This Sunday, May 10th’s Mother’s day Spring Fling has been rescheduled for the fall when we reconvene after our August break. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Spring Fling Rescheduled
Published May 8, 2009 Events , Monthly Calendar/Updates , News , Uncategorized Leave a CommentCurrent Events At New Church of Montgomery
And greetings from your pastor : Hello Everyone!
March and April Birthdays. Each new month brings us the chance to celebrate birthdays with somebody else….provided that you have given us the date of your birthday. If you have not yet informed us, please do. We would love to be able to share your special day. We celebrate the following birthdays in our spiritual community:
Tyler Fischer, March 2; Jerry Ellen Vaughn, April 15; Robert Fischer, April 17. Have a very happy birthday and we are very glad you were born!
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Hard (and unsure) times are upon all of us across this nation. Churches everywhere are not exempt. Some of our ministers in Convention are going half time and some have lost their jobs completely. These circumstances are now visiting us in our own unique way here at our much-loved New Church of Montgomery.
Church financial matters have sadly made it necessary for me to begin half time at the church beginning this month of April. Nothing would make me happier than to remain full time, but circumstances do not allow that for now. After Easter Sunday, therefore, I will begin additional half time work other than the church because I need to continue working full time since my retirement funds, due to the economic down turn, have been cut in half.
I am aware that this is a hardship and disappointment to our beloved community, as it certainly is for Sharon and I as well, but it is also an opportunity to show our solidarity with one another and our devotion to God. When things get tough, it is important to pull together—not fall apart. I hope we can do that. And one way to do that is to support each other and the church by your continued supportive presence even though I will be half time beginning this month.
So what does me working half time at the church actually mean? One thing it means is that I will be doing worship services two Sundays each month (rather than all of them); several lay people have stepped up to the plate and volunteered to do the rest of the services thru May and it is here that your supportive presence will surely be most felt. Normally, perhaps, you’ve come to church for your own needs. Now, possibly, you can come for two reasons: your own needs and the needs of our church community as well.
I will be doing the services the 2nd and 4th Sundays and obviously therefore not doing them the 1st and 3rd Sundays. However, the week or weekdays prior to each of my Sundays I will be “on duty” doing the other work of the church. For example, I am doing the service on May 10th so all the days before that, namely, May 6, 7, 8 & 9, are also workdays for me. Also, there are several months in each year that have five Sundays in them; I will do half of those, including the first one which will be May 31st.
One final word about this month of April. The Board has asked that I do the Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday services this month. Thus, my normal “on off” Sundays will vary this month. In this instance, the last two Sundays of April will be done by lay people. April 19th will be our Board Chair, Suzy Gardner. April 26th will be Pete Toot. During those last two weeks of April, I will be studying for a very difficult state exam that will allow me to enter into the field of insurance work. You may want to pray for the optimum number of brain smarts for me then, even though I do look forward to this new challenge. It’s an interesting field, even more so these days, and a very real opportunity to be of significant help to people. The folks I’ll be working with have helped Sharon and I and the church quite a bit which is what made me consider this work in the first place. I will also continue the contract painting work here and there since I enjoy it as I do and will probably also need the exercise it affords.
In any event, let us go forward confident that God is at our side leading us continually in ways and to places that fit in with His larger plans, plans that also happen to be the best ones for us as well. We can trust God, even in these difficult times. Of that I am certain. From the deeper spiritual places within us, let us be at peace and in love one with another. Rev. John.
1. APRIL 3 COFFEE BAR PROGRAM
(FRI) 3 PM to 8:00 PM
This program serves two purposes fundamentally. It will be an ongoing fundraiser for the church but it will also be an opportunity for the church to interface with the general public, especially those who are tired from a long day’s work and just want to stop in to rest and sip some really good coffee. Rev. Billings will man the bar from 3 PM to 8PM every Friday. Harry Bailey will be there whenever he can be. We will have Wi Fi and cable TV along with some of the best good ole conversation you’ve ever had! If you haven’t already, stop in and see our new set up, especially if you have a story from your own life that you’d like to share. Come and visit us, we think you’ll like it.
2. APRIL 5 ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
(SUN) 9 AM to 10 AM
Normally, this group meets every Sunday. But during this half time period, we will only meet on the Sundays that I have the service, namely, the 2nd and 4th Sundays and the fifth Sunday of the month if there is a fifth Sunday. Our free spirited study group will continue its discussion of the book called Divine Providence. This thoughtful and reflective study group is intended to stimulate and enrich our spiritual journeys and the journeys of others. Hope to see you there if you are interested in this important spiritual topic of how the Lord governs us spiritually.
3. APRIL 5 PALM SUNDAY SERVICE
(SUN) 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Palm Sunday is the day the Lord rode into Jerusalem with the crowds cheering and calling Him Lord. It is the only time He was publicly acclaimed. But it was not to last. My focus this Sunday will be the cross. There will also be communion, which is an open communion, that is, anyone who wishes to partake is invited to do so. Those who do not wish to are totally free not to take part. Hope to see you there.
4. APRIL 5 WORK DAY AFTER CHURCH
(SUN) 1 PM to 3PM
At this time of year especially we need help getting the grounds ready for the outdoor wedding season and to just spiff things up a bit. If you can possibly help out, it would be very much appreciated. Hope to see you then.
5. APRIL 9 CHURCH BOARD MEETS
(THUR) 7:30 PM to 10 PM
This is the regularly scheduled board of trustees meeting. All are welcome to attend. A special thanks to the board members for their good efforts on behalf of the church and especially Suzy Gardner who has stepped up to the plate as the new chairperson. Thank you very much Suzy.
6. APRIL 10 COFFEE BAR PROGRAM
(FRI) 3 PM to 8:00 PM
This program serves two purposes fundamentally. It will be an ongoing fundraiser for the church but it will also be an opportunity for the church to interface with the general public, especially those who are tired from a long day’s work and just want to stop in to rest and sip some really good coffee. Rev. Billings will man the bar from 3 PM to 8PM every Friday. Harry Bailey will be there whenever he can be. We will have Wi Fi and cable TV along with some of the best good ole conversation you’ve ever had! If you haven’t already, stop in and see our new set up, especially if you have a story from your own life that you’d like to share. Come and visit us, we think you’ll like it.
7. APRIL 12 ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
(SUN) 9 AM to 10 AM
Normally, this group meets every Sunday. But if there are five Sunday’s in a particular month, then we do not meet that Sunday. But for the other four Sundays, our free spirited study group will continue its discussion of the book called Divine Providence. This thoughtful and reflective study group is intended to stimulate and enrich our spiritual journeys and the journeys of others. Hope to see you there if you are interested in this important spiritual topic of how the Lord governs us spiritually.
8. APRIL 12 EASTER SUNDAY SERVICE
(SUN) 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
The first Easter is, in one sense, the beginning of the Christian church. Come and join in the celebration and joy. It’s where it all began. Hope to see you there.
9. APRIL 12 EASTER BRUNCH AFTER CHURCH
(SUN) 12:30 PM to 2 PM
This brunch will take place right after the Easter service. If you can, please bring something to share: entrée; vegetable; fruit; rolls; soft drinks or milk. Hope to see you there.
10. APRIL 17 COFFEE BAR PROGRAM
(FRI) 3 PM to 8:00 PM
This program serves two purposes fundamentally. It will be an ongoing fundraiser for the church but it will also be an opportunity for the church to interface with the general public, especially those who are tired from a long day’s work and just want to stop in to rest and sip some really good coffee. Rev. Billings will man the bar from 3 PM to 8PM every Friday. Harry Bailey will be there whenever he can be. We will have Wi Fi and cable TV along with some of the best good ole conversation you’ve ever had! If you haven’t already, stop in and see our new set up, especially if you have a story from your own life that you’d like to share. Come and visit us, we think you’ll like it.
