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Happy Birthday, Swedenborg!

January 31, 2010


 

Open your Bible


 
Light a candle




OPENING SONG 
Lord of the Dance
 


READINGS

 
 
 
FROM THE BIBLE
 
Psalm 77
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted.

3 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;
I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
Selah

4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.

5 I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;

6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart mused and my spirit inquired:

7 "Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?

8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?

9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"
Selah

10 Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High."

11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.

13 Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?

14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.

15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah

16 The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.

17 The clouds poured down water,
the skies resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.

18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.

19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.

20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.



FROM SWEDENBORG


I have stated on occasion that love is what constitutes our life, but
this does not mean love separated from wisdom, or what is good separated
from what is true in the cause. This is because love by itself, or what
is good by itself, is nothing. Consequently, the love that constitutes our
deepest life, the life that comes from the Lord, is love and wisdom together.
So too, the love that constitutes our life to the extent that we are
open to it is not love by itself in the cause, though it is by itself in the result.
Love is incomprehensible apart from its quality, and its quality is
wisdom. That quality or wisdom can come only from its underlying reality,
which is love. This is why they are a single whole; and the same holds
true for what is good and what is true.  Divine Providence #13 NCE


 
MESSAGE




HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEDENBORG
 
The late Donella Meadows was a pioneer in looking at system’s theory. To explain how a system is about wholeness, she cited this Sufi teaching story:
 
You think that because you understand “one” that you must therefore understand “two” because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand “and.”
 
In many ways, this quotation expresses the essence of Swedenborgian theology. We are all about the “ands.” Swedenborg wrote about Love AND Wisdom,   Good AND Truth, Human AND Divine. Neither of these can exist without the other.
 
Swedenborg did not focus on separating them; of choosing between one and the other. His emphasis was that the essence of existence was putting both together. They meld together into a “distinguishable oneness,” in which each retains some of its uniqueness, but together they create something that neither could do alone.
 
Friday was Swedenborg’s birthday. He would have been 322 years old! He would probably feel today that his theology was well expressed in the Sufi teaching: You think that because you understand “one” that you must therefore understand “two” because one and one make two. But you forget that you must also understand “and.”
 
He would also probably find modern physics compatible with his theology.
 
Modern physics has established that reality involves both “particle” and “wave.”   The “waves” are in constant motion drawing the particles into creative relationship. Physicist Fritz Capra wrote this:
 
Modern physics has shown us that movement and rhythm are essential properties of matter ... that all matter is involved in a creative cosmic dance.  [Fritz Capra]
 
I love seeing the universe as involved in a creative cosmic dance!
 
All of life, all of creation is about dancing together! Swedenborg wrote about dance as an ancient form of prayer from The Word:
 
The meaning of 'dance' as that which has regard to an affection for spiritual truth, and means the delightful feeling or gladness belonging to it, dealt with below. In ancient times not only musical instruments and singing served to bear witness to gladness of heart but also dancing. Joyful feelings in the heart or interior things erupted into various activities in the body, such as singing and also dancing. Since in ancient times the glad feelings excelling all others were spiritual ones, that is, feelings springing from affections belonging to spiritual kinds of love, which were affections for goodness and truth, people were allowed, when they engaged in singing and musical harmony, to dance as well and so in dancing also to bear witness to their joy. This explains why 'dancing' is mentioned in the Word, meaning the glad feelings that belong to affections for truth, or to faith grounded in good or charity, as in Jeremiah,
Again you will adorn your timbrels,* and will go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. Their life** will become like a watered garden, and they will not sorrow any more. Then will the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together. Jer. 31:4, 12, 13.
 
One of my favorite Biblical passages is in Exodus. God parts the Red Sea so that that Israelites can cross it on dry land. When they safely reach the other side:
 
“Then Miriam the prophetess … took a tambourine in her hand, and all the other women followed her with tambourines and dancing.” Ex. 15:20
 
Swedenborg says this passage shows us that “dance” means spiritual truth and gladness of heart, and that in ancient time: 
 
Joyful feelings in the heart or interior things erupted into various activities in the body, such as singing and also dancing. Since in ancient times the glad feelings excelling all others were spiritual ones, that is, feelings springing from affections belonging to spiritual kinds of love, which were affections for goodness and truth, people were allowed, when they engaged in singing and musical harmony, to dance as well and so in dancing also to bear witness to their joy. [AC 420 and 8339].
 
Swedenborg also talked about the movement or flow towards wholeness:
 
Spiritual Experiences-Word Explained (Odhner) n. 34
 
346.  When many are speaking at the same time, there is a certain most beautiful harmony, a very lovely kind of wave-like movement toward oneness, because of the agreement. At such times they also possess much more force of action and speech, as I have, by the Divine mercy of God the Messiah, experienced on several occasions, together with a deep happiness. The beauty itself of the melodic progression, ending up in unity, was also shown to me in an amazing way, and it was stunning, beyond all description.
 
The Sacred Dance Guild believes that sacred dance is a catalyst for spiritual growth and change through the integration of mind, body, and spirit. … as an agent of change; and as a message of peace. 
 
Some Sufi traditions celebrate dances of peace, and the Whirling Dervishes are Sufi’s who use movement as prayer.
 
Kathryn Mihelick, Development Director and Director of the Leaven Dance Company says: Movement is the universal language which integrates us, speaks across cultures, and transcends the spoken word to manifest the spirit. "To move is human....to dance is divine."
 
 
Connie Tyler, Resource Director of the dance company, says:
We have Jewish dancers, participants in Dances of Universal Peace, people who do Yoga dance, Buddhist dance, the traditional temple dances of both Northern and Southern India …What is important is what is in the heart and the soul of the dancer, the connection to the divine.
 
 All of this says a lot about community.
 
Community is about the “and.” A congregation is a community with a spirituality focus.
You think because you understand yourself and you understand another person, you will understand what their relationship will be like. But a relationship involves the “and” in a constant interactive dance! When we strive to create a better world – Swedenborg’s New Jerusalem or Martin Luther King’s Beloved Community – we are in a continuous dance together towards wholeness.
 
I think if Swedenborg wanted us to remember one thing about him in this birthday week, it would be for us to live in the “ands” where we are constantly growing and changing – and integrating pieces into a wholeness.
 
To honor Swedenborg’s birthday, take some time today to enjoy the dance of the universe that is at the essence of our world!
 
 
 

CLOSING SONG
Let your Love flow



 
Now extinguish your candle                         


 
And close the Bible.            
 

 
Go forth; knowing that we are all in a cosmic dance together!