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.

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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.

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Help My Unbelief

Abby examines the role of belief in her life, especially as it relates to life after death. She suggests that in bringing her focus away from a literal interpretation of the Word, and by applying the Word to her inner life, she is better able to connect with a belief in an omnipotent God. This is the third essay in our series on doubt, the opening essay is available here. -Editor

Between reading Jennica’ s article and hearing a sermon about belief I have been thinking a lot about faith, doubt, and what it means to believe in God. How does my belief in God affect my life? How does it change it on a day to day basis? How do I change my life (habits and behaviors) because I believe in God?

I don’t have answers to these questions. I have had some thoughts over the past few weeks that were helpful, but still most of the time I am left wishing that I had more answers. I have some solid rocks that my faith, simple though it seems to me, is built on. One of those rocks is the same as Jennica’ s: marriage, explained by many teachings in the Writings of the New Church. Another is a belief in the life after death that settled in for me after my mom died. I still have questions about both of these, but I also feel calm and sure in the essentials of these beliefs.

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Can She Still Be With Me?

Having had a child after her mother passed away, Abby writes about her struggle to comprehend how connected she and her mother are now and how this may change after her own death. She draws heavily on one of her husband's theological papers which leaves her central question unresolved. Ultimately, though grieving the loss of her mother, she is confident that the Lord is in charge. -Editor

Author's Note

For the last several months I’ve had the idea to write this article about the interaction between people here on earth and their loved ones who have died. Parts of it keep rolling around in my head, but every time I come back to trying to write it I can’t capture really what I am trying to say. A year ago my husband wrote a paper about whether or not people recognize each other after death for one of his theological school classes. This paper says a lot of the things that I have been wanting to say. So I thought that rather than essentially plagiarizing his paper I would just include chunks of it with my thoughts interspersed. The sections from Malcolm's paper are in block quotes, and the long quotes within the quotes from the paper are in italics. If you'd like to read the whole thing, here it is: “Why People Do or Do Not Recognize Each Other After Death” (PDF).

Can She Still Be With Me?

Just over two years ago my Mom died. She had cancer and had been sick for many years, so in a lot of ways it was a relief when she died. But that doesn’t change the fact that I miss her.

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The Hidden Influence and Relevance of Swedenborg 1: Why We Are Alive

This week we introduce the first of three sections of an essay by Curtis Childs on the significance of Emanuel Swedenborg's work. Curtis begins here by looking, from a broad context, at the remarkable contribution Swedenborg made to teachings about the life after death. The following two sections are: Section 2: Egypt, Assyria, and Quantum Mechanics and Section 3: Swedenborg's Influence. - Editor.

< p>Richard Smoley, in his essay, “The Inner Journey of Emanuel Swedenborg,” introduces us to the Swedish visionary: “like most great figures in history, Emanuel Swedenborg both epitomizes his time and transcends it” (4). In 1688, when on January 29th, Swedenborg was born to Jesper Swedberg and Sara Behm, institutional Christianity ruled Sweden, as well as the rest of Europe. However, secular philosophy and scientific naturalism were also coming into their own, creating a dichotomy that few, other than Swedenborg, could satisfactorily bridge. Swedenborg was educated at the University of Uppsala. After several initial endeavors that met with little success, he began to publish many books in different scientific and philosophical fields. He served on Sweden’s Board of Mines, was given a seat in the House of Nobles, and lived the life of a “nobleman, bureaucrat, and author” (Kirven 31).

Sometime around the year 1736, Swedenborg began to undergo a change that “was to mark the turning point in his life, and it would lead him to the vocation for which he would be most remembered—that of spiritual visionary and sage” (Smoley 19). Swedenborg first began to receive contact from something beyond this world through his dreams, which he recorded as they began to grow more intense. He had several powerful experiences, but what may have been the trigger for the redirection of his studies for the rest of his life occurred at an inn in London in 1745.

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Clothing

What do clothes say about who you are? Is it reliable? What's up with angel's clothing? What about envying or desiring nice clothes? Malcolm tackles some of the spiritual ideas behind one of our three basic necessities: clothing.

Introduction

George Carlin observed, “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” The same principle applies with clothing. People make lots of different choices about clothing—how much money to spend on it, what style to go for, how much time to spend putting together an outfit on a given day, etc.—and those that make different decisions than we do are either slobs or snobs.

So, in an effort to get beyond thinking of each other as a bunch of slobs and snobs, here are a few different New Church perspectives on clothing.

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