11. APRIL 19 NO ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
(SUN) 9 AM to 10 AM
As of right now, with the new half time programming, these early morning adult study groups will only meet when I am doing the service, namely, the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month.
12. APRIL 19 SUNDAY SERVICE
(SUN) 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
This will be our first lay service, led by Suzy Gardner. Hope your supportive presence will be part of the service.
13. APRIL 24 NO COFFEE BAR PROGRAM
(FRI) 3 PM to 8:00 PM
There is a wedding this night at the church so we will be unable to have the coffee bar. It will resume next Friday, May 1st.
14. APRIL 26 NO ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
(SUN) 9 AM to 10 AM
As of right now, with the new half time programming, these early morning adult study groups will only meet when I am doing the service, which, as noted above, for most of the time will be, the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month.
15. APRIL 26 SUNDAY SERVICE
(SUN) 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
This will be our first lay service, led by Pete Toot. Hope your supportive presence will be part of the service.
16. MAY 3 NO ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
(SUN) 9 AM to 10 AM
As of right now, with the new half time programming, these early morning adult study groups will only meet when I am doing the service, which, as noted above, for most of the time will be, the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month.
17. MAY 3 SUNDAY SERVICE
(SUN) 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
This will be our first lay service, led by Eileen Franz, board member and long time member of this church. Hope your supportive presence will be part of the service.
18.MAY 7 REGENERATION STUDY GROUP
(THURS) 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
This is a new program that will meet seven times, once a month, to study the concept of regeneration that, in the internal sense of the creation story in Genesis, is actually talking about the growth of the human soul——–what that’s like and how it moves along for each of us. Come and join us if you feel moved to do that.
19. MAY 10 ADULT DISCUSSION GROUP
(SUN) 9 AM to 10 AM
Normally, this group meets every Sunday. But during my half time work, we will only meet on the Sundays that I have the service, namely, the 2nd and 4th Sundays and the fifth Sunday of the month if there is a fifth Sunday. Our free spirited study group will continue its discussion of the book called Divine Providence. This thoughtful and reflective study group is intended to stimulate and enrich our spiritual journeys and the journeys of others. Hope to see you there if you are interested in this important spiritual topic of how the Lord governs us spiritually.
20. MAY 10 SUNDAY SERVICE
(SUN) 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Since this is the 2nd Sunday of May, I will be doing this mother’s day service. Hope to see you there.
21. MAY 10 BARBEQUE SPRING FLING @ THE BILLINGS
(SUN) 1 PM to 5 PM
Now, after all the work is done, it’s time to relax and play and belly up to the trough and eat til we drop!! Bring your own meat for the grill and a side to share. We provide the rest. Games and rides (on my four wheeler or motorcycle) for those who want them and a great deal of high quality fellowship. Hope to see you there.
Seeing Our Lives As Narrative and Not Accounts
LIGHTING OF THE FOUR CANDLES
Besides lighting the altar candles,
(which represent the heat and light of the Lord)
- We light this first candle to honor the GOOD and TRUTH to be found in all spiritual traditions, including our own which is an enlightened Christianity in the Swedenborgian perspective..
- We light this second candle to honor the Earth and all of life as the creation of the Divine—the One Lord and God of us all.
- We light this third candle to HONOR and SUPPORT the variety of individual paths which, together, make our one spiritual community.
- And finally we light this fourth candle to honor and provide an open and safe place for all who seek greater understanding and a life of deepening spirituality.
CALL TO WORSHIP
As a call to worship I want to hold up EXCELLENCE. Real quality. Doesn’t real excellence really get your attention?
Now I’m not talking about perfectionism, which is a repetitive, driven state born of scarcity and a soul that is squeezed in fear.
Excellence, on the other hand, is born of abundance sailing right into the heart of its artistic demands. Excellence comes from happiness and victory,,,,,,,of practiced things working completely well, and somehow the grace and heart of heaven tip their hat and twinkle around their edges. And we all know then that something very special has crossed our life.
Perhaps you’ve seen excellence in certain moments of sports——that shot that could not be more perfect; or to see the human body………how excellent it is in all its complexity; or in the arts, someone singing or playing their instrument effortlessly, and with a purity and beauty that brings you more palatably in touch with your own soul.
These are gifts………even if we pay to see them. These are moments that transcend the routine of ordinary life, times that give us chills of excitement, or exhilaration that is more deep and sensual
Born of discipline that births images of effortlessness made easy, excellence seems at times to touch origins of spiritual cause. Is that where it all comes from?
Is not God excellent———indeed, the most excellent of all? And when, through excellence, we bump or back into God, is it any wonder life is suddenly more worthwhile of our living it?
Thank you Lord for the inclination and inspiration to excellence. Thank you for being its author.
Today is the Sabbath. And the Lord has told us that the Sabbath is a day of not just physical rest, but of greater spiritual focus. It’s a time to pull back that curtain of less real things and enter into a quiet and sacred place together——-a place where the Lord can speak to us—–a place where we can catch up to ourselves……..to feel more deeply who we truly are——in quiet and in peace…….in reflection and dedication.
God is a Spirit. And He is here now.
.
OPENING PRAYER
I’d like to begin this prayer with a rather amazing quote from Swedenborg. This is from his book called Heavenly Secrets—-AC 1382.
“In the NOW of the angels, they have together things past and future,,,,,hence they have no concern about things to come, nor have they ever any idea of death, but only an idea of life: thus in all their NOW, there is the Eternity and Infinity of the Lord.”
Oh my God Dear Lord……..how can You be sooooooo wonderful,,,,,,,,sooooooo profoundly PEACEFUL, so utterly GOOD and loving——-and, then, the Divine Truth as well———-OH MY GOD.
Oh My God.
I am speechless before You.
Prayers and concerns for others and self
SCRIPTURE READING Numbers 13:25-33. And Numbers 14: 1-10
MESSAGE
Seeing Our Lives As Narrative and Not Accounts
Do you ever get tired of all the endless details of your life that just seem to keep coming with monotonous regularity? It can sometimes seem like one-darn-thing-after-another that never ends———-an eternal stream of just a lot of various events “signifying nothing,” as Shakespeare put it.
I’ve heard this sentiment especially at time from weary mothers.
These words stay with me because they are soooo very human.
Any one of us could say that at times, especially when we’re going through a string of problems, heartaches, or stresses.
Clearly the Children of Israel knew one-darn-thing-after-another in their long and arduous journey to the holy land. Can you imagine that long trek in the dessert?
- Month after month……
- year after year.
- The worry.
- The despair at times.
- The hope and then cycles of hopelessness pushing against hope over and over again!!
But herein lies an interesting problem. One of our mistakes is if we think of our lives as a collection of unconnected “one darn things”——-a pile of tinker toys all disassembled and just laying all around in disarray and chaos.
To think this way about my life is to think of my life as an account, almost like a series of numbers, rather than a story of whole and connected meaning. Reducing ourselves this way is a devastating disservice to who we truly are.
A narrative or story of my life, on the other hand, has a plot and meaning. One event interacts with another event and has effects. A story focuses more on the because of things, as in “the wife died, and then the husband died of grief.” A story tells of felt meaning; of purpose and desires.
In Denver a few years ago, Dr. Susan Baille spoke of Moments That Matter in church growth. She relayed an example from her own life. Her father had polio, which on the surface seems awfullllllllll…..and in one sense it was. BUT because he had to struggle soooooooooooo very hard with almost everything he did, it made him a very strong and determined man. This is meaning; this is story.
In 1978 I had to write an extensive autobiography of my life before beginning Primal Therapy. What a difference that was from just simply writing an account of my life. The instructions were simple: write the story of your life. Not only tell us WHAT happened, but tell us how you FEEL about what happened. In minutes I was taken to much greater depths of meaning and feeling than I had ever known before.
