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”), but also doing miracles that convinced all who saw it or were healed.

We are certainly more spiritually mature than those people before the Glorification and the second coming. So miracles, which impact change only on that lowest, natural part of our being, cannot advance our salvation. But in Jesus’ day, miracles actually made a difference. No wonder there were many church leaders who were very skeptical of Jesus and His followers. Jesus seemed to have an unusually powerful influence on people, getting them to follow Him and then so impressing the ordinary people when they heard Him in a synagogue that they considered Him a celebrity. When it became known that He was reading the Torah in the local synagogue on the Sabbath, and then teaching about it, crowds would come from all around to hear His teaching.

According to this pattern, then, it seems that our best course of action is to get excited when we hear an idea from the Word and believe it despite our feelings. Whenever we are afraid of something, we can go hear the Lord speak. Whenever we feel forced to do something, or catch ourselves doing something we don’t want to do, or are stopped from doing something, we can read the Word looking for the ways the Lord encourages and leads us. The Lord has many helpers in the world still! We can listen to Jesus’ words and allow them to help us ask the Lord for help.

The hells wish to redirect our attention away from the healing the Lord offers. It is significant that Jesus taught before He did miracles. Today, because miracles have limited impact and do not carry us on the journey of salvation, it is vital that we first listen to the Lord through His Word. When His teaching is settled in our lives – when we as it were go to the synagogue for the purpose of hearing Him – and we thus reject the message of the evil spirits, we will experience a miracle, a healing of our spirit.

To test this, I suggest you make a list. First, list the ways you have felt forced to do something you knew wasn’t right. Maybe you lied to cover for a mistake. The hells were then compelling you to lie! Add the times you have caught yourself doing something you knew was wrong, like yelling at your spouse or being selfish. Again, evil spirits love to control you in those moments. And add the times you now realize you could have acted but didn’t, like the time a friend did something wrong, or you didn’t say sorry, or thank you. After making such a list, open the Word in a favorite place - Joshua, the Psalms, a Gospel or Revelation or Heaven and Hell – and spend a few minutes reading, looking for some advice from the Lord.

I have some confidence, since you are a lot like me in this regard, that the natural part of your being that is being attracted by the hells will become quieter than your spirit. Your unhelpful desire for a miracle will be replaced with a renewed power to repent and move on to doing what is good. You then have Jesus in your heart.

Having Jesus In Your Heart 8

2010-05-03T06:33:00.001-07:00

Matthew 4:12-17
Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
"The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned."
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

If you have ever moved from one city to another likely you would say it was hard work, expensive, frustrating and inevitably something is broken or lost. So people move for a reason. Recently, many people are moving against their will because of the economy. But when we choose to move, we do so for the benefits that will be gained or because we feel called to do what we are going to do and need to be in the new place. And so we go through the trouble and try as hard as we can to make it happen smoothly.

It must not have been a lot of work for Jesus to move. He packed his bag; literally, THE bag, and then walked the twenty miles from Nazareth to Capernaum. It may have been a rough road in spots, but it was a road. And he had to have a reason to move, a mission to fulfill. And we are told why right away. He had to go to Capernaum to preach because there were many more people there than in Nazareth; because he would not be a prophet in his own city; and because it was prophesied that he would do so.

I wonder what the people who were descendants of Zebulun and Naphtali thought about themselves? For hundreds of years they were told that they were cursed with darkness and dread. Maybe it is like the feeling we have from knowing some people who are about to go into battle and may be killed. We are bothered, irritated, defensive, even angry. I know I have spent time living in darkness and dread. And when it gets to be normal, it is like I am accepting my fate, the bad karma that is to be expected in this life.

So I am striving to imagine the feeling the people of Capernaum had when Jesus came along saying he had the light; that the prophesied cure is here! Perhaps this is how I am reacting to Jesus when he says to me through his Word: “Repent! The kingdom of heaven is near! I can heal you!”

That’s what Jesus and his newly chosen disciples were telling people. And Jesus was not only saying it, but doing miracles that convinced all who saw it or were healed themselves.

It seems from this that our best course of action is to get excited when we hear an idea from the Word and take it on as a belief despite our feelings. Whenever we are afraid of something, we can go hear the Lord speak. Whenever we feel forced to do something, or catch ourselves doing something we don’t want to do, or are stopped from doing something we ought to be doing, we can read the Word looking for the ways the Lord heals us. The Lord has many helpers still in the world. We can listen to them and allow them to help us ask the Lord for help.

Jesus Christ invites us to make a move with him. Move from the unconscious, small world of maintaining the status quo. Walk with him to the bustling metropolis seaport of useful activity in a mission of service to others and to the Lord. Only then will you actually learn what repentance is. Here is a hint: it is not sitting in the cold and dark, bemoaning one’s evilness. It is living in the warm sunshine that Jesus Christ provides, being fully aware of the past, and being full engaged in the present. Yes, Jesus tells us what sin is, and that we are guilty. And then he says: move away from there, and live a new life of health and joy!

Having Jesus In Your Heart 7

2010-04-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

The next in a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us to be better followers of Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But He answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to Him. Matthew 4:1-11 (ESV)

At this point Jesus is about thirty years old. He had been raised in a proper Jewish home. He must have experienced all the phases and stages of life. Likely He made childhood friends, and then lost them. Likely He knew feast and famine being the son of a tradesman. Likely He knew hard work and the satisfaction of a job well done. Perhaps He experienced the oppression and violence of rule by the Romans. Perhaps He watched as the males of his age rebelled against their parents and the church. Likely He saw sin and apostasy among the people of Nazareth. Maybe He felt the shame of being from a second or third class family in a backwater town.

All this means that, like all people, He could be tempted around food and power and glory. And like many men He could react to dares! This is why the Gospel account is to be taken literally at first. Jesus, the mere mortal, while in the midst of a spiritual retreat in an attempt to center Himself in His new role of public healing and preaching, heard the voices of selfishness, materialism and hedonism. Certainly they were the words of Satan. And certainly, He heard them as his own words of rationalization and justification.

One of the aspects of this story that makes it so wonderful is that we all know He is the Christ, the Son of God! We know that He is about to remember this, and feel again the power to advance his purpose! And indeed, His words demonstrate that He knows He is the Son of God. We anticipate with some glee that Satan is about to get his comeuppance.

Satan, His archenemy, knows all this too. So how can Satan think that anything he might do would be too tough for Jesus to handle? Yet He does think that, for he is as short sighted and stupid as all evil spirits are. Satan comes to Jesus at a weak moment–He has been fasting for forty days! So of course making some bread is tempting. We have all experienced the kind of hunger that even a mere suggestion can send us running to the refrigerator or fast food place. So we can imagine that Jesus might be tempted to use His power to turn rocks into bread. And Jesus knows He can do miracles, so we can imagine that He would be tempted just show up this smart aleck Satan and accept His dare to jump. And, finally, Jesus knows His job is to save the whole human race, so we can imagine that He might think that if He was king of the world He could do a better job of it.

Well, Jesus could do all these things. However, and this is the really important point, using His power to show Satan He can do it would not help Him do the job He had to do. In fact, it might slow Him down.

These are real temptations. And it is good to know how He resists the temptations. He could zap Satan right back to hell. He doesn't because the battle is inside Him, not from Satan. So He uses the weapon He has been taught from childhood to use: Scripture. That is how Jesus, God incarnate, defeats Satan. The lesson for us: The Word can bolster our bravery, it has all the information as to right and wrong, and it has the power to drive away evil spirits. Having it as part of our life gives us an incredible amount of power! And if it was what Jesus used to win in temptation’s battle, it is what we should use too.

Having Jesus In Your Heart 6

2010-02-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

The next in a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us better to be followers of Jesus Christ.

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?’ But Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Matthew 3:13-17

Last we heard of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, He was a toddler in Nazareth. (The well-known story of His arguing with he priests in the Temple is not told in Matthew). It is generally believed that He was about 30 years old now. We know He has siblings, and His mother is still alive. We know nothing about Joseph. We do know that He is the Son of God, borne by Mary, but without a mortal father. So we know that something special is going to happen.

Perhaps you have already experienced a relationship with someone you anticipated was special. Hopefully, if you are married, your spouse gives you this feeling. Have you ever noticed the difference that makes for the two of you? Perhaps you can compare it to what you expect in an interaction with someone you have a conflict with. Is it not he case that you are on your guard? And you prepare your defenses. You want to be able to counter anything your opponent may toss at you. So, a loving relationship is the opposite. When you are about to interact with someone who is special, your heart opens up. You anticipate words of welcome, encouragement, healing and joy. You expect the loved person to nourish our soul. And you can hardly stand the wait until you get to give that person the gift of your love, approval, unconditional regard, and friendship.

John knows his mission is to prepare for the wonderful reception of the Messiah. He knows that a great healing is going to happen, and he knows it is his job to announce it to the world. Perhaps he is always on the lookout for the “one who is mightier than I.” Perhaps he is looking over his shoulder, so to speak. Perhaps he is motivated to be assertive, pushing himself day after day, reaching out to the reluctant and even the opposition. He has to make his message clear and loud so that it reaches all those who will welcome the Messiah. I can imagine he is always wondering if the Messiah would show up this day, or this afternoon, or this hour. He is opening his heart and the hearts of the people to anticipate the special and healing love that is coming.

And the day comes! Suddenly, Jesus appears on the banks of the Jordan where John is preaching and baptizing. John recognizes Jesus even as He enters the water of the river. Perhaps the Holy Spirit that inspired John inspired his knowing, and he saw the Divine aura surrounding Jesus. John is surprised when Jesus indicates that He wants to be baptized by John. What a huge moment in John’s whole life! That Jesus thought John could baptize Him was too much! John rejected the notion immediately and instead sees this as his chance to fulfill his heart’s greatest desire and be baptized by Jesus, the prophesied High Priest who could wash him of all his sins!

But Jesus insisted that all the rules applied to Him just as to anyone else. This declaration instantly transforms John’s whole attitude, indeed his whole mission, his life. He has found a special relationship, and it is not what he expected. He has found a Savior, who gives John a part to play, a role, a work to do. For John the Baptist, from here on out, nothing of this world, even the threat of death, could deter him from the path of righteousness. John sees his mission in a new light, with a new understanding. He hears a new voice to guide him, urge him on, and strengthen him. He is this first person to have such a relationship with Jesus Christ, and it produces a new life for John.

So this is our first glimpse of our Savior, with whom we must have a relationship of love if we are to be saved. Let us not be sidetracked by what is, on its face, oddly confusing in the story. The “heavens” open to Him (so only Jesus is seeing and hearing this), and Matthew reports (perhaps what Jesus later told him) that the Spirit of God appears “like” a dove, flying gently to Jesus and resting on Him – likely His shoulder, it seems to me. Did anyone else see the dove? It doesn’t matter because we are not told. Then a voice, again “from heaven,” speaks, calling Jesus “My beloved Son.” So where is this “heaven” that Jesus could hear voices from it? And who there is speaking? And what does this say about Jesus’ mission?

There is an appearance here of a trine in God: The Son, Jesus, standing in the water; the Holy Spirit, fluttering and landing on Jesus, like a bird; and the invisible Father, whose voice is audible. This trine describes my Savior in a clear and accessible way. It makes it possible for me to have a relationship with my Savior. I know, hear, obey, and love, one God who is love itself, who is divine AND human.

The New Church teaches that God is one in Essence and Person. This is the only way God can be love itself, indeed pure and infinite love. Yet that Divine Love flows into creation and so looks differently in different circumstances. So it never matters what the situation is in your life at any moment, the Lord comes into your heart and mind according the rules of creation, which He designed. He must obey them. So Jesus had to obey them as He made Himself Divine, symbolized by His being baptized by John.

Let us rejoice the appearing of our Savior in our lives. Let us revel for this time that He is present. Let us anticipate something special. This is how we prepare a way for Him to come into our hearts. We know trial and tribulation are coming. But for now, let us simply be pleased!

Having Jesus In Your Heart 5

2010-01-28T16:45:00.000-08:00

The next in a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us better to be followers of Jesus Christ.

“In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’ The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, ‘He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!”’

