Beyond the Range of Human Thought Part 1

Swedenborg's works offer us a vivid picture of what heaven is like, but all this information can give us as many questions as it does answers. Here Helen shares a compilation of passages about the various ingredients of the afterlife, resulting in a hearty meal's worth of food for thought. -Editor

Our lives are constant challenges to get past ourselves and the natural world, and move into a different mental landscape, one where learning more deeply about the life of the spirit enhances the Lord's ability to be with us. That learning may be unconscious, but it is a way of working with the Lord on the heavenly home we will be entering when our life here in the natural world ends. Truth be told, our heavenly home is based on the foundation we work on while in this world. Jesus did not waste his breath while here, so his teaching in the Gospel of John must be important,

"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you." (John 14:2)

Would any believer doubt this? I don't know.

When I think of the life here and lessons we are learning, I wonder about some things. One is, "How does the Lord take into account the differences among us?" In my childhood I only heard of heaven as one homogenous place, or state, along with the implication that we're all going to be blended into the same generic happiness. Really? How is that going to work? I just can't imagine being happy alongside some people to eternity. Not that they're bad—they're just different. So in what way, or ways, is heaven going to be the comforting, satisfying place, or state, that fits each person's mental makeup precisely in a way that will make every one of us happy?

Click to read more ...

What Art has to do with Faith

Ayisha reflects on how the tenets of the New Church have yet to be fully embodied in forms of art. She ponders how these images may augment our experience of God. What are we waiting for? -Editor.

There's an idea out there that heaven is dull. In fact, I can quote someone on it: “I dunno. Heaven just always seems kinda boring to me. Like, who'd wanna go there?”

It's an understandable view, given traditional interpretations of heaven. Take a person with a Christian-ish background, who has a good work ethic and a general zest for life. If their view of heaven is an expectation that they will be sexless, living to eternity playing a harp on a cloud, with a pair of wings that excludes them from small human luxuries like tree-climbing and sleeping on their backs, then it would be no wonder if their desire for heaven were only an obedient one. They feel they ought to want to go to heaven, but they may dread it in reality.

Click to read more ...

Lessons from Milankovitch, Swedenborg, and Cold, Obnoxious Winters

After months of dull and overcast weather, Lauren is driven to perform an interpretive dance representing the orbit of the earth around the sun. She compares the seasons to the changes of state we undergo in relation to our center of love and wisdom (the Lord). We could even weary of ecstasy if it were allowed to linger too long. -Editor.

Scenario: What do you do in a small restaurant with adults in your party engrossed in deep conversation and an energetic three-year-old who wants to move? Solution: The Milankovitch Dance. What is the Milankovitch Dance? It is an ingenious way to keep that spritely 3-year old content in a rather confined area, provided that your back is good and your memory of the Milankovitch Cycles better. For those of you unfamiliar with the latter, please rejoice in the knowledge that you are about to receive.

Click to read more ...

Mythbusting: Talking With Spirits. Part 3

In the final entry in his three part series Todd questions how members of a church based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg could harbor as much fear about contact with spirits as the New Church seems to. He examines communicating with the other world from a fresh perspective. Follow these links to find part 1 and part 2. - Editor.

So if communication between the natural and spiritual worlds is to be open again with the New Church, why do most General Church people that I know think that any spirit contact must be an evil spirit contact, whereas new age folks generally regard them as “spirit guides” or “helpers.” So which is it? Sorry for the non-answer, but for now I think there is both. I figure it just depends on you, and what spirits you are attracting by your thoughts and your life.

Click to read more ...

Mythbusting: Talking With Spirits. Part 2

We return to part two of this this three part series where Todd questions how members of a church based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg could harbor as much fear about contact with spirits as the New Church seems to. He examines communicating with the other world from a fresh perspective. Find the opening essay here. - Editor.

Speed limits in the USA are designed to be safe for everybody. Even a poor driver can navigate the road safely at the set speed limit. The Writings take a similar approach when it comes to communication with spirits. They say, “Don’t do it” because if you don’t do it, you’re certain not to crash. Evil spirits are out there trying to destroy you, so why take the chance. Seems logical.

Click to read more ...

Mythbusting: Talking With Spirits. Part 1

In this three part series, Todd questions how members of a church based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg could harbor as much fear about contact with spirits as the New Church seems to. He examines communicating with the other world from a fresh perspective. (Part 2 and part 3 will be published at the end of April). - Editor.

Here we are as a church, with the greatest spiritist of all time as our special revelator, and yet most people I come in contact with are very much conflicted regarding talking or communicating with spirits. On one hand, they LOVE to talk about it, but it is a subject that carries a lot of fear and uncertainty as well. From my point of view, there is something along the lines of an underground conversation regarding spirit contact, something that typically goes like, “I had XYZ experience, but don’t tell anybody.”

So why don’t we tell anybody, or at least tell anybody publicly?

Click to read more ...