It is important to tell, at least from time to time, the story of who we truly and fully are——-even if we tell it only to ourselves——–because otherwise we run the risk of thinking we are just a pile of unconnected experiences, a pile of information on a computer card, which means we are then losing track of who we truly are!!
Indeed, in telling my own story for example,,,,,,,I found out just how incredibly sweet I am at the deeper levels of my being, and how deeply I need to love and be loved———–my life, I found out, depends on it in fact.
Without telling our story, we can come to accept the edited version as the real me—–you know the version we put out for everyone else to think is the real thing.
Without knowing our own story we allow our lives to be fuzzy, just a collection of unrelated items, not knowing what good things might be bad, and what bad things might actually be good.
In the story of the Children of Israel and the first encounter with the promised land,,,,,,,they were horrified…….and full of despair,,,,,,yet when we look at the deeper, spiritual meaning of this story, it’s really about what happens to people when they have a spiritual awakening……..they begin, for the very first time, to see HUGE problems inside themselves———–and the despair and dismay that can go along with that. At first this seems like a terrible thing, but it is actually a VERY good thing in the long run of their spiritual journey.
Another danger is that, without grasping our true story, we can block out the past and therefore end up not see the present or where we are going. Without knowing our own story, we may not realize there’s something new being born in us every day.
When my children were quite young, they could never remember our street address. But, when I’d read stories to them, I would occasionally vary the story a bit just for the fun of it. They would IMMEDIATELY react VERY strongly and promptly correct me. When we speak of ourselves by telling our story we become more sensitive to how we have, and are, changing. In addition, this reduces our chance of seeing that we have the opportunity to be the midwives of our own lives——to have a hand in fashioning who we truly want to be and become.
Becoming aware of the story of my life means knowing the truth about myself – recalling and owning things about me that I would just as soon wish to forget, as well as owning the valued aspects of myself that my modesty may keep hidden.
This is all about humanizing ourselves, about seeing ourselves as DEEPLY human, and the most important point here is that anything that is known as deeply human will also be intrinsically spiritual. You cannot be spiritual if you cannot be human first. Or, as Swedenborg puts it: “the way to the Divine is THRU the human.”
This is the great insight that Swedenborg brings when he talks about the Divine Human……..that God is essentially human in His outer nature, actually the yardstick of our humanness, but Divine in his interior nature. God is more human than we are!!!
Soooooo, to be human, especially to be seen and known as deeply human by telling our STORY, is precisely where we need to go. By knowing our stories, writes John Shea, “we understand our pain as true narrative which helps us bear it; we turn our ecstacy into narrative so we can prolong it; and we tell our stories to live more deeply.”
A wonderful confirmation of all this, is that it is no accident that the Lord Himself used story after story, called parables, to convey the deeper, more spiritual side of life. And when we really understand and value ourselves profoundly deeply, as human beings born of God,
born of that Divine Love and Wisdom,
then, more and more, we will WANT to see our lives as one long, incredible, beautiful journey of one soul finding its way back AUTHENTICALLY to the arms of its creator————beautiful in our inner nature and being…..and beautiful in the ways the Lord has led us back to that center within ourselves.
It is equally true that our inner story can also sustain us when suffering comes our way. We then see our pains and problems as part of a much bigger story with far-reaching purpose and meaning inherent in all we experience. This meaning makes our suffering much easier to bear. Indeed, acknowledging our story can be an act of healing itself.
Sue Monk Kidd writes, “To come to an inner story of our pain carries us into the heart of it……it puts us in an inner room with our suffering and can allow us to dialogue with it in God’s presence.” Me, my painful experiences, and God – from such a triage much healing is possible.
Coming to know our own story doesn’t necessarily mean we write it down (though this can be immensely helpful), nor does it mean we tell it to others (though this is extremely therapeutic). It does mean above all that we know it and write it on the walls of our hearts. The best scenario, however, is when we can tell our story to another and know that they can truly hear it.
Have you ever had someone listen to you DEEPLY……….listen to your FEELINGS, as well as your thoughts————–listen to the story of your life?
Our personal stories are the precious and unique movements of our souls. Respect for ourselves means we must necessarily be discreet in selecting to whom we entrust such treasure. It calls for the truest of friends or the most competent of counselors. These are rare people to find today.
I believe that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our story is kept that we come the closest to the One who began the story of our lives. It is the One who travels with us all the way to its fulfilling end, no matter what.
Are you aware that God has always been intimately connected to the true story of your life-——–inspiring it; weaving it full of innocence, meaning, goodness, and truth; knowing absolutely every last detail of meaning, dreams and sorrows, and guiding it along the lines of your deepest, most breathtaking aspirations.
What are some of your deepest dreams? Do you have the courage to visit them——–to let yourself feel and know what they are?
As part of the story of your own life, can you take a moment now and let yourself know a part of your own dreams?
What do you most deeply desire and dream of? To know that you see, is to know the dream maker and yourself even better.
We are NOT merely statistics or data on a computer card. We are IMMENSE bundles of profound meaning that is precious and it lies DEEP within us. We are persons of heart and FEELING and MEANING that is sacred and EXTREMEMLY essential and significant.
We are creatures of God looking for the cradle of our soul’s eternal home where we will rest in masses and full measures of meaning………..and the story of our lives is the doorway to that whole world.
Weeping From The Sound Of An Angel’s Voice
It’s really kind of strange to me that our current economic problems are essentially psychological, or perhaps better said,,,,,,,,psycho-spiritual.
As the editor of Newsweek rightly puts it:“……..how to bring a country enveloped in a gloom to a psychological place where people can somehow endure or even overcome the deluge of bad news and the disappearance of wealth in order to restore faith in markets and in politics.” He goes on to say,,,,,”for without that faith—–without confidence that institutions are unlikely to fail us and without the belief that spending and investing are wise—–then we will face a compounding crisis of paralysis.”
It’s all about just doing things. About working and trusting that others will work. If we all sit on our porches and DO NOTHING,,,,,,we all starve to death.
Do you get the picture of people moving and doing, without excessive fear and mistrust, that is the basis of our whole economy and world?
I would like to address a major underlying, though often unseen, cause of this gloom that threatens our world today.
More and that later.
LIGHTING OF THE FOUR CANDLES
Besides lighting the altar candles,
(which represent the heat and light of the Lord)
- We light this first candle to honor the GOOD and TRUTH to be found in all spiritual traditions, including our own which is a restated Christianity in the Swedenborgian perspective.
- We light this second candle to honor the earth and all of life as the creation of the Divine—the one Lord and God of us all.
- We light this third candle to honor and support the variety of individual paths which, together, make our one spiritual community.
4. And finally we light this fourth candle to honor and provide an open and safe place for all who seek greater understanding and a life of deepening spirituality.
OPENING PRAYER
Lord, when we are born, we are soooooo soft and open——–sooooo tender and vulnerable. We know and feel things all over our little body and minds……..esp. when another is loving us, and we are loving them too. The kingdom of childhood is soooooo much the kingdom of the heart loving as it can.But we are not wise in our hearts Lord. That comes much later. And sometimes it comes as a result of loosing our ability to feel……….to truly feel love and warmth inside us. That loss propels us often on a quest………a journey to truly love and be loved in return. And when we find our hearts a second time, we then love from mercy and much more wisely!
Lord, give us that wisdom that true, real love demands, so our hearts will rest easyand peaceful at the end of the day, and the end of our earth life as well.
Let us love passionately, but let us also love with wisdom that shines like the morning star.
Amen
Prayers and concerns for others or self.