“John's clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River….

“‘I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I'm not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.’ Matthew 3:1-12 (NLT)

Picture it: a wild man comes to the major river crossing out of the desert and begins loudly preaching hell fire. He is filled with energy, is relentless, and really well spoken. He does a great job of pointing out how bad things are: corruption, immorality, general meanness; officials are stealing from people, the police are beating people up, and how most people are just negative, worried, and don't help each other.

And many people respond! They even begin to come out from Jerusalem – a day’s walk away – just to check him out! Many come forward, publicly admit they had done wrong and are now sorry. So John takes them into the river and symbolically washes them. The person has a spiritual experience that certainly will impact their living for some time. The religious leaders come out to challenge John, as he is doing a ritual washing that is only supposed to be done by them in the Temple.

Of course, these days we cringe and are suspect of such rebellion, drama and enthusiasm. We favor consensus, rational discourse and calm deliberation. We judge that someone today acting like John is using coercion. Many think that loud advocates are trying to impose their morality on others. It is interesting that people these days do yell imprecations at each other on the radio, television and on Internet chat rooms and videos about law and politics. And a lot of political talk is personal attack. There are so many who enjoy this show of bluster that normal discourse is being impacted. It seems to me that we have perverted the kind of speech that John exemplifies.

But when it comes to religion, we just want to be left alone. We know from the Word that one person cannot tell whether another needs to repent, and it is wrong spiritually as well as bad manners to accuse someone that they do! So there is much confusion in our culture about “imposing morality.” Surely we can all agree that certain behaviors are destructive. The problem is that there are many behaviors that some think are evil and others who don’t. So the whole idea of standing up and trying to convince passersby that they are evil and need to repent is generally rejected. And that has diminished the impact of the teachings of Jesus Christ in many people’s minds.

I thank the Lord that we are now able to discover in the internal sense of the Word a powerful, relevant and current message from the Lord through John the Baptist. And so here it is: It is time to get your heart ready for the presence of Jesus Christ. This is not complicated by personal issues, like shame, wounds, or heredity. The invitation to prepare does not produce defensiveness, for it is not accusative. It is an invitation to consider all the circumstances and influences in your life, and look at them in the context of a relationship of the love for and belief in our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the one hand, John reminds people that their God promised a wonderful life in a beautiful land. And on the other he points out how evil leaders are working against the God’s plan. But he also points out that every individual is responsible for his or her own relationship to God.

So, today, you have before you in the Lord’s Word, a description of a life of satisfaction and joy. You have at hand a manual for coping with sadness, guilt, worry, and whatever negative thought or feeling is ruining your happiness. And when the Word is in your heart, you will be shown clearly and simply what Jesus Christ promises will bring those blessings to you.

What John tells people to do introduces us to the first, easiest step in doing what Jesus Christ tells us to do. When he gets a lot of people's attention by his wonderful speeches, he tells them simply: be honest, fair, and nice to each other! Easily said! And revolutionary! That would, indeed solve everything today. If people in power didn't use their power to abuse people; if we all did what we said and only said what we intended to do; if we all admitted our mistakes; if we didn’t start fights to get our way; and just simply were nice to each other, the world would be a great place to live!

As a thought exercise, I suggest you spend some time designing the perfect earthly society. What will its rules be and how will they be enforced? What will be encouraged, what would be merely tolerated, and what would be banned? What will punishments be? Can you describe the overall feeling in a few sentences?

And then get to the real work: read a bit of one of the Gospels, and then keep thinking and making a list until you come up with one action you will take today to live up to what Jesus Christ has lovingly told you will make your life happy and fulfilled. As you experience blessing, your love for and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will prepare you for having Him in your heart.

HAVING JESUS IN YOUR HEART 4

2009-12-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

The next in a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us better to be followers of Jesus Christ.

“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod's son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’” Matthew 2:13, 14, 19-23 (NLT)

This short story seems at first glance inconsequential in the life of Jesus. Only Matthew includes it, presumably because he very much wants to prove that Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies made about the Messiah. Coming from Egypt and Nazareth are predicted. For instance, “Out of Egypt I have called My Son,” was written by the prophet Hosea (see 11:1). But, we know now the original reason for telling this story. It is included in the New Testament because the Lord wanted to include in the internal sense of the Word a description of how the human mind of Jesus had to develop just like any person’s mind does. Of course this revelation is very hidden. We have the details of this internal sense from the Writings for the New Church. It is amazing how the Lord used just what we would expect Joseph and Mary to do, to be the basis for precisely the internal sense He needed to reveal.

To get that information, we have to know what Joseph, Mary and Jesus went through. It was awful! They got out of Bethlehem in the middle of the night, not knowing where they would end up. Joseph had a trade, but would he find work? They could move easily, but that was because they could carry all they owned on a donkey and on their backs! Jesus was perhaps two months old, so there were many issues confronting a new, first time mother and her child. We are not told how many days later the soldiers came to kill the babies, but Mary and Joseph knew they were fleeing for their lives. They were so rushed that they apparently got up in the middle of the night right when Joseph’s dream ended, packed everything, and left. I can imagine that the people that were renting them their room thought that Joseph was crazy!

We can guess that while they lived in Egypt Joseph found work and Mary and the baby were fine. They had enough food and shelter. And they remained true to their religion while believing the Messiah had come. Joseph was still ready to respond to the Lord’s messages, and understood the meaning of the next dream the Lord gave him, that he should return home. So they packed up again, and made the long trek up the Mediterranean coast straight to Nazareth.

They must have experienced tremendous spiritual growth during these first few years. First they had to accept their roles as the earthly father and mother of the Messiah. Then they had to adapt to the strange ways of the Egyptians. They had to give up the dream of a life in their ancestral home, Bethlehem, or in Jerusalem, where a higher standard of living was possible, and instead return to Nazareth, a small and obscure town, known as the home of criminals hiding from the law.

The spiritual meaning of all this is that we all go through a variety of circumstances in our lives, which are all educational. The Lord wants us to always hope that He wants us to come through any experience better off spiritually, and better able to love the Lord and our neighbor.

Sometimes we feel like we are running from some invisible evil. Negative thoughts and feelings can haunt us like the memory of a bad dream. We can be comforted by knowing from the Word that many times our feelings are the result of spirits we associate with. But we still feel like we need to get away, that escape is necessary.

Sometimes we don’t know how things are going to work out, especially relationships. As we make new friends, we don’t really know where we are going. Once I got to be more and more friends with a neighbor. And then he showed us that he was not following the Lord. It was sad to stop associating with them. The next time we started to make new friends, sadly, we remembered that. We didn’t know what was in store for us. We all can feel wary as we travel on the journey of life.

Sometimes we have brand new feelings or thoughts that we want to protect, but we are afraid we will be hurt by someone else. We can hide, or we can be proactive. We can feel insecure, or we can be in action that feels good because we are depending on the Lord to lead us. Even as newborns are fragile, but resilient, and have lots of strengths to respond to threats, we need to protect our new, precious states of good, while affirmatively going forward in life. Relying upon the Lord is key.

The Lord wants you to keep listening to Him, and do what He asks in His Word. Basically, this means paying attention to the Ten Commandments. He knows it is tough sometimes. He knows that sometimes you will feel like you are in a strange land. But the Lord has also given you abilities and the tools to use them: your own personality or character. You have these from your parents, and from others, and from the Word. You are ready to put them to use, even though it is a scary world sometimes. The Lord’s plan for your life ends wonderfully, even if it doesn’t look that way right now. Every time we listen to the Lord, He gives us a little bit more information or skill with which to live our lives.

Here is a suggestion: Take a moment to look around your home and see what you would take, and what you would leave behind, if you had to move suddenly and could only take what you could carry. And note that this is what is happening spiritually all the time: we are picking and choosing what to believe and love. It is hard to break old habits, to leave something dear behind, but it might be necessary if you want to pick up anything new. The Lord wants to give you desires and ideas that will lead you to heaven. Beware picking up and carrying away anything the Lord would object to. It will only slow you down. You’ll only have to get rid of it later, so might as well do it sooner.

And then, take delight in the journey, knowing that the goal is your happiness in heaven, and that the Lord is doing everything necessary to see that you get there!

Having Jesus In Your Heart - 3

2009-11-30T05:07:00.000-08:00

The next in a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us better to be followers of Jesus Christ.

“Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him." King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, "Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?" "In Bethlehem in Judea," they said, "for this is what the prophet wrote:
'And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.'"

Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!" After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod….Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men's report of the star's first appearance. Herod's brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
"A cry was heard in Ramah— weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.”
Matthew 2:1-18 (NLT)

No reality TV show could ever adequately cover what happened in Bethlehem shortly after Jesus escaped with Joseph and His mother. The babies probably didn’t suffer much, for they would have been quickly killed. But the tremendous anguish of the mothers, fathers and siblings is hard to imagine. Indeed, we shy away from thinking about it, lest we are overcome by the emotion and cannot find comfort.

If God is so great and loving, why did He let this happen? He was now on earth Himself! He could have stayed there and influenced the soldiers that were simply obeying the evil king’s command. Did they not recognize an illegal order when they saw one?

But, come to think of it, this same thing happened at the end of Jesus life. Soldiers mocked Him when they jammed a crown of thorns on His head, whipped Him, and then nailed His wrists and ankles to the cross, and even stabbed Him. Why didn’t He stop them then? Why didn’t He come down from the cross and thereby convince them that He was God incarnate?

Will knowing the explanation do much for us? The Writings for the New Church explain all this quite clearly. The killing of the children and the crucifixion were caused by evil present on the earth through people who had actually rejected the Lord’s love. These things did not happen because the Lord went away, or didn’t care, or couldn’t do anything about them. They happened because evil people freely chose to do them. And the Lord never, ever stops anyone from freely using their own ideas in their actions. Even if innocent people are hurt by it.

But this is only an explanation. It doesn’t take away the horror or the sadness. There are many other issues like this, both in the Word and in our lives. For instance, the natives of Central America were making human sacrifices about the time the Lord was on the earth. Why didn’t He go there? At the beginning of the industrial era, women and children had to work long hours for very little pay just to survive. Why didn’t the Lord create a just society while He was here? Millions of people were killed by the Nazi regime in Germany just because they were judged to be inferior. Most were His “chosen people!” And yet there are only a few stories of brave people stepping up to do anything about it. Ask your parents or grandparents for examples of this kind of thing. They will have stories, too, for it has been observed for all of history. They will probably first think of what horrified them the most. Even today the President of the United States is using his Constitutional authority to send American troops into battle. Will the Lord give him and his Generals the wisdom to do what is right and good? Will the Lord, having now made His second coming, be able to do anything about it?

What we have to do is learn to manage our horror of evil. Evil is real, and it is not going away. It will hurt us and others who are innocent. We will cry. We will rage. We will do something about it to stop it, sometimes making a difference. And the evil one will continue to exist.

The Lord alone gives us the means to put up with evil. Think about it. Your life is probably well balanced between family and friends; fun and work; serious and silly. This is because the Lord’s love and truth rules everything. Evil will never get the upper hand in your life or in the world. The Lord, using each of us, will keep the hells and the evil spirits from hell, in their place. And so most of life is really wonderful! All because the Lord wins every time. Herod lost. He died an angry, unfulfilled man. His kingdom was divided among his sons, but it didn’t last beyond them. And on Easter morning, all the anger, worry and sadness became temporary, past feelings when Jesus showed Himself to His disciples.

The Lord will show us His love and truth, too. And he will give us the tools to cope with evil. Try this task: The next time you are angry or sad, quickly find a Bible and start reading at Matthew 5, or the first Psalms. Really concentrate on what you are reading, but read without any analysis. Don’t try to figure anything out, just seek to read it with focus and understanding. Maybe set a timer to ten minutes. After some minutes, stop reading and it is likely you will notice that, while you may still feel angry or sad, you have a sense of control over it, and it doesn’t control you. Do this at least once, even if you have to remember being angry or sad in the past. And certainly do it if a friend makes you mad, or if your boss makes you mad, or if a coworker injures you somehow. Do it as many times as you have opportunity. You will begin to notice a change in your reaction of bad events. The Lord promises that you will manage your reaction better and better all the time. "I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27)

Having Jesus In Your Heart - 2

2009-10-23T07:05:00.001-07:00

The next in a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us better to be followers of Jesus Christ.

“This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:18-21 (NLT)

Joseph was captured in the middle of competing claims. He was betrothed, which was a contract between two families, which included promises of money, living arrangements, and the woman’s virginity. Then there is her pregnancy. We can only wonder who, if anyone, accepted the testimony that the Holy Spirit caused it. Then, Joseph knew that divorce was necessary in these circumstances. But then, because of his great love for her, he wanted to do it very quietly, without the public humiliation the law allowed. Joseph thus becomes complicit in the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in the house of David. His love might also explain why he believes Mary is pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Then Joseph has a powerful dream, indeed a vision in a dream. Joseph believes this dream to be of a different kind than you and I experience. And in fact, it was: before the Lord’s glorification, He had His angels give messages to people on earth this way. Then Joseph didn’t divorce her! This was extremely unusual!

Joseph was thrust into this muddle of conflicting ideas, feelings, expectations, hopes, and realities. He was just a carpenter from an insignificant town, not a hero ready to conquer such powerful forces. Maybe he was of royal lineage, but that meant nothing in his present life.

Think back to some ordinary time in your childhood. Perhaps remember when you finally learned to ride a bike without falling over. In a sense, you forgot the process of balancing that is required. You just knew how to lean into a corner, how to shift side to side as you pedal. In fact, you can’t ride a bike so long as you try to control the balancing with your thought. Once your mind and body gets it, you are able to let go of thinking about riding, and you are successful.

We learn our own particular way of balancing in our spiritual life as well. Balancing your life between yourself and others, balancing between yourself and the Lord, and balancing the stuff of your earthly life and your spirit all correspond to physical balancing.

Early on you were told about your spirit, and you were told about the importance of loving your neighbor, and you were told about the Lord. This is really important information. And yet it is a lot like being told how to ride a bike. It takes a while–in this case, years–to master the balancing act. And you have to know what you are doing so well that you no longer have to think about yourself, or others, or the Lord.

Likely you know someone who has never been given that information, or whose sense of balance has been harmed. It is sad to see the mistakes they make. Their lives are tragic wreck after wreck. And it is amazing to watch as a person gets accurate information about themselves and others and the Lord, and learns how to balance. Everyone is happy in the end as the person develops great relationships that work.

It seems Joseph had gotten to this state. He was so sure of himself, and so clear about his love for Mary, and so trusting in the Lord that he first sought a balanced solution, and was then able to do exactly what he was commanded to do. And, wonderfully, it matched what he really wanted to do: marry his beloved.

Notice it wasn’t his conscious thought that made it possible for him to find the balance and blessing that resulted. He had to let go of his plans, his thoughts. He had studied the Word and had lived a righteous life (which is a word meaning “right wise” which might have more meaning for us). This prepared him–like riding a bike again and again until you “get” it-–to be open to the Lord's ideas. He was able to balance his own ideas with the Lord's plan. And Matthew makes it sound like it was easy for Joseph, just like riding bike–once you have learned!

The Lord wants to give us as long as we need on the earth to learn how to do this. The quicker we learn it, the more fun riding through life we will have. The bigger hills we will be able to climb. The more adventures we will be able to go on. We will survive the crashes, broken chains and flat tires, and be able to go on. So keep practicing what the Lord says! You’ll get it eventually!

Practice using the name “Christian” in describing yourself. Try and try again, even though you feel awkward and you fall down. Jesus Christ will reveal himself to you, perhaps dramatically like a vision in a dream, or subtly, as when you found how to balance on a bike. Using the name Christian over and over will happen because you acknowledge that Jesus is the source of the balance in your life. That is how we have Jesus in our hearts!

Gold and Shadow

2009-10-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

I had an insight while in my men's group that I intend to hold to as long as I can! So I am writing about it....

The Lord's life flows in such that the divine is in us. When we own it, and feel it to be our own, it is no longer divine, but it is still His love and wisdom. In the lingo of the format of this men's work, it is called gold. Everyone has this gold within.

The vessel the receives the Lord's life is called the "own" (Latin: proprium). Lisa Hyatt translates it as "autonomy" as in the following from Heavenly Secrets #3994:

“Innocence is an absolutely essential element of love and charity, and consequently of goodness. A person’s innocence consists in knowing, acknowledging, and believing, not with the lips but with the heart, that only evil originates in oneself, and everything good originates in the Lord…When a person confesses and believes this in his heart, the Lord flows in with good and truth and instills a heavenly autonomy into him which is bright and shining. Nobody can possibly be truly humble unless that acknowledgment and belief are present in his heart; and when they are present he is self-effacing and so is not preoccupied with himself, in which case he is in a fit state to receive the Lord's Divine. These are the circumstances in which the Lord flows in with good into a humble and contrite heart."

Notice that the Lord eventually changes the proprium from being completely evil to being heavenly. In the lingo of this men's work the first proprium is called a person's shadow.

One way to use this information is to imagine one's shadow as out in front, and so no longer hidden. Also, one accepts the existence and power of the shadow. One cannot get rid of it. And fighting it is futile. In fact, again in the paradigm of this men's work, one is to embrace and accept the shadow as not only a part of one's being, but as equally valuable. This makes sense of one considers that the proprium will eventually be changed by the Lord into a purely good vessel.

So the insight was a feeling, both an emotion and a physical sensation. I realized the emptiness produced by a dilemma. On the one hand, if I label my shadow as a worthless piece of "refuse" (trash) I will have to lie to you in order to hide this part of myself because, of course, I want to look good and and I want you to like me (which you wouldn't if you saw what I was REALLY like). On the other, if I don't lie and show you that I am a worthless piece of refuse, again, I have come to believe, you will see me for what I am and will reject me and not like me.

The way out of the dilemma is to stop rejecting my shadow and to stop calling it bad and wrong. (Note: it is evil ONLY in itself, because I am giving it power by holding onto my judgment of it and trying to hide it or get rid of it). By accepting my proprium for what it is, I stop giving it power from the divine love the Lord is giving me to use. I detach from it in the sense that I don't make it all of me. I let go of it so that I don't own it (a favorite concept: all evil is from hell, all good is from the Lord). All the time I remember this, I can much more easily control the behavior, including thoughts as well as actions, that I am ashamed of, that separate me from the Lord, heaven, and that I would be embarrassed if anyone knew about.

Having Jesus In Your Heart

2009-10-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

This the first of a series of articles based on the Gospel of Matthew intended to equip us better to be followers of Jesus Christ.

The first chapter of Matthew proves that Jesus is a descendant of, first, King David, and then of Abraham. Jesus is thus not only a Jew, he is royalty. All because Matthew could produce the list of names that links them all.

Before you read any further, take a moment and get a piece of scrap paper and a pen and write your name. Did you write your complete name? Did you print it neatly? Or did you write a signature? Is your writing distinctive? Is there something special you do to a letter or as a flourish? Have you ever played with how your signature looks or using just initials? Notice that these questions speak to how you think of yourself. And they reflect how you want others to see you.

Did you ever acquire a nickname? Do you have a “real” name apart from your nickname? Have you asked people to call you a certain name? How, if at all is it connected your given name? A nickname, when made up by others, reveals something about what they think of you. A nickname you choose yourself, or one made up that you perpetuate, reveals how you want to be related to, even in some small way.

Now, reflect for a moment on each of the following questions. What do you think is a person’s first thought when they hear your name? Does it make a difference if they are looking at you when they first hear it? Does it make a difference if you introduce yourself or if someone else introduces you? Do you want to change your name? Can you describe what it is about your name that makes you want to have a different one? How do you feel about the fact that you didn’t get to pick your name? Do you know if your parents had a reason for giving you the name they did? What was it? Has your personality developed to match your name? Is that because of your name, or because your name reflects your parents’ personality which determined not only why they named you what they did, but the way they raised you?

And here is a relevant teaching: “The ancients took a name to mean simply the essence of a thing, and seeing something and naming it to mean recognizing its nature. This was due to the fact that they gave their daughters and sons names with a relevant meaning. Every name had a unique element that indicated where people were from and what they were like....Such a manner of speaking was familiar to them, and anyone who fails to understand it will be puzzled by the symbolism....No one knows anyone’s name in heaven, either, but each knows what the other is like.” (Secrets of Heaven n.144, 145)

What do you plan to do, if anything, to live up to your name? Do you look forward to living up to your name? Are you going to be like the parent or ancestor you were name for? Is he or she a model for you? Are there characteristics about the person you were named after that you want to avoid or get rid of?

What do you want to be named in heaven?

The story of the incarnation of God begins with names, perhaps, to begin with the most external feature of the Lord, the name “Jesus” and the honorific “Christ.” At the same time, those names involve his deepest essence. On the one hand, his heredity did not define him (at least no more than it defines any of us). On the other hand, his heredity connects him to both the Divine Itself and you and I. Jesus Christ is thus unique, even as he is an archetype for all of us.

To be called “Christian” is a significant matter. No parent gives you this name. You don’t make up its meaning, its heritage. It is symbolic of a certain essence, and it actually represents a way of being, of believing and living. It cannot be taken as a “toss off” nickname.

In a sense, you cannot earn the name “Christian.” You acquire it by a life according to the commands of Jesus Christ.

Living as a Christian leads to people thinking of you a certain way. They have a first impression, which may or may not be accurate. Many of our acquaintances don’t know us by this name. Are there some we would not want to know us by this name? Why? Can you name yourself “Christian”? How comfortable are you with that.

Again, why does the Gospel of Matthew start with a list of names? Might it be that it is essential that we take on the name Christian because it connects us to our God, Redeemer and Savior? As we do, we surely acquire a new name that will stick with us even into heaven! It is an essential quality that everyone we meet there will see instantly!

Spiritual Growth Support Group

2009-10-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

I look forward to facilitating a Spiritual Growth Support Group again some time. It is a ten week series of workshops. Here are the homework tasks that are given out. Very powerful stuff!

WAKING UP TO SPIRITUAL LIFE AND DEALING WITH THE INFERNAL MARRIAGE
When you become aware of a negative emotion in yourself, find a distraction and notice if the strength of the emotion is reduced. Observe the thoughts that surround the negative emotion and how quickly they arrive. Experiment with stopping the negative emotion by stopping the negative thoughts. Notice any changes that the distraction or positive thoughts have on the negative emotion. Write about this in your journal and come prepared to report on your experience.

NOT IDENTIFYING WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
When you observe a negative emotion in yourself, remind yourself that the emotion is not YOU. Say: "IT IS _________ (mad, jealous, scared, etc.), and I don't have to be." Write about this experience in your journal and come prepared to report on your reactions.

LETTING GO OF CRITICISM
Observe your criticisms (out loud and in your head) for a whole day. Once you have noticed the pattern of critical thoughts, go for a whole day without internal or external criticism. This applies to self-criticism as well. Notice what happens and record it in your journal.

DEALING WITH LYING
1. Observe IT (your lower self) Lying
a. Saying to yourself or to another what is not true,
b. Rationalizing; making excuses by lying to yourself,
c. Exaggerating (externally or internally), d. Talking with authority about something you know little or nothing about, e. Saying things that are true with the intention to mislead, f. Lying by omission, leaving out some vital piece of information, g. Telling "nice" lies, lying to be kind.
2. When you observe the lying, stop as soon as you notice.

LIVING IN THE PRESENT
Whenever you feel regret or anxiety, observe any connection with the past or future. Let go and bring yourself into an awareness of something positive in the here and now. Say to yourself: "The present moment is eternity. I am in the perfect place at the perfect time."

FORGIVING OTHERS
When a person trespasses against you, use effort and attention to recall something you should ask the Lord to forgive you for. Hold them side-by-side.

CHOOSING HIGHER DELIGHTS
When you suspect that a state you are in is NEGATIVE, notice whatever enjoyment you may be having from it. What is the pay-off for the negative state? What HIGHER ENJOYMENT is being blocked by the negative delight? Let go of the negative and see if you can allow the positive to take its place.