SCRIPTURE READING: I Samuel: 24: 1-12 & 16 ; John 10: 27-30
READING FROM SWEDENBORG: Heaven and Hell, paragraph 238
Because the speech of angels corresponds to their affection, which is of love, and the love of heaven is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour (see above, n. 13-19), it is evident how choice and delightful their talk is. For it affects not only the ears but also the interiors of the mind of those who hear it. There was a certain hard-hearted spirit with whom an angel was speaking. At length he was so much affected by what was said that he shed tears, saying that he had never wept before, but he could not help doing so, for it was love speaking.
MESSAGE
Weeping From The Sound Of An Angel’s Voice
“There was a certain hard-hearted spirit with whom an angel spoke. At length he was so affected by what was said, that he shed tears, saying that he had never wept before, but he couldn’t help it, for it was love speaking.”
In the book of psalms, number 95, it is written: “today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”
How are you affected when someone is speaking to you?
Obviously it depends on what the person says.
And, certainly we can wonder what an angel said to a hard-hearted spirit that made him cry.
But even more importantly it depends on the tone or the way something is said.
A phrase like, “I’m glad to see you,” can affect us very deeply when it is said in a way that tells us it is really meant.
And when that happens, the tone doesn’t just hit the ears; it touches the heart; it stirs honest feeling in us.
Lovers know all about these kinds of things! Oh how they can speak to each other!!!!
Now beside the content and beside the tone, when someone speaks to you, there’s also the context of your relationship.
If there is something going on between you and the person who speaks to you, that can affect how things are said and heard.
What if it’s a person who has treated you very badly?
Or, what if it’s a person who YOU have treated very badly?
Think of the context when King Saul heard the voice of David——and wept!
David had been completely loyal to Saul. He had served him faithfully; he even played the harp when Saul was troubled with evil spirits.
And, then, we see Saul actually on a mission with 3000 men to kill David!
Wow! A very complicated relationship!
And then we see David,
- in the recesses of a cave,
who, unbeknownst to Saul who’d gone in that cave to relieve himself, then cuts off part of Saul’s garment to prove that he would not harm Saul, even if he easily could have killed him!
When Saul emerged from that cave, he heard a voice and then saw David holding up that piece of garment. And then David made a pleading speech, showing that he would NEVER harm the Lord’s anointed.
And that ruthless King, that hard-hearted Saul said, as if some great light came in on his heart, “is this YOUR voice my son, David”? And he wept.
Saul was a hard man; his heart had been hardened a long time. He was plagued with suspicions about the motives of other people. Imagining that others intended him harm, he was blind and he was deaf to the good intentions in other people.
His hardened heart made it so he could no longer see and he especially could not HEAR the lives of others around or near him.
What a common problem this is for almost all human beings as they go along in life. They become callous; cynical; and then when the mind ultimately follows the heart as it always does eventually…….they become unbelieving.
But it all begins with that hardening of the heart.
Now, let’s make a small shift here.
If we can handle it, the Lord’s intentions for us are completely loving and merciful! Can you hear that?
Remember the psalm: “Today—— if you will hear his voice, do not harden your heart.”
And notice the “if” there. IF you will hear his voice—do not harden your hearts!
There is a passage in one of Swedenborg’s books called the Arcana, paragraph 904, where it says the Lord is talking to everybody, all the time……..all the time through our affections and feelings,,,,,,trying to lead us to higher ground; higher perceptions of the true nature of life and love!
And to understand this it might be helpful to compare the circumstance when a mother, love incarnate, is talking to her baby.
What does she say? Does she impart information to the baby? Does she outline to the baby a course of action?
Isn’t she saying: “I’m here.”
Isn’t she saying: “I love you.”
Isn’t she saying: “You’re safe now.”
Isn’t she saying: “I will care for you and I will be WITH you, present with you tenderly——–and in a oneness that is the very essence of being alive.”
The Lord’s presence with us………..He is always present with us!
When I was 18 years old, I had double quincy. That is a form of tonsillitis that is so bad you can’t even open your mouth. I was very ill. But this chaplain came in who obviously knew I was very ill and could not speak.
He just sat there silent……..completely silent for about 10 minutes. My back was to him but I could FEEL his presence there….it was like a kind of warmth. He was just present with me.
And the Lord is ALWAYS PRESENT with each and every one of us ALL THE TIME, but if we are hard hearted, we may not hear His voice or feel His presence. A key question for any spiritual journey is: how can we become very soft inside and still walk in this world?
Let’s return to that hard-hearted spirit to whom an angel was speaking.
What makes people hard-hearted, for indeed, some people are that way.
Perhaps you can remember in your high school days——-were there some pretty tough characters you knew back then? I certainly did in the slum like conditions of Chicago!! They scared the heck out of me!
Sometimes when you find out what kind of childhood they’ve had, you stop asking why they’re so tough and start wondering how they managed to be anything approaching normal! Life can be so cruel to the young and tender hearted children of this world!!
There are cases in which the causes of a person being unfeeling go back beyond what the person can remember.
Traumatic births or early sibling rivalry for example, let alone just that simple but devastating feeling of simply not being loved.
And maybe A LOT of anger, resulting from that feeling. So much can make us so unsoft and so unfeeling. In this world, it’s more the norm than the exception.
The incident of the hard-hearted spirit, spoken to by an angel, is mentioned in the book Heaven and Hell as we read a moment ago.
But it is also mentioned, the same incident, but differently, in the Arcana.
And here is what it says there: “I (Swedenborg) have spoken with a certain person who died when an infant and yet when I was speaking to him in the spiritual world he was as an adult. This same person who died as an infant but grew up to adulthood in the spiritual world also spoke with his brother who had died in adult age, and spoke with him with so much brotherly love that his brother could not refrain from tears, saying that “it was love itself that was speaking.”
Now, notice we learn two, striking things there.
- One, the angel who spoke, as if it were love speaking, had died when he was a baby.
- The other is that he was actually the baby brother of that hard-hearted man.
It’s not too difficult to imagine the problem, a very common problem, in the household of those two brothers!
The older brother resented his infant sibling, which made him a defiant and angry youth!
And this made it hard for his parents to be loving toward him. And since the parents were expressing less love then, he became more defiant and, of course, harder to love. Can’t you just feel the older brother’s heart hardening?
But the baby was loved. And there was the older boy grinding his teeth as he witnessed that baby getting the love he needed sooooo desperately. Without doubt, he thought of himself as someone deprived of love and the cause was that baby.
And was the problem solved, when the little baby died?
Of course it wasn’t?
The grieving of the parents for the lost brother angered the older brother even more. EVEN IN DEATH that little intruder was taking the love away.
Now, we don’t know how long it was between the deaths of those two brothers. We do know that they meet in the spiritual world.
And when the older brother knew, after he arrived in the spiritual world, that he was in the presence of his younger sibling, the feelings must have flooded back..
And if those feelings could be articulated in words by that hard hearted older brother, they might be something like: “you took everything. You took all the love; how I’d like to take it back from you.”
And the answer that came back to him, although expressed soooooo tenderly and gently, must have had the power of thunder in the emotions of the older brother.
You see…….an angel, and particularly an angel who died in infancy, has the characteristic of sincerely wanting to give ALL that he has.
It really is! As the angels told Swedenborg: “to give the other everything and to retain nothing.”
And so, picture the angel saying to his older brother: “you want to take it all; well I want to give it to you………take it…….take all of it!”
And then comes the clincher: that incident is mentioned in other places more than once. And one of those places relates that, at this very emotional scene between the two brothers where the younger brother speaks and the hard hearted brother breaks down and cries——at this scene the parents were present…….his mother was there…….his father was there.
Then Swedenborg, at close hand, relates what he witnessed next. The parents were previously unable to love him enough……..but at this meeting their hearts just meltedddddd and they loved him very tenderly and warmly as he wept deeply in their arms. Oh the power of heaven to melt hardened hearts. Oh the thawing that can occur from the inside out.