HANDING YOUR LIFE OVER TO THE LORD
Create a task for yourself relating to handing your life over to the Lord. It might take the form of beginning each day with a prayer, such as "Lord, I give my life to You this day". It could take the form of pausing from time to time to ask: "Lord, what is Your will for me at this moment?" Find a task that suits where you are in your life at this time.

Meditation

2009-10-10T05:14:00.000-07:00

“Reflection is a mental looking at the disposition and nature of a thing, and from that reflection comes perception.” Arcana Coelestia §3661

“About reflection
“I was just conversing with spirits and angels about reflection, to which I do not know whether people have given enough attention; and it was said that if they give it some thought, they will discover more secrets in the doctrine of reflection than in any other.
“What reflection achieves can be quite clear to everyone from the fact that we perceive no sensation of the body or its parts, and are unaware of having a sensation, unless we reflect upon that part of our body. Then we perceive heat, cold, pressure - we even feel what that part is suffering. If we reflect on our breathing, then we feel and know that we are breathing, and in this way a voluntary factor joins in; besides innumerable other instances.” Spiritual Experiences §733

These teachings encourage us to make the time in our busy lives to read the Word and then make a special effort to reflect on what we have read.

I am convinced that the ancient people had special ways of reflecting on what they were seeing all around them. That practice has come down in a huge variety of methods of meditation, some of which are deservedly dismissed. For instance, the practice of “contemplating your navel” is only justifying one’s self and its limited ideas and corrupted desires.

Meditation, as I understand it from reading teachings such as those above, is a contemplation of the Word in such a focused and intense manner, that its truths transmit the Lord’s love into our minds and hearts that are prepared to humbly receive them so that they make a difference in our beliefs, our desires and our actions.

That huge result is produced by the Lord in us only when we learn how to meditate on the Word. This is not a natural talent. It is not a gift anyone has without a lot of work. The mental barriers – psychological and spiritual – are many and complex.

For instance, our brains are wired to make associations all the time. We want to be connecting the past or the future to our current experience. This means that we do not automatically provide mental space for the truth of the Word to be all by itself. We tend to attach all kinds of meanings to any idea we get from the Word. And some of those ideas will pollute the message of love the Lord wants us to receive.

To acquire the skill of considering the Lord’s truth in a non judgmental way, in the unaffected present moment, includes a number of steps, some of which seem in themselves useless or pointless. But each skill is part of the final ability. We must learn each skill individually for we cannot learn them all at once.

Note that Swedenborg’s own experience was that we will see the usefulness of such reflection just from the experience of paying attention to our bodies – “reflect on our breathing, then we feel and know that we are breathing, and in this way a voluntary factor joins in; besides innumerable other instances.”

“The voluntary factor,” that is, choosing to pay attention to a specific object, he tells us, makes a difference in our ability to reflect, ultimately, on the truth of the Word!

for instance, as I write this, I am present to the experience that summer provides wonderful times to meditate! The early mornings’ light and coolness draw us to sit and breathe deeply. Or, we can take time to cool down after mowing the lawn with a stillness of body and mind, in the simply enjoyment of a job well done (and, after ten minutes of this, a cold drink!).

So here is a list of meditation skills that, as you become skilled at doing them, can be combined to enhance your reflection upon the Word, bringing a sensation of the Lord’s love for you into your life.

Sit in a comfortable position and put your attention on small parts of your body one at a time until you have paid attention to, and relaxed, every part. For example, you might start by paying attention to the toes of your right foot. Wiggle them a bit, and then relax them. This will take only a few seconds, although the goal is the ability to give full attention to something as small as one toe for a long time. You might then pay attention to one ankle, then the other, one calf and then the other, and so on through all the muscles you can identify. I am surprised almost every time I get to my eyebrows and discover I am holding them up!

Another skill is paying attention to your breathing. Sit comfortably; take a deep breath through your nose so that you do it somewhat slowly. Notice how your lungs fill. Your ribs expand and your belly goes out. Breath out slowly through your mouth, letting your lungs empty completely. After a few of these deep breaths, relax into whatever is your normal breathing. And now the skill part: put all your attention on your breath. Notice the air moving in your nose, your mouth. Notice the movement of your ribs and diaphragm. You might have to close your eyes. If that leads you to think about other things or get anxious, then stare at something right in front of you until you are not paying attention to it anymore. You will quickly discover that you will think of something other than your breath. So, note that your mind wandered for a while, and put your attention back on your breath. This skill is not intended to remove the brain’s wiring. It is to give us the ability to choose where we put our attention for a longer time than we can now. Again, the goal is not to be able to pay attention to your breath for five minutes without a break. The goal is to acquire this skill so that you can use it to contemplate an idea from the Word without distractions. I look forward to being able to do it better!

I encourage you to explore meditation. There are lots of teachers around. It has been shown to help a wide variety of physical ailments. And people who meditate on the Word report many benefits. If you would like to join a meditation group at our church, let me know!

Metaphorically Speaking

2009-04-08T04:10:00.000-07:00

“That same day two of Jesus' followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.” Luke 24:13-16

We are encouraged to see metaphors in our world and personal experience for what is happening in our spirit. It makes our spirituality–our inner, mental life– real to us and connected to what is happening here and now. This is important because, as we delight in realizing, our spirit is that part of our being that is eternal, and not bound to the material world. This delight is the joy being described in the Psalm quoted above. It is a source of continuing delight that the teachings for the New Church constantly make this connection between the reality of this world and the reality of our spiritual world. Our spirit, our essence indeed, yearns to experience the connection, and we look for it wherever we can.

And yet likely you have noticed that too often we miss the application of some spiritual principle because our attention is outward or on our own selfhood. Too often we have an opportunity to learn a new spiritual notion, but we miss it because our mind’s eye is closed. Perhaps something like what happened to the men on the way to Emmaus.

This story is not spoken of directly in the Writings for the New Church. I found an inspired exposition in an old book on the Gospel of Luke by the Rev. J. Clowes (pronounced “clues”), who lived 1743-1831, who is one of our church “fathers.” He was a Church of England priest who converted to the New Church and wrote a number of seminal works on the Writings. About this passage he writes (first concerning verse 12, Peter looking into the tomb and seeing it empty): “Nevertheless they, who are more principled in the doctrine of faith, are led to make enquiry about it, and seeing that in the Lord all truth was made Divine Good, they are excited to adoration.

“They too [as represented by the two men on the road to Emmaus], who are in the doctrine of charity and faith united, reason together on the subject, and by their reasonings bring the Lord near to and present with them, though they do no know it.” “Gospel According to Luke,” p 424.

The application to our lives of this spiritual principle is that we are on the way through our life, with a certain direction and goal in mind. Along the way, using the information we have, we reason about our beliefs and what they say about goodness and truth, and right behavior.

First of all, we have to ask ourselves if are we conscious of our direction in life. And we have to become intentional in our goals. You are invited to read and meditate on the Word of God in order to gain a perspective on your own life. This will reveal to you where you are on your journey and where you are headed. This is perhaps the walking part of your life. This ongoing spiritual practice may be described as allowing the Word simply to be in your life without any preconditions. You have the Word in your memory first, and then it is available for you to use in your thinking, speaking and acting. The Lord’s promise is that this practice will bring His presence.

Perhaps the next piece being described in this story is the silent approach of our Helper, Comforter, and Savior. His presence is never intrusive or demanding. He quietly sneaks up on us in the daily routines of our lives. He even feigns ignorance! That is, He protects our freedom by hiding His influence. Yet, when we ask Him, He speaks up, raising all the experiences we have had in gathering and using truths from His Word, into the light of heaven. We are enlightened. In fact, “our hearts burn within us” (verse 32) because we are filled with a new sight of love for the Lord and our neighbor.

Every time we have such an insight, we have successfully connected our spiritual life with our natural life. It is a process as automatic and seemingly instinctive as our ability to use and understand metaphor. It can be said, even, that we can let go and let the Lord run His process! Our task is to keep walking, keep gathering truths from the Word and finding confirmations in our experience. As we do so, regularly meditating and reflecting on our spiritual state and goal, we can rest in the hope that the Lord will give us the wisdom and love to become ever more aware of His love in our life.

The Journey

2007-09-27T18:30:00.001-07:00

There is a man in a state prison that writes to me, and he often amazes me. He describes in clear detail what he does to remain free. He was enslaved by evil long before society meted out punishment for his crime. And now, when he remembers himself – which he must do almost daily – he rises above the false ideas and evil delights that threaten to persecute him, and he is free.

I know a 50 year old woman who fears old age. She has watched her grandparents and her parents grow old and suffer the loss of abilities, then lose the enjoyment of life, and finally lose life itself. And now she recognizes the signs of the same losses in her own body and mind. Her energy is dwindling. Her reflexes are slowing. Her memory and attention span are not as good as they were ten years ago. Her work is all routine. Her avocation is becoming a burden. She is about to retire and move, and for no reason but that she is getting old. She is discovering that she is imprisoned by lies about life. One lie is that there is no value or reality to the present moment in and of itself, regardless of the circumstances. She senses an evil force manipulating her through this lies, convincing her that only physical youth is good, and that old age bad because death ends life.

I recently read the story of Dan Millman who was incredibly successful in gymnastics. He was judged the best in the world at the 1968 Olypmics. He writes of how he discovered the prison that his point of view about himself and the world created to enclose his spirit. It was wonderful that he didn’t have to lose his life of gymnastics, but he went through many trials to discover exactly what he did have to lose in order to find a way to use his talents to make a better world for himself and others.

I am told that a person can crave food in unhealthy quantities and qualities, so that eating is an attempt to serve a deep need for satisfaction. Actually the need is never met, and the obsession, if not curbed, leads to death. Such a person is enslaved by the falsity that a particular food can be of service to a spiritual need. When it doesn’t satisfy, the person eats more, continuing to believe the lie. The person can actually believe that a certain behavior, bad for them yesterday, will not be bad for them this time. The same falsity is involved in all addictions.

So how does a person so enslaved break out of such a pervasive prison? It is the process of spiritual growth, which begins with the realization that it will take a miracle to be freed. The process begins when I realize that it is my own knowledge and thinking from it that is the source of my pain, darkness, obsession and limitation. I then realize that I have to give it all up, that my beliefs and thought processes and the behaviors they produce must be replaced. The Lord’s preparations for my freeing then become active. Memories of long past delights in good are stirred. Ideas, circumstances and people (many of which were there all along) suddenly appear and are attractive. It is of note that the book and movie “The Secret” is based on this essential truth (although the author doesn’t see the whole picture and goes awry). The Lord’s design is that as I realize I need His miracle of healing, precisely because I feel lost, condemned and beyond His reach, there is created in my mind a glimmer of hope, and a strategy or two to be adopted. A tender, small and fragile sense of freedom arises in my heart.

“But nobody can have this freedom except one who is governed by good; for it is by virtue of good that he is in heaven and by virtue of good that truths are seen there.” And so the process continues with successes and failures to live up to the new sight of truth. Little by little, the good of heaven replaces the “good” the addict, the materialist, or the hedonist had before. More and more the person sees the evil of those delights, and identifies and rejects the falsities that propped them up.

Unbeknownst to the person, the Lord’s processes continue to operate to replace old, evil delights with new good ones. This happens automatically as the person acts on new true ideas, which then are receptors of and clothing for inner goodness. Without knowing how, the desire and inclination to act on the old falsities is gone! A new freedom is experienced.

This is the journey. There are traps, pitfalls, and dead ends. But as one perseveres and trusts in the Lord, there are successes. And we come to know for ourselves and in our life that “You shall deal bountifully with me.” (Psalm 142:7)

Freedom

2007-09-27T18:29:00.001-07:00

Freedom is among the most precious gifts proffered by the Lord. From the most ancient times, human freedom has been considered at the core of our being. And today it continues a rallying cry – and a battle cry – in a hundred languages around the globe.

We should expect striving for freedom to endure through the millennia. How can it be otherwise with what God surely sees as His pinnacle of creation? All of nature, from the rocks that appear motionless only in our crude eyesight, to the finest substances of our brains that follow the incomprehensible laws of quantum mechanics, vibrates with the effort of divine life to find free expression, expansion and replication. All of spirit, from the lowest urges of instinct to the noblest inspirations of altruism, is driven by the outflow of divine life through the human being to find free expression in love, wisdom and usefulness.

The Lord cares about our freedom because His goal is the free expression of love that completes the circle of His life. Therefore, from His infinite love, He works to maintain the possibility of humans choosing to love Him in return through their freely chosen loving action. It must be, therefore, that infinite power steadies the flow of life, assuring that there is always a choice. On the lowest level the choice is between up and down, in and out, left and right. On the deepest level it is between materialism and spirituality, evil and good, selfishness and God. Surely among the deepest concerns of thoughtful people across the planet therefore is this: how do we realize this beautiful state of life individually and as a culture of selfless, good, spirituality?

Every human being on the planet has an opportunity to find his or her unique path to realizing the freedom that is being maintained by divine power. Clearly, many people do not understand how to manage their freedom. There are countless sad stories of people who are wounded by mistaking license for freedom. In striving for power, people evilly manipulate others with false promises of freedom. It is perhaps my deepest frustration that there is no enticement that will overcome a dictator’s desire for power. And too many people mistakenly believe they know quite clearly the order that establishes freedom (which is in fact only part of the process of establishing freedom), and seek to impose it on the rest of us.

It is important that we all contribute to the realization of natural freedom, of civil, political freedom. We do this in arenas from town councils to international organizations. Every good citizen of a country works to preserve the freedom of action, speech and association in an orderly way. This work, however, is limited if we are not at the same time striving to realize our own spiritual freedom. That foundation is necessary to see clearly the nature of lower levels of freedom, protecting society from immature notions of freedom.

During our journey of regeneration, we are given glimpses of genuine spiritual freedom. We can then look back into our past and see the ignorant, wounded person, the power hungry despot, and the self-righteous leader we have been at times! At some point we recognize the slavery we have endured. For one person it was a substance that enslaved them. It might have been the need to be loved. It might have been the need to “feel” free. The glimpses of true freedom have given us hope, a promise of divine healing of love and truth, which will set us free at last.

The story of the escape of the Children of Israel from Egypt, how the Lord freed them and how they then responded and stepped out in faith is perhaps literature's greatest example of this human striving for freedom that is successful when in partnership with the Lord.

Our congregation’s fall program, “The Journey - Realizing Spiritual Freedom,” promises to take us through the major stages from slavery to freedom in any area of one's life. Like last fall, the seminar utilizes large and small group experiences and “tasks” to do between sessions. The individual inner work is thus profitably linked to education in large group settings and mutual support in small group settings. The promise is that, by coming to church every Sunday for eight weeks beginning September 23rd, and reading the companion booklet, you will experience an opportunity to realize your own spiritual freedom in a new way.

Planning

2007-09-27T18:26:00.001-07:00

“Anyone who does not view the matter from anywhere beyond the sense of the letter may think that all concern for the morrow is to be avoided, which being so, people should then await their requirements every day from heaven. But a person who views it from a position deeper than the literal meaning, that is, who views it from the internal sense, may recognize what concern for the morrow is used to mean - not concern to obtain food and clothing for oneself, and also resources for the future; for it is not contrary to order to make provision for oneself and one's dependents. But people are concerned about the morrow when they are not content with their lot, do not trust in God but in themselves, and have solely worldly and earthly things in view, not heavenly ones.”(from Emanuel Swedenborg's "Secrets of Heaven")

Robert Burns wrote (in modernized wording) that “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go astray, and leave us with nothing but grief and pain, instead of the promised joy.” And then there is Murphy’s Law: “If it can go wrong it will.” You have your favorite. The point is, why plan at all? It seems that any goal you have-–joy, happiness, success–if achieved at all will be by luck or chance more than by your meager power or control.

Swedenborg also says, “people in the stream of providence are being carried along constantly towards happier things, whatever appearance the means may present.” That is faint assurance, to be sure. It means that when things are at their worst, the Lord is still our omnipotent God, and His plans for us (as far away as they seem at the time) are still possible. Sometimes it is hard to be thankful to Him for that.

So how do we get into the stream? It is put simply in the same passage: “Those in the stream of providence are people who trust in the Divine and ascribe everything to Him.” Perhaps you were expecting something else? The way to avoid cynicism and desperation about planning is to trust in the Divine by, in part, ascribing EVERYTHING to Him.

Does this mean that we don’t have to think ahead and plan for the future; that, if we trust in the Lord, He will carry us along to a happy end? No. This passage also says: “‘Care for the morrow’ (in Luke 12) is used to mean, not concern to obtain food and clothing for oneself, and also resources for the future; for it is not contrary to order to make provision for oneself and one's dependents. But people are concerned about the morrow when they are not content with their lot, do not trust in God but in themselves, and have solely worldly and earthly things in view, not heavenly ones.” We are to become conscious of a dependence upon the Lord even as we provide for the future.

Being human brings with it this delightful opportunity: to trust in the Divine AND plan for our future from a spiritual point of view, not a merely temporal, materialistic view. Being merely materialistic is acting from less than our full potential. Being spiritual is acting from a desire to be useful, which has unlimited potential for growth and delight.

So it is important that we distinguish between controlling the planning and controlling the result. To be in control of the planning is provident. To seek to control the result is futile. To participate in the plan the Lord has for us, we have to take the time and make the effort to reflect on our purposes in life, our goals, and our dreams. We think ahead, save, collect ideas, and arrange the details as much as we can. If we trust in the Lord in the process, we are promised, happy results will follow. Perhaps not in time or space; and perhaps there will be tragedy and trial along the way, but His goal for us will be reached. And, importantly, we will be happy with any result. We will be content during the process, and will not get upset when things go wrong (the rest of this passage says all this very beautifully!).

On the other hand, our desire to control the future leads to worry, anguish, anger and eventually a denial of God. This passage from the Word puts it this way: “These people are ruled completely by anxiety over the future, and by the desire to possess all things and exercise control over all other people.” Again, if we plan to be useful, rather than plan a certain outcome, our attention will be on the use, not on controlling people and circumstances. You can easily imagine the huge difference!

Let us help each other plan for the future of our church, from the perspective of use and eternity, not expecting any results, and not just this day, week, year, decade or even our time on earth! The Word promises happiness as we do this planning, and then act in service to the Lord!

Hope Springs Eternal

2007-05-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

“After these things, the word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward….This one shall not be you heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.’ And He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in Jehovah and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:4-6

“Once I was out on a walk with some angels. We were walking in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, the place where all of us first go after we die. There we are prepared, if we are good, for heaven; if we are evil, for hell. I was speaking with them about many different things, among which was the following.
‘In the world where I am currently living in my body, countless stars appear at night, large and small. They are all suns that transmit just their light to our solar system. When I noticed that there are also visible stars in your world, I reckoned that there are the same number here as in the world where I live.’
Delighted by this topic of conversation, the angels said, ‘There could well be the same number. Every community in heaven at times shines like a star to those who are below heaven. There are countless communities in heaven, all arranged according to different feelings of love for what is good. These feelings are infinite in God; therefore there are countless feelings from him. Since these heavenly communities were foreseen before creation, I suppose that the stars were provided in the same amount, meaning that an equal number of stars was created for the world where people with a physical earthly body were going to live.’” Emanuel Swedenborg's True Christianity §160

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come. Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

I cannot find this exact idea stated in the Bible. But we are told a great deal about hope. And eternity. Abraham’s life was dominated by his hope that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. And Swedenborg was buoyed by hope for the future of humans when he saw as many societies in heaven as there were stars.

We have a Concord grape vine on our small estate. The size of its crop has varied widely over the last four years. Every fall I carefully prune it back, right to the trunk, as I am supposed to. All that is left is a three foot long, gnarled stick, about two inches in diameter where it disappears into the ground, with a very dry, flaky bark. In the spring, it very much resembles the dead stems of last year’s raspberries, which are not far away.

And again this spring I worry that the dead looking trunk would never produce anything new or alive. Perhaps I had cut back too far! Maybe these vines have a limited lifetime. I know that our strawberries do not produce forever (at least the rarer, tastier varieties). I transplanted two rose bushes last fall, both with plenty of dead branches. One stayed that way while the other has sent up new sprouts. So my yard is giving me a mixed message, and my worry about the grapes continues.

But I had hope. It was based on an assurance that I was doing the right thing; that my experience was that the dead looking, woody vines sent out new shoots every year before. As I remember with delight the tasty, juicy fruit and the lush foliage in trellis that is the entry to our fruit garden, I am anxious lest it will all be gone!

Now imagine the hope that old Abraham felt when Jehovah told him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars! He already had a child by a handmaid, so he had some experience. And he was a herdsman, and knew first hand how God caused tremendous growth in a flock. But now God was telling him that he and his aged wife Sarah would have as many descendants as the stars, assuring his indefinite posterity. Surely he worried! And surely his hope sprung eternal!

Yesterday I looked at the grape vine. I saw nothing and was concerned. And then I remembered how I experienced this same worry last year (and likely the years before). The hope, the assurance, swept the worry away. I turned back and looked again, driven by the hope of seeing something. And sure enough, I saw one, then two, then three tiny sprouts growing out of that very dry and dead looking trunk! They are small, tender, and fragile. And yet I know they are hardy. Their greenness is the color of life itself-–a combination of the yellow sun and the brown earth and the blue water and air.

The miracle of life is displayed in plant life or the stars. It is my spiritual growth, and my salvation through Jesus Christ, and my eternal life. I certainly have periods when I feel lifeless. Life looks dry. Delight and inspiration feel absent. But that is not the case, for in fact, the Lord’s life continues to be present. And I can stop and remember that the Lord is the constant source of life that is flowing in, even though I don’t feel it. I can remember states of deep delight and great illumination. And then hope springs eternal. A small, green, living bud sprouts, assuring me of future fruitful times. It’s in the stars, if I will look up and remember!

New Church Paganism?

2007-04-18T08:47:00.001-07:00

I could have paid more attention to the winter solstice this year. The longest night.

Radio programs analyze the many solstice traditions from ancient times. I am struck not so much by what Christianity has appropriated from more ancient churches, but that the pagans had so much of it right!

The traces of our ancestors still remaining within our ken. Music, dance, pictorial art, and artifacts all reflect the essence of being human, which therefore has its roots millions of years ago. They are all testimonies to the miracle that is human creativity. That miracle has been observed far longer than our current spiritual awareness, which has existed only a couple of hundred years. In fact, now that it is 2007, it is exactly 250 years since the last judgment and then beginning of the new age of humankind. In our wisdom, we need to learn from our past.

There are no artifacts of what the Writings for the New Church call “pre-Adamic” times. But surely current religious beliefs and practices are the descendants of those ancestors and then their descendents in the Golden Age before the loss of human’s first perfection. Being the children of our fathers, however distant, the ancient elements of our human spirit can still strike a chord deep within us. And we can hear it if we listen.

Some organized religions proclaim that pre-Christian beliefs and practices are evil, occult or “pagan,” (as if that is a bad word, but go look it up!). These power-hungry people have made their teachings dead dogmas, by cutting them off from their roots in more ancient human understandings and behaviors.

Today society seems adrift. We find it impossible to undo the knots we have tied ourselves into. What are human rights; where do they come from; who has them and who protects them? How do we respect others’ beliefs while defending our own; and should we defend our own? What is the appropriate use of technology; is there an inappropriate use at all? Might it be that we are cut off from the incredibly long roots available to us as human beings?

The ancient peoples, who knew exactly which night was the longest without any sophisticated astrological measuring tools, that night prayed to God, as they understood Him, for rescue. Are we too sophisticated to believe that we need to be rescued and that the Lord can do it? Which of us is so connected to creation-–the theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom–that we could build a Stonehenge? How many of us can move a 30 ton rock, which we have made perfectly square, using ropes and logs? And not enough of us get our hands dirty growing food. And too many of us are awake only to pleasure, remaining passive, merely reacting to the stimuli of modern technology. And the list goes on.