The parents of these boys are people whose faith, whose perception, made them whole: they could love with all their hearts.
We have considered an example of extremes in hardness of heart and the consequences that come from that hardness.
Hardness of heart is the OPPOSITE of faith. Faith is, quite simply, living perception that God is and something of WHAT God is.
So now we come full circle: If everyone’s faith in the world was basically on tract, we would not have, nor could we ever have, the economic problems we now have.
Let this be an occasion for us to reflect on ways that our hearts are not receptive to the good that the Lord is speaking to us all the time so that He may lift us up……that we may hear His voice saying, as the prophet declared:
“I will give you a new heart. And put a new spirit within you. I will remove from you your heart of stone, and I will give you a heart of flesh.”
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Luke 18: 1-8
Message
PrayerWow! That’s a whole lot of power the angels have……..much more probably than most people think when they pray, for, in truth, praying puts you in touch with that power !!
But often our experience of prayer is anything but powerful!
Have you ever had the feeling or experience that when you pray there is nothing out there…….that you are just praying to a big void?
I certainly have——–like nobody is really home “out there.”
Obviously that is not the truth, but it can sure feel that way!
There are a lot of illusions in life like that though, and part of our spiritual job is to sort through all that to find out what’s really going on.
But when the Lord is obvious about answering prayer, how DOES God answer prayer anyway?
Like many other things in life, we can also have unrealistic expectations when it comes to prayer.
We can think it should solve all our problems……..or win the lottery……or whatever.
So today I’d like to get really grounded when it comes to prayer and briefly look at how it can work.
In Swedenborg’s wonderful work called “Heavenly Secrets,” he defines prayer one way as channeling influx, the way a magnifying lens focuses light. One of the things this means is that, in a sense, we are co-creators with God because of this power we have in prayer!
That is, we can fashion life and it’s outcomes by means of prayer, which means we are creating to some extent.
But, we have to remember that, from an objective, not subjective place, it is God who puts the prayer in us,
puts the inclination to prayer in us,
in the first place!!
Now for some folks, that seems to ruin things! Remember, I said we are co-creators in a sense, which we are.
But, if you want to feel like you are fully functioning all on your own in prayer, you can’t. God is always there giving you sooooooo much to work with. This is just part of the deal! The bottom line is is that God is in total control, no matter what the appearance is, and He is in control according to His rules and criteria, and this is especially true when it comes to prayer.
If our prayers don’t fit in with Providence, we’re wasting our breath. So best to pray from a place where it FEELS like you are being LED, or, said differently, that God is somehow praying through you.
________________________________________________________________________
But another way Swedenborg talks about prayer is that it is “talking to God and at the same time experiencing some inner view of the things that are being prayed about.”
So we might say that there’s a dialogue there. I speak and the Lord answers this way, or in other ways as well,,,,,,,,that is, the Lord’s response, or His part in the dialogue, can come in one or more of the following ways, and may or may not come right away! We may want instant results or gratification, but the Lord’s timing and ours are not always the same! I must admit, this one always kind of “gets me.”
So, First, (as a result of praying)
- God may give us a better perspective or clearer understanding of whatever it is that we are praying about. We may suddenly see or remember something we had forgotten. No wonder Swedenborg comments that “to pray signifies in the internal sense to be revealed.” Or, in being revealed, a solution may present itself that was not apparent before. On more than one occasion I have meditated/prayed about a particular problem, esp. as I go off to sleep, only to awaken with a new answer to that problem! More revelation!
Secondly:
- Ever feel really despondent and hopeless? When answering a prayer, sometimes the Lord may give us a sense of hope to help us go on. The souls under the altar
“cried with a great voice, saying, ‘How long oh Lord……..dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood……..And it was declared to them that they should rest yet a little time…..” (Rev. 6: 10-11). Hope comes from God.
Third:
- Other times during prayer we may feel comforted or consoled. Weep no more, the Lord has heard your prayer. Like Hezekiah after his death sentence, “he turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart…..’
And Hezekiah wept bitterly……. Thus says the Lord…….I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.”
(II Kings20: 1-5).
Fourth:
- There also are times when, as a result of my praying, the Lord will fill me with a sense of well-being, and even joyfulness, for that is one of His wishes———that I may have a wonderful sense of BEING ALIVE. “I am come that they might have life, and have it abundantlyyyyyyyy.”
Fifth:
- On occasion, the answer to a prayer might be quite dramatic…….esp. since the angels have so much real power. Some of you might recall Elijah’s request for fire on Mt. Carmel………that was certainly dramatic indeed.
Or miraculous healing that I think goes on all the time in this world.
Sixth:
- But now comes one of the more difficult options that can happen in prayer. The Lord can say NO! This is the answer that feels most like no one is there…….because there is most often no response at all. It’s like the Lord is saying, “I won’t help you with that——–stand back from Me! “ (Lk. 13:27). The Lord told Jeremiah: “Do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I do not hear you.” (Jer.7:16).
There was once a woman from Canaan. She had a daughter possessed by a devil and she came to the Lord asking help. (Matt 15: 23). She spoke and prayed for Jesus to help knowing, we are told, “that He was God” Himself (AE 815:5). But the Lord answered first with silence and then a rebuff. There was, therefore, something about her request or state that was not acceptable to Him and needed changing. Once that happened, her plea for help was granted. And this can happen to us as well.
Whether by silence or rebuff of some sort, the Lord DOES answer——-and that answer, like the Canaanite woman,,,,,,,might at first be NO!
Another example in the Bible of the Lord saying no is Saul coming to Samuel complaining about the Lord not answering his prayers. Saul said, “I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore…..” (I Sam.28:15).
What Saul forgot is that twice he had rejected the Lord’s instructions!! On top of that, he filled his heart with hate and vengeance toward David. That is why it is said in the Psalms, “If I favor iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” (Psalm 66: 18).
- As well in all this subject of prayer, there are, in general, two conditions, Swedenborg talks about that have to do with our general attitude. Our attitude must have humility in it and it must show concern for one’s own regeneration and the happiness of others. If either condition is missing, then the prayer is “mere babbling” (AC 1094). It is seen in the spiritual world as a “bad smelling odor.” (TCR 108) or as a mere “vocal sound” (AC 7391).
So if we find our prayers going unanswered, we will probably do one of two things. Either we will give up, at best just going through the motions as we continue with the same prayer. Or, we will learn to be humble, to change our state so we may enter the temple of the Lord’s holiness to speak with Him.
Now here’s a good example of how dynamic the Lord can be, for bringing us into a state of humility is, in fact, a primary purpose of prayer—–a very effective way of helping us find humility! Or a Swedenborg puts it: “He who beseeches or emplores is already in humility, and when there is humility prayer works……..the Divine can flow in and be perceived.” When we are praying, we are offering our minds and our attention……….THAT is connection, and is probably the best and most important part of prayer.
Praise the name of the Lord for giving us this direct route to Him!
Judgmentalism Verses True Judgment
SCRIPTURE: 1. Psalm 9:1-8
2. What follows now are the Lord’s well known words from the Gospel of Matthew:
- “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge YOU will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
But now a final reading, not so well known, from the Gospel of John:
- “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.
3. And Matthew 23: several verses.
BRIEF READING FROM SWEDENBORG:
From the beginning, human beings have been created in such a way as to be able to discern evil.
MESSAGE
True Judgment verses Being Judgmental
One of the strong tendencies in people of faith is to believe that following the Lord’s command to “judge not” means we should not SEE evil——————-that we should kind of pretend that we don’t see a lot of garbage, for example, that might be right under our nose!!
For some reason, spiritual folks find it very uncomfortable, if not downright wrong, to say outright that something is just simply EVIL.