Fearing paganism is ridiculous! Our religion is actually being threatened by a lack of appreciation of the source of our beliefs, and a lack of its influence upon our culture. People are willing to hear about “God,” because that is abstract enough, but not about “the Lord.” For instance, rap music bears strong resemblance to the most ancient percussive, rhythmic music of drums, sticks and grunts. The fact that it is being used not to declare the glory of the Lord and His kingdom is painfully sad. And religion has given the Lord such a bad reputation that He is rejected outright.

So I say, let us rediscover our pagan roots! Worship the sun, the trees, the moon and earth - all as symbols of our Lord God Jesus Christ. Let us reconnect with our roots, and bring much needed nutrients to the growing spirituality we see in the world, that it may be fruitful.

Display A New Spirit

2007-02-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.” Mark 16:9-12

It is perhaps only a cold comfort, but comforting it is, to learn that the Apostles were as cynical and materialistic as we can be today. Not one of them would believe what they hadn't seen with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, or touch with their own hands. Thomas is only the most famous doubter of them all, used by Jesus as an example, and a foil, for teaching (again!) about cynicism and implicit trust.

The Apostles grew up being told that God’s presence was obvious in the miracles He performed. He punished those who offended Him and blessed those who obeyed the rules. And, those men who became church leaders were also rich, proving that those who obeyed all the rules very carefully were blessed the most. Finally, God would occasionally send angels to His chosen people to tell them His messages. So their whole attitude was that for God to be present, He had to show Himself in some concrete way. When Jesus said things like, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father,” He was introducing an entirely new idea.

This idea may be new to us, too! How do we expect the Lord to show up in our life? Could it be that the Lord can show Himself to us only to the degree that we first trust in Him? How many opportunities to be blessed have we missed because we stopped to wonder whether the Lord would bless us or not? How many visions of the Lord's love in people have we missed because we wanted proof of the person’s reliability, or because they didn’t look like us? How many people have we hurt when we refused their testimony because it didn't jibe with the evidence of our own senses, the fallibility of which we conveniently ignore? How many times have we been right instead of kind?

If my physical senses were more powerful in my life than the evidence of my spirit, then perhaps I would believe if I had had seven devils cast out of me. If that is the way the Lord reveals Himself to me then I could believe anything. If there is no reliable witness beyond my five senses, then if some slick operator played on my grief and passed himself off as Jesus, doing some slick disappearing trick, I would be gullible enough to believe.

So my belief in my Savior is not based on sense experience. It is much more firmly based than that. And it is not irrational or nonsensical; it is not intellectually empty. It is not dependent on my ideas, but on the internal evidence, the reasoning power of love, which I know I do not originate. My belief in my Savior excites my emotions, moves my spirit, and feeds my soul. My belief in my Savior motivates me to seek the balance of influences; to reject cynicism and materialism and join my beliefs and my feelings together into a coherent whole. I believe God is a spirit, and I am completely convinced of His actuality. I may not be able to see Him with my physical eyes, but I believe the report of His Word and my whole experience.

We can thus celebrate His resurrection displaying our spirit in broad daylight. Our love of what is good and true and our belief in His mercy will bring something new into the world. He will be the visible God living in us for all to see!

Ya See...

2007-02-09T16:38:00.000-08:00

According to the God's Word, there is a distinction between prediction and perception. Prediction is foresight, seeing future events in the present. Perception, on the other hand, is being so present you can have assurance about the future.

I don’t know how many times I have made predictions, thinking I was being so perceptive. In helping people I have occasionally made suggestions. There have been many times that I said, “If you do A, then B will happen” as if I was in control of the outcome of their behavior! That certainly works in physics, but not in the realm of human nature.

The times I have perceived something, I was not led to announce to someone what he or she ought to do! Rather I was led to see something about them (or me!) that led me to do something for them! My concern was not for what happened next, WHAT they would then do. Rather it was that my love for them - in their present condition - was FELT.

Perhaps this is a subtle distinction between prediction and perception. Certain behaviors inevitably lead to certain results. We can say we can predict them. And you may have a perception about a certain situation that tells you something about how it will end. But there is a great difference between your attitude about what is going to happen and your perception about the state of current affairs.

When you predict the future, all the various paths you might take are, in your thinking, closed off to you (even though in reality they might be good paths to take). When you perceive something about your present and where you are heading - like the bad feeling of a guilty conscience - that will motivate you to action. You still take a specific path – if you change your behavior - but your attitude is one of the searching for the Lord’s will.

Predictions, which take the path of least resistance, are most often negative and loud. It takes less spiritual energy to negate something than to create something new. This is why it is easier to tear something down and to build it. Putting things into order is a slow process; shaking them into disorder is very fast, as shown by hurricane Katrina. Predictions are loud because in themselves they are weak. Internally, predictions are a lot of hot air. And, as we all have done, when we want our ideas to win, regardless of their merit, we shout them. Surely, therefore, you have found yourself yelling “Ya see, I told you so!!”

Predicting is easy. Perception is scary. You can make a prediction and walk away, as it were - even if it is your own life you are making the prediction about. When you perceive something about your life, you are immediately challenged to change. And, what is more, you challenge yourself within your own mind. This perception is the Holy Spirit reaching into your mind. The feelings you have are reawakened feelings for what was good planted in your mind by the Lord since your infancy.

Thus the Word encourages us to pursue a life that will prepare the soil of our minds for the planting of perception. “No one can see with perception what he does no know and believe. Thus no one can be granted an ability to see perceptively any good of love or truth of faith except through cognitions [concepts], which enable him to know what good and truth is and the nature of it.” (Arcana Celestia n.1802) I can make predictions without any understanding of the matter. However, an assurance that I am making the correct choice - a perception of good and truth - can be given only to the degree that I know and believe what I am considering. (And remember that belief involves loving and doing what is known).

While it is easy for me to pronounce, “Ya see, what I think is...” it is much more delightful, more deeply satisfying, and much more useful to those around me if I be quiet and allow the Lord to speak to me through the love for truth He has planted in my unconscious mind and through conscience. It is better to perceive that predict!

In Whose Hands Is Our Fate?

2007-01-31T19:16:00.000-08:00

The Lord really wants us to be conjoined with Him, to have a relationship with Him. This is why He goes to such a great effort to make Himself be known to us. And what is more, He wants us to have a healthy dependence upon Him. The subject here is the wonderful balance (or does it feel like tension!) between our selves and the Lord, and between what we actually feel and what we rely upon revelation to believe.

Whether we feel it or not, the fact is that “Everyone from infancy even to the end of his earthly life is led by the Lord in the most individual things and his place is forseen and also provided.” (Divine Providence n.203) So, from considering the nature of God, we turn now to how he operates. (This topic is also appropriate as we mark the first anniversary of the evil acts of September 11, 2001)

Things happen to us all the time that compel us to stop and ask, WHY? They can be important events or only trivial ones. For instance, you’re stopped at a traffic light. The breaks of the car coming up behind you fail, and it smashes into you. Why did the Lord let that happen to you? You forget to turn off the oven and the roast burns. Again, you ask, (perhaps out loud!), what’s the point, Lord? You’re in the mountains, enjoying the magnificence of the Lord’s creation, and an avalanche hits you. That couldn’t have been your fault!

We’re told that God knows the number of hairs on our head! The teachings of the New Church tell us that this means that the Lord’s providence is over the very particulars of our life so that He may also rule the universal or general things (AC 4302:3, 8478:4). He couldn’t manage over the big things if He didn’t have control over the little things. And since He is the infinite God, His rule extends to everything that happens to us, with no exceptions. So, how do we deal with the things that just happen to us? How can a God of love, which is what He is, allow bad things to happen to us? In whose hands is our lot?

Often, we can see in retrospect how the Lord has led us; how He has guided our hand in drawing the lot that is our life (Divine Providence n.187). It is relatively easy to see how all the good things, our joys and successes, were given us by the Lord. For He provided the situation and the opportunity, He gave us the talent and the vision to see how to attain them. But what do we think of the bad things that happen, our sorrows and failures? What is our attitude toward them and toward the God that rules over them?

Many people conclude that God is not love, or that He doesn’t exist at all. Many people believe that, since God is love, and since His providence is always working for our good, that it is our sin that has removed us from His care, or that we are not protected because we are not saved, that we haven’t “found” Christ. The teachings for the New Church tell us that none of these are true (see Divine Providence n.117). God exists and He is love itself. And He is not limited in any way. And He always is working for our good, regardless of whether we are in sin or not, saved or not.

Christians know that God takes care of His children, but they haven’t known how. All believers know that God is love. But many people wonder how infinite love can allow evil (since He cannot be the cause of it). How can He permit accidents that hurt us or our loved ones? When we don’t know how or why God’s providence works, we’re left only with His “mysterious ways.” We’re told to have faith in Him despite all that happens, and then we will be made happy. This is just not true. That is, our happiness will not necessarily come just from believing that God works in mysterious ways. So the New Church has been given an understanding of how God cares for us so that we can place ourselves in His stream of providence. We may never fully know why something has happened to us, but we are able to understand our Lord and love Him. We have been given a new understanding that makes it possible for us to have a new attitude toward life. And it is this attitude that puts our life on earth into perspective.

First let us examine the teachings that give us this new understanding. The divine providence is the Lord’s government of His creation (Divine Providence n.1). That government is concerned solely with our eternal welfare. Now, of course, all that happens to us, no matter how trivial or traumatic, affects our eternal life. After all, life on earth is part of our eternal life. Yet His attention is on our reaction to what happens than on the event itself. He is concerned for our attitude because it is the product of our love–which can be materialistic and selfish or spiritual and charitable. The Lord’s leading does not look to temporary or earthly happiness solely, or primarily. He wants to lead us to heaven. And so He provides that everything that happens to us can be a vehicle for His leading us to a happy, successful, eternal life. Therefore He doesn’t prevent things from happening, or make them happen, simply because they will cause us some pain or provide us with pleasure. The Lord does not step in to change events that, from our finite, limited view, seem negative.

If this seems a hard saying, or limiting the infinite God of love, consider this: What if God provided something joyful to us, say, winning the lottery, and it caused us to neglect our spiritual life in the pursuit of material pleasure. Would He not then be working against our spiritual welfare? Or, what if God caused some terrific pain, say the loss of a loved one, and so we blamed Him and became bitter and resentful and turned away from Him. Would He not then be working against our spiritual welfare? These are extreme examples; but they portray a wrong understanding of who God is and how His providence works; an understanding that promotes a selfish, worldly attitude about life (Divine Providence n.217).

God is love. He is constantly reaching out to His creation to make all its parts perfect. When He created the human, His desire was that there should be something to return His love. To do this He had to create us with the possibility of imperfection. He had to provide that we would have absolute freedom to choose not to return His love. So, while He is not limited, His love’s infinite law is that He cannot violate human freedom. He cannot step in and change things simply because we think they ought to be changed. All the time He is leading us, bending our steps, providing opportunities. He is maintaining our freedom. If there is one great principle in the Lord’s providence, it is that He will not, indeed cannot, interfere with the people’s freedom to love, think and do what they want.

The issue is this complex as direct result of the creation of the material world, the world where space and time obscure our thought on the matter. We think this world is the very reality. We cannot help but think that its laws are the only laws there are. But this is not true. The spiritual world is very reality, and its laws supersede and, indeed, cause the natural laws we see operating all around us.

The laws of the natural world cannot but seem capricious and accidental in their effects upon us. Why did the brakes fail just then? Why were we at that spot? Why did the friend come to the door so that we forgot the roast? Why did that person die? But in fact, the Lord’s spiritual laws, which we don’t as easily see operating in this world, are much more stable than the natural laws we see operating all the time. Natural, physical law seems fixed and set: what goes up must come down; there is a limit to the speed we can go; things wear out; the odds are that you will have an accident. And yet, despite all this, there is actually much leeway in this world’s laws, for there is still a chance that you will never have an accident - there are odds! And physical law demands that things return to dust - so how stable can things here really be?

So the process whereby the Lord’s spiritual laws that are His divine providence are manifested in the physical world is very complex (Divine Providence n.220). His laws are immutable. They do not change. They are infinitely predictable. But something happens as those laws descend in the process of creation. And in the end we are now in a world of seemingly fixed laws that really are not. We are in a world that seemingly we can trust to sustain us and protect us; and that seemingly will show us what will make us happy and what to avoid that will make us unhappy. And yet it does not. The world’s laws do not provide clear answers, especially when we are trying to discover spiritual truths, such as those relating to divine providence.

And here we come to the point. The teachings of the New Church tell us that we must not limit our understanding of God and what He does and how He does it to the physical world and our natural sensations. Our essential character, our freedom, our consciousness, are all spiritual things that operate on the level of our spirit–indeed they are our spirit. Our body, our actions, the things that happen to us, are all on the level of the material world. They are outside of our spirit and so are beneath and subject to, our spirit. The Lord works in our spirit in an effort to prepare us for heaven. A powerful way to make this real for us, is to picture how, regardless of the events and circumstances of our life here, the Lord counts the hairs on our head. He controls His creation so that every experience is a chance to turn to Him and follow His guidance.

It is in seeing life from this perspective that we can understand that the Lord leads the individual things in our life through us and through what happens to us. We are part and parcel of His creation and so of His providence, His government. And just look what He has done for us! In His infinite wisdom, the Lord has provided us with the ability to rise above our earthly life and our sensations, and put our place in His creation into perspective. We can look down and out to the world! What is more, He has provided us the perfect place to learn this lesson–on earth, where we can see and feel the difference between His leading of us and our trying to lead ourselves . There is no better place to learn that we are not God. We have the freedom to choose to live in His created order, or to invent one which we think is better able to operate in the material world. Nowhere else could we make this comparison, since we live in both worlds at once - material and spiritual.

We are here given the chance to see and feel the difference between charity–doing unto others what we would have them do to us, and selfishness–forgetting that our happiness is dependant upon others being happy too.

We have an opportunity to put into effect what we understand about our God and His love for us, experiencing both the pain of separation from Him and, in contrast, the joy of being in the stream of his providence.

What an opportunity He has provided us! Life on earth, with all its joys and sorrows, is our opportunity to see the Lord’s spiritual laws in operation, if we will but look for them. We can learn His truth in a situation in which we are absolutely free to accept those laws as our own. No matter what the event, we can, if the eyes of our spirit are open to the light of heaven, see how our reaction can be the result of a trust in Him and a sure acknowledgement that we live forever.

In believing this and living according to it, we have achieved the attitude that the happenings in our life are just that–things that go on around us and to us. Happenings are separate from our spirit. How our spirit reacts to these happenings determines our happiness here and now, and determines whether we will accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our God who infinitely loves us and cares for us, or not. We can trust in Him. Not a blind trust that knows nothing of the Lord’s providence. Not even a simplistic trust based on the fear of accidents.

We can trust in our Lord, a God of love, who wants us to be happy to all eternity. We can trust the Lord who maintains our freedom, despite all that happens to us. We can find confidence in Him in knowing how He uses all the things that happen to us to teach us about Him and His spiritual laws; in discovering how our essential being is above natural law; in experiencing how the purpose of life here is to build our relationship to the Lord; and how we do all this in absolute freedom (Divine Providence n.27).

This attitude will surely bring peace, contentment and happiness to our life here and forever, regardless of what happens to us. As He said, He knows about everything we need, and He will give us all of it, if we but “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31)

New Spiritual Growth Group Starting!

2007-01-28T13:21:00.001-08:00

"The Joy of Spiritual Growth" a small group workshop, which will be introduced on Tuesday 30 January, 7-9 PM. Participants acquire the tools to advance their spirituality & partnership with God for a centered, whole life. This night is an introductory workshop for a 7-week course for those who want to work on themselves, discover ways to grow spiritually, believe closeness to God & their fellow human beings is desirable, & want to know how to achieve it; a support group with participants sharing experiences. The 7-week series begins 6 Feb; cost is $70 including the text & work books. Group facilitator, Clark Echols, is pastor of the Glendale New Church, a Swedenborgian community. Clark has spent his adult life studying Emanuel Swedenborg's philosophy. The course combines Swedenborg's insights into the human constitution, God, & the relationship between the two, with a task-oriented program for growth. At The Glendale New Church, 845 Congress Avenue, Glendale, OH. 45246. More info @513.772.1478, jcechols@newchurch-cincy.org, & www.newchurch-cincy.org.

Swedenborg and the 2nd coming

2007-01-28T13:19:00.000-08:00

Emanuel Swedenborg wrote "Since the Lord cannot show Himself in person, as has just been demonstrated, and yet He predicted that He would come and found a new church, which is the New Jerusalem, it follows that He will do this by means of a man, who can not only receive intellectually the doctrines of this church, but also publish them in print. I bear true witness that the Lord has shown Himself in the presence of me, His servant, and sent me to perform this function."

Most of the time I feel uncomfortable with this assertion. I go through a thought process to, again, convince myself that the second coming, the Writings and Swedenborg all make sense, are believable, and indeed contain advice necessary for my salvation. I end up concluding that the amazing internal consistency, the experiential proof of its correctness, and about thirty years of my use of the teachings, all confirm the good feeling I have about the them and about the reality of Swedenborg’s experience.

Then my thought naturally proceeds to consider how I can share these teachings with others. And, again, I go through a thought process that takes me from embarrassment and defensiveness to an urgency to get the message out for the sake of my neighbor, my country and even the planet! I come to the realization that it is not primarily the truth of the teachings, and thus the veracity of Swedenborg, that I am to share, but, first and foremost, my delight in those teachings.

I have noticed again and again that I am spiritual and emotionally energized when the beauty and effectiveness of the New Church teachings are combined with an opportunity to share them. It may be a chance meeting on an airplane, in an office, when a person shows an interest. It may be when I put myself before people, as at the Village Fair or at some breakfast forum. It may be when the person has come to church, thus manifesting their interest rather boldly. Of course each of these settings is different, and I must adapt. But in every case, all the Lord wants me to do to express love for my neighbor is share my delight in what He has given me. The stranger, no matter what their interest, will be served well, fed spiritual truth by means of my delight.

I am frustrated that more people don’t have and use the wonderful teachings I am often amazed I have available. But my trust in the Lord makes it possible to go through the processes of thought that bring me again to the affirmative attitude that the Lord is taking care of His church. He asks me to love my neighbor by, in this case, sharing the truth. So long as I am caring enough to brighten someone’s day, ease their burden, or relieve their confusion while showing them my delight in the truth I have, I am fulfilling the Lord’s goal of accomplishing His second coming.

New Spiritual Growth Group Starting!

2007-01-24T19:58:00.000-08:00

Managing the Tension

2007-01-22T11:05:00.000-08:00

Suspension bridges are among the most beautiful of human fabrications. I am not an engineer and cannot speak to the advantages of such bridges. All I know is that they are wonders. And I also know that they do what they do because the tension in the wires is perfectly matched between the towers. Perhaps I am fortunate to have experienced the wonders of suspension bridges across America, from the Golden Gate to the Verrazano Narrows, as well as an amazing single tower bridge across the Ohio river (see http://www.bridgemeister.com/pic.php?pid=1173).

I drive slowly across such bridges in the right lane, straining my neck to look as straight up as possible. It is amazing! However, perhaps you have seen the old movie of an early suspension bridge that was caught by the wind and its rocking increased simply because of its own situation until it was destroyed. Further, it is likely that thousands of workers have died while making such bridges. Indeed, Mr. Roebling, who invented the machine to wind the wires to make the cables, thus making such bridges possible, died during the construction of his most famous bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. Still, I have never felt any fear, or any anxiety as I crossed such a marvelous span. It just feels very strong and solid; all because of the tension maintained by the wires.

The Lord tells us that perhaps His main effort on our behalf is maintaining our spirit in a perfect equilibrium between the forces of hell and heaven. This is particularly tricky because He never gives power to the evil side. Humans invented evil, and we each give evil spirits power over us. So the Lord has to be constantly adjusting the tension He is applying through heaven as we pass through the many states of life. Now, He is not playing some game with us. He is not enjoying our trials. He is never vindictive, for instance, letting the pressure of heaven be just a little bit less, just for a moment, although it can feel that way to us! It is more likely that we would claim that He did, just so we can blame the Lord for our troubles!

Perhaps it would be helpful to picture the Lord as the perfect bridge designer, builder and maintainer. He designed humans with three anchor points: soul, spirit (mind) and body. Our soul is His domain; that is where His love is anchored; we are not ever conscious of it and cannot manage it. Our bodies, as the opposite anchor, cannot be conscious, yet (unless there is something else interfering) we have complete control of this anchor. Our spirit, our conscious life, is in the tower in between, held in place by the pressures from either side. We are conscious of the thoughts and feelings of our spirit, and we have control of some of our mind’s operations. This design provides both for our individuality and for the influence of the Lord. We are His creatures AND we are our own, eternally existing being. We are radically free AND able to reject the influence of love and truth that is the source of our freedom.

This is amazing. Sometimes, I just have to go slowly, emotionally and cognitively, and appreciate the beauty of the human constitution. Often I don’t really know how life works, especially as I watch others who are filled with a joy I have yet to experience; or when I see someone destroying them selves and I can only sadly wonder why. All I know is that, from my experience, from the descriptions of life others give me, and from what the Word says, there is a perfect tension preserved by the Lord that makes the whole thing work.

It is futile for me to try to “do” something about the tension I feel in my life. It is always going to be there. To resist it is to seek to interfere in the Lord’s work of providing for my salvation. The better course is to find ways to remind myself that the tension is holding my spirit in place, providing for my freedom, and for the possibility of choosing to give in to the power of heaven rather than hell. A tool I am currently experimenting with is the phrase “It’s all good!” Try it, and see what happens to your thoughts and so your feelings at any moment of stress. And let me know!

New Spiritual Growth Small Group!

2007-01-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

New Church Birthday

2007-01-17T05:44:00.000-08:00

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Revelation 21:22, 23)

“A person who has faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbor is a church on a small scale. The church on the large scale is composed of people like this. It is a remarkable fact that every angel, no matter how he turns his body and face, sees the Lord in front of him. For the Lord is the sun of the heaven of angels, and appears before their eyes, when they meditate on spiritual matters. It is much the same with a person in the world who has the church in him as regards his spiritual sight. But because his spiritual sight is obscured by his natural sight, and the remaining senses endorse this, being directed towards bodily and worldly matters, he remains in ignorance of this condition of his spirit. This way of looking at the Lord, however one turns, is due to the fact that every truth, from which wisdom and faith arise, and every kind of good, which leads to love and charity, come from the Lord, and they are the Lord's with him. As a result every single truth of wisdom is as it were a mirror in which the Lord is seen, and every kind of good which is part of love is an image of the Lord. That is the origin of this remarkable fact. (True Christianity n.767)

The second coming of the Lord, which is the central event we celebrate as the birthday of the church, brings blessing to multiple levels of our life. On the surface is the peace and security of the presence of His love and truth. Fear of failure, condemnation or even death no longer runs our life, determining our action and speech. We talk of our future with a confidence born of our internalized knowing that we live forever. We are secure in the assurance that no matter what happens in the circumstances of our life, our eternal welfare is being cared for by the One who loves us. Instead of winning arguments, enforcing our will, or complaining about circumstances, we are able to see the Lord’s love in others, assured that He is leading them to heaven according to a perfect plan. Thus our regulation of our behavior is strengthened by means given to us through His second coming.

On a deeper level, when we think about the Lord, a gentle and bright light spreads to the edges of our mind. When we think about ourselves, we recognize our strengths and weaknesses and are hopeful for clearer vision of spiritual realities. When we think about someone else, we consider their unique talents, the blessing their gifts are to the world, and the use the Lord is giving them to serve. Thus our thinking is a response to the presence of the light of the Lord’s truth shinning into our minds, opened by the Lord at His second coming and filled with a knowledge of the spiritual meaning of His Word.

On this same level of our life, the second coming has opened a level of feelings that we share with the angels. Anger, joy, grief, anxiety, gladness, compassion, worry and bliss are some of the feelings in a full constellation of emotions. The spiritual freedom we enjoy allows us to examine, experience, and choose to relish or avoid feelings. We give less and less weight to feelings of ill will and more to commiseration. We feel more like our fellow human beings, and less alienated. The warmth of the Lord’s love is flowing in a free and powerful force for good. Thus our old will can be let go in favor of the new desire for good available because of the second coming.