Clearly that is NOT what the Lord did, and the Pharisees had a few blisters on their bottoms to prove it!!
Sharon and I have watched, more than once, one of the best movies ever made: the awesome and riveting movie called “Judgment At Nuremberg,” with Spencer Tracy and a host of other gifted actors————-the story of the trials of the shameful Nazi judges who put millions of people to death when they knew it was wrong and unjust to do that.
This was an example, par excellence, of judges NOT seeing,,,,,,,,,and with a WILL not to see, that ended in the systematic slaughter of more people than has ever happened in the history of the civilized world!
It truly is as the Lord said:
”Never is one so blind as he who WILL not see.”
On the other hand, those who DO call evil by name often find it almost impossible to do that is a good way, to do it in a way without being cold and judgmental———-to do it without any heart or mercy in their manner or their words.
Well, the Bible doesn’t seem to help much either, as the Scriptures we just read make clear!
On the one hand the Bible tells us to judge not. And then it says judge, but to judge righteously.
What is that?
How are we to understand this apparent contradiction to judge and yet not judge?
Has anyone here ever read the book called, “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden” by Hannah Green?
It’s the true-life story of a young woman’s nightmarish journey through the underworld of schizophrenia. This is true mental illness at it worst.
And since the author of the book was actually the patient in the novel, it’s more of the INSIDE story of that journey—–what that mental illness looks like and feels like from the inside out.
The wonderfully talented and deep therapist is Dr. Frieda-Fromm Reichman, the wife of Dr. Eric Fromm who that beautiful book called, “The Art of Loving.”
At any rate, it’s clear that, throughout the therapy process, one of Dr. Reichman’s primary goals is to help shut the doors of escape for young Hannah. And she does this primarily by simply talking about reality in all the many ways it can come at us.
Hannah’s tendency, especially when things get a little tough inside——her tendency is to what to escape into fantasy and illusion, if not downright delusion.
It is a very difficult journey.
After a year or so of therapy, during which Hannah wanted to quit on several occasions, Hannah is coming to some kind of climax of forces within her.
Dr. Reichman is exquisitely sensitive to this inner movement in her patient and knows just when to speak and what to say when she does speak.
At one point, during one of their therapy sessions, when Hannah’s inner worlds are very close to colliding and Hannah is scared to death and doing internal mental maneuvers in order to run away, Dr. Reichman says, in no uncertain terms to Hannah, “No, Hannah; STOP. That is wrong. You must not do that.”
Thirty six hours later, and for the first time in Hannah life, there is an out loud EXPLOSION of anger and rage inside her that makes the psych ward nurse’s hair stand on end. There is a bone chilling depth of dark anger that, after 18 months of therapy, finally breaks lose into the light of day.
After this event, all the many disturbing, delusional characters in Hannah’s head become much less real and much less active in her mental life.
Dr. Reichman was not afraid to call a spade a spade and confront Hannah. But, even though she did that, she was not judgmental!
It seems that there comes a time when we just simply have to call a halt to what is wrong or evil. It may awkward or difficult, but it is sometimes practical, helpful and very spiritual.
THAT ACT OF DISCERNMENT AND JUDGMENT THAT AFTERNOON WAS VERY HELPFUL AND CREATIVE FOR THAT WOMAN.
It’s what she actually needed at that time,
It was JUDGMENT, NOT warm expressions of love, but real judgment that was, in fact, helpful, orienting, constructive.
Not completely pleasant, to be sure, but very helpful, nonetheless.
Now here’s the query: What is it that separates true judgement from the other, very destructive experience, that we’ve all had, or done ourselves———THE VERY DESTRUCTIVE ACT OF BEING JUDGMENTAL?
It seems to me that this is a difficult, but extremely important, subject for all of us on our spiritual journey, for we often seem to ere in one of two ways!!
We either end up being judgmental,
or we tend,
especially these days in our culture where anything goes,
or we end up throwing out all judgment for fear of EVER APPEARING judgmental—–a kind of “hear no evil, see no evil” attitude.
What, then, IS righteous judgment, as the Bible calls it, and how does it differ from that very negative judgmentalness we’ve all, at one time or another, had shot at us like an arrow in the heart,
and that is so graphically portrayed often in Scripture by the Pharisees?
MY CONCERN HERE IS THAT WE NOT LOOSE OUR ABILITY TO JUDGE, TO DISCERN CLEANLY AND CLEARLY, BUT TO DO SO IN SUCH A WAY THAT, AT THE SAME TIME, WE ARE NOT BEING JUDGMENTAL.
Getting these two separated from each other can be a difficult spiritual problem for some, but one of immense spiritual importance.
And in the Scriptures it’s always amazed and delighted me how BEAUTIFULLYYYYYYYYYYY the Lord does it……….over and over again.
He saw soooooooo much.
He was not like some idealists who can’t put their pants on right. Nor was He a sloppy sentimentalist.
But, oh my,,,,,,,,,,,,,,how,he stood for open eyes and warmth and softness in the human heart. These things got him into all kinds of trouble!!!!!!!!! Remember how warm and un-condemning he was with the woman caught in adultery.
Now I’m sure there are many “ins” and “outs” to this whole subject of true judgment verses being judgmental, but I’d like to try and cut through some of them to, perhaps, the core of the matter.
The core, it seems to me,
the thing that makes all the difference,
and that is so different in one than in the other, is OUR INTERNAL STATE—–the feelings and affections we have with one stance verses the other.
THAT IS, WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON INSIDE US AT THE TIME;
WHAT OUR OVER-ALL INTENTIONS ARE;
AND MOST ESPECIALLY HOW WE, IN FACT, FEEL INSIDE.
Judgmentalism, as I’ve experienced it in myself,
is really a very self-centered state of chronic or current anger, and a great deal of fear as well———-and a surprising lack of love in me during those times.
In judgmentalism, the intent, conscious or not, is to shame and to blame, to create fear and distance between me and the other person, if not to create downright pain in the other person——to reject and to hurt, and probably to control and dominate.
Sound like a little bit of hell is in there? LOL
What’s really interesting about that is how truly Godless that is because, quite simply, both of us are moving away from God. Indeed, God never condemns anyone.
We can’t condemn and judge and be in a good relationship to God.
Within judgmentalism there is a serious attempt to put destructive distance between God and the other person, and between God and ourselves.
Now: true judgment, on the other hand,
no matter how vigorous or intense it may appear outwardly,
comes, ultimately, from a profoundly different place in us.
It originates, actually, from a very soft, but critically important, FELT connection to
an act that moves from the perception of the right relation between God and myself and others,
an intention, conscious or not, that burns quietly God, and is therefore, fundamentally, an act of warmth and caring, even if it can seem otherwise on the surface,for the other person to have a loving, real connection to the Lord.
That’s the vertical, spiritual dimension of true judgment———the internal purpose and intent of it.
At the interpersonal level, true judgment in us comes from a place of real, felt caring and warmth for the other person or persons. A place of discernment and wisdom, and a place of kindness and real love————–even though it might, on occasion, sound and feel very tough at times,,,,,,,,,,,as in tough love.
These two inner worlds of true judgment, and being judgmental, are as different from each other as heaven and hell, EVEN THOUGH, OUTWARDLY, they can appear the same!!!!!
Inwardly, they are, in fact, OPPOSITES.
(slight pause).
There is a final dimension to all of this that I would like to mention, and that is that, to be discerning without being judgmental, what we’re really talking about here is our ability to love in the presence of real evil——whether in ourselves or in each other,
and to do so in a
WHOLESOME,
BALANCED,
YET CLEAR EYED kind of way.
Discernment and true judgment desires connection and restoration with the other person…….it’s a REACHING outtttttttttttttttt, to touch and to heal,,,,,,,,,and that softness of energy is sooooooooo obvious.