Seem impossible? Perhaps you can alter your thinking to match the repeated teachings such as those of True Christianity n767. Turn your face to the Lord, the sun of heaven, which is rising into view. Feel the warmth of His love and inspect your life in the light of His truth. This is extremely difficult to do in many circumstances of our life. And yet it is clearly the task of our life. With the Lord, the coming is possible. We each must make the effort and give the attention necessary to discover how to participate

We can each, and all of us together, bring this light and warmth to the world. We each need the support of each other, and we each have support to give. Our support consists of what we do, think, feel and how we respond to inflowing love from the Lord. Yes, is the task of our life, it is hard work and it is long term. Yes we are being asked to change, to give up the old and familiar ways of being. Yes, this is risky. Let us remain encouraged by the sure knowledge that this work is the way the Lord brings the New Jerusalem to the earth, with its light, living waters and healing leaves. Let us pray for the necessary strength, courage and wisdom to successfully cooperate with the Lord.

A Lesson In Taste

2007-01-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

“And the taste of it was like that of a cake in honey.” Exodus 16:31

“‘The taste of it was like that of a cake with honey’ means good that was delightful because it was made out of truth by means of delight. Here spiritual good is being described - where it originates and how it comes into being, thus also the essential nature of it. That is to say, in its first beginnings this good is truth, but this is made good when it passes from the will, and so from affection, into action. For whatever a person wills out of affection for it is seen as good, and is therefore also called good. Yet this good can be brought into being only by means of the delights that belong to the natural man. The spiritual man is brought to that good by means of them; and once he has been brought to it he is able to have a feeling for it. This then is what is meant by ‘the taste of the manna was like that of a cake with honey’.” Arcana Celestia n.8522

There is a warehouse size grocery store conveniently located along my route to work. It has fresh food from all over the world. And it has less expensive organic foods that my wife’s body requires, as it cannot tolerate the herbicides and pesticides that are so widely used. Every fall it has a great variety of apples, some of which I have never heard of before and had never tasted.

It turns out that not every small, mostly green, apple tastes like the hard, mostly green, very tart apples of my childhood backyard! And it turns out that to be sweet, crisp and tasty an apple doesn’t have to be the shiny red and “apple shaped” ones of the grocery chain!

There are apples that are large, round, mostly green and are soft and sweeter and tastier than what I ever knew. And there are small, red apples whose tartness is actually delightful. In fact, I am developing an expensive taste in apples! That aside, the real lesson is that the looks and tastes I had known before were a very limited experience of the delights available. And, seeking to grow spiritually, I can easily acknowledge the Lord’s handiwork in these varieties of apples and their textures and tastes, and can thank Him for the many blessings!

This is also a lesson about how I limit myself. Most of the time I limit myself in response to the Lord’s commands. There may be only Ten Commandments, but they cover all my spiritual life. When I step over the limits described by them, which I can do in so many ways, I will be hurt or will hurt others, at least spiritually. It seems the safe thing is to be wary of stepping over the lines.

I can, however, unnecessarily limit myself. For instance, when I limit myself to the literally not lying, yet still give my wife “the silent treatment,” thus lying by omission (and also lying to myself by saying that I am not lying, only reacting properly; and since she is not fooled and knows exactly what I am thinking, it is a double whammy lie!), I am limiting my opportunity to obey the Lord and participate in my being made spiritual. There is a new delight awaiting my tasting the experience of not lying spiritually!

And so the tension of being human goes on. Spirit and body; will and understanding; self and others; self and God; earth and heaven; I exist in the perfect balance between them. To chafe against one side or the other is to live a disgruntled life. To shy away from one in fear is to live an anxious life. To make mistakes, even ones that leave scars, is inevitable. But sometimes, the apple tastes better than I have ever tasted before. What looks like an unsavory, mushy, ugly prospect, is a blessing from the Lord I am seeing in the hellish light of my evil desires and false thoughts.

A side story, that perhaps doesn’t fit neatly into this metaphor, is the fact that I discovered these new apples because my wife asked me to get her a variety of organic apples, in order to try them all to find those her body could tolerate. Of course, those that didn’t suit her needs I had to eat! In a sense, then, I was forced to expand my limits. Some outside pressure coerced me! I didn’t choose to expand my life. But when it happened, I discovered a wonderful blessing from the Lord. The interpretation I am giving this (although there are others!) is that “it’s all good!” Good and bad things happen, and I do good and bad things, I do things right and I make mistakes, but in every case, there is the potential of discovering a new blessing from the Lord. I constantly pray to the Lord that my eyes would be open to the blessing!

The Truth in Broad Daylight!

2007-01-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.” Mark 16:9-12

“All the churches which existed before the Lord's coming were representative, unable to see Divine truths except in shadow. But since the Lord's coming into the world, a church has been founded by Him, which has been able to see Divine truths in broad daylight. It is the same difference as between evening and morning. In fact the state of the church before the Lord's coming is called in the Word evening; and its state after His coming is called morning. Before He came into the world, the Lord was certainly present with the people of the church, but through the mediation of angels as His representatives; however, since His coming He is present with the people of the church without any intermediary. For in the world He put on the Divine Natural too, in which He is present with human beings. The Lord's glorification is the glorification of His Human, which He took upon Himself in the world; and the glorified Human of the Lord is the Divine Natural. The truth of this is clear from the fact that the Lord rose from the tomb with His whole body which He had in the world, and left nothing of it behind there. It follows that He took with Him from there the Human Natural itself from first to last.” True Christian Religion n.109

It is perhaps only a cold comfort, but comforting it is, to learn that the Apostles were as cynical and materialistic as we can be today. Not one of them would believe what they hadn't seen with their own eyes, hear with their own ears, or touch with their own hands. Doubting Thomas is only the most famous of them all, used by Jesus as an example, and a foil, for teaching (again!) about doubt and implicit trust.

The Apostles grew up being told that God’s presence was obvious in the miracles He performed. He punished those who offended Him and blessed those who obeyed the rules. And, those men who became leaders were also rich, proving that those who obeyed all the rules very carefully were blessed the most. Finally, God would occasionally send angels to His chosen people to tell them His messages. So their whole attitude was that for God to be present, He had to show Himself in some concrete way. When Jesus said things like, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father,” He was introducing an entirely new idea.

This idea may be new to us, too! How do we expect the Lord to show up in our life? Could it be that the Lord can show Himself to us only to the degree that we first trust in Him? How many opportunities to be blessed have we missed because we stopped to wonder whether the Lord would bless us or not? How many visions of the Lord's love in people have we missed because we wanted proof of the person’s reliability, or because they didn’t look like us? How many people have we hurt when we refused their testimony because it didn't jibe with the evidence of our own senses, the fallibility of which we conveniently ignore? How many times have we been right instead of kind?

If my physical senses were more powerful in my life than the evidence of my spirit, then perhaps I would believe if I had had seven devils cast out of me. If that is the way the Lord reveals Himself to me then I could believe anything. If there is no reliable witness beyond my five senses, then if some slick operator played on my grief and passed himself off as Jesus, doing some slick disappearing trick, I would be gullible enough to believe.

My belief in my Savior is not based on sense experience. It is much more firmly based than that. And it is not irrational or nonsensical; it is not intellectually empty. It is not dependent on my ideas, but on the internal evidence, the reasoning power of love, which I know I do not originate. My belief in my Savior excites my emotions, moves my spirit, and feeds my soul. My belief in my Savior motivates me to seek the balance of influences; to reject cynicism and materialism and join my beliefs and my feelings together into a coherent whole. I believe God is a spirit, and I am completely convinced of His actuality. I may not be able to see Him with my physical eyes, but I believe the report of His Word and my whole experience.

We can thus celebrate His resurrection displaying our spirit in broad daylight. Our love of what is good and true and our belief in His mercy will bring something new into the world. He will be the visible God living in us for all to see!

Masculinity is real!

2006-07-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

I went to a wonderful two day, intense outdoor workshop for me who want to develop spiritually. It reaffirmed my belief that men CAN support each other in really important ways. Our wives, girlfriends and mothers - all the women who impact us - give us wonderful, necessary gifts. But this work is AMAZING! Life Changing!

I am involved in putting on a one day event for men, called A Day For Men. Check it out:

Second Annual
A DAY FOR MEN

Saturday, August 26 9AM to 4PM

Acquire tools for living powerfully and responsibly, with honor and integrity

Come join with fellow travelers for a chance to:
• communicate your passions and goals
• to be enriched and challenged
• to listen to the wisdom that others bring

Multiple presenters will offer a wide variety of material and experiences that we promise will enrich your life and all your relationships.

This event is about creating a sense of community and having men share wisdom about what it takes to live lives of joy, integrity, and balance. We will spend seven hours teaching, learning, laughing, dancing, sharing, and eating heartily.

Our experience of the first Day For Men last year was that this is not a “wounded man,” personal growth workshop. Men don’t come because there is anything "wrong" with them. It is a day to be with men and talk about men, what we struggle with, what we're good at, where we're challenged, what our gold is and what our shadows are. And it is accomplished because we put aside any attitude of judgment of men and their beliefs, social status, wealth, sexual orientation, etc. It will be a life-affirming and glorious day!

Testimony from the first Day For Men: “Being with all of you men brings up father hunger in me.”
“It couldn't have been anything other than a great day. I got to spend the whole day with my dad.”

When: Saturday, August 26, 9 AM to 4 PM
We will begin and end promptly. Please arrive in time to park and register.

How Much: $25 to cover our costs (park rental, speaker travel and lunch). More if you wish to see A Day For Men thrive!

Where: Stone Steps Pavilion in Mount Airy Forest.
Go to the Mt Airy Park entrance at 5083 Colerain Ave, (which is Rt 27, between the Reagan Highway and I 74), then follow the signs.

PLEASE REPLY TO THIS SO THAT WE CAN HAVE ENOUGH FOOD! jcechols@gmail.com

For More Information and to Volunteer: Call Clark Echols at (513) 284-1236

The Cincinnati Men’s Gathering is facilitating this event. The CMG is a new membership organization. Its annual dues are $35. Join CMG and this event is only $15.

The Cincinnati Men’s Gathering serves men’s spiritual needs by equipping and supporting men in becoming authentic males, effective fathers, connected husbands, supportive friends and genuine in all their relationships. The CMG promotes men’s spiritual growth and healing through mutual support, spiritual experiences, expert training and sharing groups.

The CMG will produce events that bring expert testimony and spiritual experiences to all the men of the greater Cincinnati area at reasonable costs. Participants will leave every event with a new tool to use in their lives, new friends for mutual support, and new hope for personal and spiritual development.

Masculinity

2006-07-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

The Cincinnati Men's Gathering is putting on A Day For Men on Saturday, Aug 26. At a planning meeting, it was noted that whenever it is announced that women are going to get together, everyone thinks that women of all sorts are getting together for mutual support. However, it was said, when it is announced that men are getting together, everyone thinks it is for gay men. Is that true for you? How can A Day For Men effectively announce that it is an invitation for men of all sorts to gather for education, inspiration, encouragement and mutual support? That it is for all people who happen to be male? (It is going to be a wonderful event!) It seems to me that simply including the standard non-discrimination statement perpetuates the discrimination that goes on in our minds (like the thought that if the non-discrimination statement is not used, then discrimination is happening!). Any thoughts?

Angels are here!

2006-06-23T20:25:00.000-07:00

"In Company With Angels" will bring some magnificent Tiffany windows based on the seven angels of Revelation chapter 2 that were in a Swedenborgian Church in Cincinnati from 1903 to 1965. The windows were saved when the building was demolished, and are now for the first time in 40 years being put on display. The owners plan to bring them to Cincinnati in 2009. to find out more about this amazing story, to experience their amazing beauty (as much as pictures of them can do...) and to discover the spiritual meaning of this part of the Bible and its application to your spiritual life, come to a presentation Saturday, June 24, Noon to 2 PM at the Glendale New Church, 845 Congress Ave, Glendale, OH 45246. Call Clark at (513) 772-1478.