As I’ve said, in Scripture it’s the story of the woman caught in adultery and how the Lord was with her—-straight, yet compassionate and warm. His last quiet words to her were: go and sin no more.
As I’ve shared before here: Howard’s NDE experience: He spent hours in discussion with the really good, wise angels. Feeling the depth and real caring of their love. And at one point he began to speak of his own evil. He had not been a particularly loving person. He was self-serving. Unloving. His giving always had strings on it, etc.
What was their response to him?
They said with great feeling and clear-sightedness, knowing full well the truthfulness of what he had just told them about himself,
they said, with great compassion and empathy:”we know.”
They knew.
They could discern and see, but they did not reject him.
(pause)
Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath. Judgmentalism is clearly an act of aggressiveness and anger and fear: it comes from hell.
Genuine judgment, however, although perhaps a bit painful at times, is PROFOUNDLY different indeed and it can take great energy to do it well.
Let’s not only keep real judgment and discernment, without being judgmental or moralistic, but let’s also remain open to God’s judgment for ourselves!!
We needn’t fear it. It is trying to tell us the truth but without condemning us.
(pause)
When the concentration camps were opened at the end of WWII one of the most frequent responses was: “this is evil.”
Losing true judgment began the build up that resulted in those camps!
It turns out that true judgment, not judgmentalism, is a function of real love. Without true judgment there is no love, no matter how sweet or soft or lovely we might appear on the outside.
The challenge is to judge in such a way that it helps people get closer to God.
And when that happens,
as a result of my discernment and connection to you,
if I am truly discerning and not being judgmental, you should come away, not only feeling closer to God, but to who you truly are as well!
We are going to have a fun Valentine’s day party Friday, February 6, 2009, from 6:30 PM to about 8:30 PM, at the New Church of Montgomery, 9035 E. Kemper Rd.,Cincinnati, OH. Some of the couples we’ve married over the years will be there as well, to join in on this fun day. We’d love to see as many as can make it to help the spirit and activities we’ve planned. Hope to see you there if you can possibly make it.
John & Sharon
New program idea – Dream Sharing
Published January 31, 2009 Classes/Study Groups , Uncategorized Leave a CommentHello Everyone,
There is a new program I would like to start if enough (6) people are interested in being a part of it. It is a dream sharing group.
It would have two purposes:
- The first is that sharing dreams in a safe and open atmosphere helps us get closer to who we truly are at deeper levels of our being. That is surely a worthwhile and very spiritual endeavor.
- The second is that it builds a deeper sense of community. You can’t love someone you don’t know; so this enhances our ability to love.
The ground rules that we start with are simple, though these might move and change as we go along:
- No fixing. We are there to share; not to fix and heal, even though healing at some level could occur, but it would not be the fundamental, conscious purpose of the group.
- When the person sharing a dream is talking, no interrupting except for brief question of clarification should those arise,
- If the person sharing a dream happens upon some obvious feeling of some kind (sadness, etc), that is the time, more than any other, that the rest of the group becomes respectfully quiet to give the person room to experience their feeling without interruption or the necessity to hurry things along just then.
- No interpreting of another’s dream. That is left in the hands of the one who had the dream. However, there is a useful little formula that can sometimes be helpful to the one sharing their dream. Let’s say someone is perplexed or unsure of what a particular part or symbol in a dream means. I might say at some point: “If that were my dream, here’s what I would think that symbol means.”
I would see us meeting no more than once a month; maybe every other month or as the group felt the need to meet. We could also include eating supper together first if that feels like a good idea.
Let me know how you feel about this ok?
Thank you,
Rev. John
newchurch@cinci.rr.com
The Book of Revelation
BIBLE READING: Rev. 6: 1-8
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (Revelation 6:1-8 )
Reading from Swedenborg
Horses are often mentioned in the prophetic parts of the Bible. But until now, no one has known that horses represent our understanding, and riders represent people who are intelligent, that is, God’s kind of intelligence. This representation of horses comes from the spiritual world. In that world horses are often seen, with people on them, and everyone there knows that they represent intellectual and doctrinal things. (The White Horse #2, 3)
Sermon
The Book Of Revelation
After forty years of study and research, no less a figure than the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham threw up his hands in complete despair of trying to figure out the meaning and message of the Book of Revelation. Perhaps we can see why. We’ve got dragons and mysteriously sealed books, one of which the author of Revelation, the disciple John, is asked to eat!
We’ve got a beast from the sea, a woman and her child, seven bowls, a scarlet woman and a scarlet beast, a white horse, as well as three other horses, one black, one red, and one pale in color, and the ugly many-headed monster with horns. It’s almost like somebody’s LSD trip!
Actually, that’s not far from the truth. But instead of LSD, the author, John the beloved disciple, says he was “in the spirit,” meaning he was having what we would call a spiritual experience, or something along the lines of a near-death experience. Swedenborg’s way of saying this is that John’s spiritual sight was opened–something that can, and eventually will, happen to all of us.
But the content of what John saw went far beyond his own personal condition or issues. As he put it, he was seeing “the things which are, and the things which will be hereafter.” Quite a different scope than what most of us experience with drugs, or even our own personal spiritual experiences.
The vision that John saw was like a mighty symbolic moving picture enacted before his eyes. The Book of Revelation is a record of that vision.
As I say, it is clearly more than a drug-induced hallucination, especially when seen through the eyes of correspondences–which are the outer form of things that are initially created from the spiritual energy of God and therefore have an internal life to them.
Swedenborg remarks that the substances of the spiritual world are not inert; not anywhere near as lifeless as the material substances we have here on earth. Instead, they are immediately responsive to spiritual forces, so that everything there at once takes on an outward form corresponding to what is the most alive of all: the affections and thoughts of the angels, spirits, or people of darkness there.
In other words, unlike LSD, true visions with their correspondences are not imaginary. They depict spiritual reality, especially if we come to understand the meaning behind the correspondences. And here’s where Swedenborg shines, because he spells it all out, symbol by symbol, or correspondence by correspondence, until a coherent picture begins to come into view————-a picture of spiritual meaning and purpose.
But before we get to an overview of that coherent picture, we might well ask: why all the symbolism? Why didn’t God just say it straight and direct, in plain old literal language———–the very same language we come to after the symbols are revealed? The answer is the same as for the rest of the Bible. As stated by Anita Dole in her Bible Study Notes:
The New Church is the church of the opened Word. It believes that the inspired portions of the Scriptures are divine truth spoken by the Lord, but necessarily, in order to reach humankind, clothed with corresponding forms of angelic and earthly thought and expression———–just as light, coming to earth from the sun, is modified by the atmosphere and broken up and reflected in various ways by the natural forms which receive and transmit it. The literal meaning of Scripture, then, is the outmost expression of divine truth. Being given through the minds of men in both good and evil states, it therefore shows the truth as it appears both to the good and to the evil. The literal meaning of Scripture is written for all sorts and conditions of human beings in all times, but there is enough genuine truth in the surface meaning to invite any sincere person to go deeper.
If people don’t wish to go deeper, what they did comprehend will not have spiritually harmed them because they won’t be turning away from all that much to begin with. What’s really bad is to see God with your whole being and then turn away! That’s damming! The critical, important idea here is that the sincerity required to dig deeper is the very thing that protects us from treating the deeper meaning in a flip or frivolous manner once we find it. It’s a pretty neat system!
So the next obvious question is: what’s so all-powered sensitive in Revelation that God needed to build in this protective mechanism of using confusing symbols and images?
We’re going to get into some really big perspectives now. Sir Isaac Newton studied an apple falling, and from that determined the laws of gravitation. Those were little thoughts. Hundreds of years later, Albert Einstein came along and tried to take that little law and put it all together with all the other little laws of nature———-relativity, the speed of light, and so on———–and tried to see how all the little laws of nature fit together to make a coherent whole. He came up with E=MC2. A very big thought.
The Book of Revelation is one of those big thoughts———a really big thought that, you might say, we have to be spiritually ready to encounter. We’ll need a degree of spiritual maturity and sincerity if we’re to seriously relate to it with our heart, soul, and mind.
That’s what eating that book was all about. We may, at first, find these big thoughts very sweet and wonderful. But if we’re not ready to digest the full meaning and implications of them, we’re probably going to get a stomach ache! So what is it that can be so difficult to digest———–that can give us stomach cramps?
In correspondential language, Revelation is about the advent of a new kind of Christian church that God is bringing into being. The dramatic story in this book is about that church’s beginnings with a beautiful vision of the Lord, which is then followed by the many trials, tribulations, and conflicts that it will undergo in becoming established here on earth———–or within any one individual, since each individual is a church in miniature.
Mind you, we are not talking about another man-made Christian denomination. We are talking about something intrinsically alive——-a real, live, spiritual church that can really touch you, that can really affect you in your feelings and inner life.
- One that can be as real as your leg.
- As real as your own personal pain.
- As real as your deepest loves;
- that can make your insides quiver and shake,
- that can make you cry from its beauty,
- and also rejoice.
- We are talking about a church that is of your very life——
- that asks you to grow,
- that asks you to love holiness and mercy,
- that asks you to become not only loving, but also wise in how you live your life.
This, as Revelation says, is a church without a temple in it, because we become the temple. It is a church
- not defined by rituals and rites,
- but by wisdom and love that shines in your eyes,
- touches your relationships——especially your close and intimate ones——
- and makes you a child of God that you love being and becoming.
It is a church that deeply understands transformation into angelhood because that’s been our potential from the very beginning. And within this perspective, we grasp the vision, align ourselves to it, and work like hell–because hell is half of our many loves.But, there are resistances to this kind of church in the world, and in each one of us as well. Let’s take one or two from Revelation.
The opening of those mysterious seals: Swedenborg claims that since the middle of the 18th century, the human race has come into a new level of spiritual freedom, granted by the Lord. It involves a much deeper desire to make sense out of things–especially spiritual things.
A large part of this new freedom in spiritual things is the opening of the Scriptures, again granted by the Lord, to a new, internal, more spiritual level of understanding of the Word–a level that is not only more comprehensible in general, but is also more personally relevant to each one of us.
However, being a realist, the Lord knew this would not be welcomed by all! The four horsemen and their riders are the different ways that we can receive this opening of the Scriptures———-especially certain truths about our souls that this reveals.
Some people welcome all the truth they can learn, and use it to discover and grow, and to help them live a deeper, more feeling and spiritual kind of life. This kind of reception is symbolized by the white horse.
Some people like to learn the truth only in order to condemn other people, without applying it to themselves at all. This is our understanding of the Word when we do not wish to be good, and it is pictured by the red horse.
Some are not interested in learning anything at a deeper, spiritual level, but like to pick out verses in the Bible and haggle over their natural, literal meaning, as if that was all there was to the Bible. This attitude is represented by the black horse.
- Some reject anything sacred because they have no intention of doing anything except get all they can for themselves in this world–the self-serving person. This is the pale horse.Some people welcome all the truth they can learn, and use it to discover and grow, and to help them live a deeper, more feeling and spiritual kind of life. This kind of reception is symbolized by the white horse.
- Some people like to learn the truth only in order to condemn other people, without applying it to themselves at all. This is our understanding of the Word when we do not wish to be good, and it is pictured by the red horse.
- Some are not interested in learning anything at a deeper, spiritual level, but like to pick out verses in the Bible and haggle over their natural, literal meaning, as if that was all there was to the Bible. This attitude is represented by the black horse.
- Some reject anything sacred because they have no intention of doing anything except get all they can for themselves in this world–the self-serving person. This is the pale horse.
We also have the woman and her child, and the great red dragon. The woman clothed with the sun is a symbol of this new church the Lord is trying to bring into being.
The sun corresponds to the glory of love to the Lord in which this new church appears in heaven.
The moon under her feet pictures the intelligence and faith which would be in the people of this new church on earth.
The child which the woman brought forth stands for the new level of spiritual understanding of the people in this new kind of internal, more spiritual church.
And the great red dragon which threatened her symbolizes the resistance to this new level of deeper, more spiritual understanding, which comes primarily from worldly and selfish reasoning——-especially materialism when that becomes a top priority in the way people live.
What is the name of this new church begun by God, first in the spiritual world, and then here on earth? The short name is the New Church. The long name, taken from the Book of Revelation, is the Church of the New Jerusalem.
There are many details of this spectacular story that I have left out. We don’t have time to unearth them all today. But they are all there.
The Book of Revelation does make sense when the symbols are decoded. Indeed, for Swedenborgians the Book of Revelation has been called the charter of the New Church. It is the story of God’s faithful, wonderful help, and how, having helped the human race all along its tumultuous, difficult path of growth and development, God decided it was time to raise the bar of spiritual development and potential one more time, and invite us into a much greater theater of abundant living.
The question is, can we handle it? Can we handle being challenged and shaken? Can we handle the growth and intimacy, the love and wisdom, the wonder and beauty, that so powerfully confront our lowered expectations of both God and ourselves?
Our resistance to this new internal and external church is not only about resistance to new ideas or thoughts, or even to a certain kind of new doctrine.
It’s about resistance to our own personal darker forces. That’s the first stumbling block to the New Church. If we were already whole and holy as individuals, the vision of the New Church would not only be easily understood, but joyously received and embraced.
The conflicts and dragons, the harlots and pale riders are within us; they are right alongside the Holy City, New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from God.
Is your stomach, like mine, beginning to cramp a little now? This is not cheap grace. We are being asked to consciously conspire against some of the things we love quite dearly, in order to get to the things we love most deeply.
It’s like community building. We consciously put ourselves in this vice called “guidelines” because we want the deeper value of holy connection to each other. Community building is part of the New Church. But it’s work. And sometimes we resist. Indeed, most people shrink from anything that promises to make drastic changes in their ways of thought and life.
I once asked a very righteous and good man, a Swedenborgian minister, what he expected in his initial experiences in the spiritual world when he crossed over.
Immediately,and with great understatement he said, “I expect it to be a little painful at times”————-as he would encounter some of his own demons.
The New Church is about taking the blinders off; not only taking the blinders off intellectually, but ultimately also in a very deep and feeling way as well. Here’s where the resistance really kicks in!
What this means is that ultimately we cannot do it alone. At some point, the Lord must consciously be part of the process——-especially at the deeper and more difficult levels of resistance.
The Scriptures open with the Garden of Eden and close with the holy city New Jerusalem. The Garden of Eden pictures not only the primitive state of the human race, but the infant state of the individual.
And the holy city New Jerusalem pictures the ultimate goal of humanity, and of each one of us. All the Scriptures in between the two describe the journey from what Swedenborg calls the “innocence of ignorance” to the “innocence of wisdom.”
The Book of Revelation, in its decoded form, describes in detail what this means, and what it will entail if we are to pursue and attain it.
But always remember that
- no matter how many heads the beast may have,
- no matter how awful the scarlet woman might be,
- there is nothing we can’t do with the Lord’s help.
- The choice is always ours, even when it feels like it isn’t.
Special Guest at Coffee Bar, this Friday
Published January 27, 2009 Events , Uncategorized Leave a CommentWe have a really nice surprise guest this coming Friday during the coffee bar, from 6PM to 8PM.
Her name is Pat Brockman. She is a very experienced dream therapist and also happens to be (our) Beth’s sister.
So come and join in the dream sharing and interpretation. And bring a dream too if you can.
Hope to see you there if you can,
John
