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From the Bible:  Mt. 5
 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      for they will be filled.
 7Blessed are the merciful,
      for they will be shown mercy.
 8Blessed are the pure in heart,
      for they will see God.
 9Blessed are the peacemakers,
      for they will be called sons of God.
 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

From Swedenborg

269
One can determine that the whole of heaven is like this from a similar situation that exists in every individual community in heaven. Every community is a heaven in a smaller form, but a form that is nonetheless human. (On this situation, see ??41?86 in the work Heaven and Hell.) In every community in heaven, angels who are at the center of the community similarly play the role of the heart and the lungs. They have the most light. That light and a resulting awareness of truth spread out toward the edges in every direction?to all who are in the community?and give them spiritual life. It was once demonstrated that when the angels at the center, who constitute the realm of the heart and the lungs and who have the most light, were taken away, the angels around them came into an intellectual shadow and into so little awareness of truth that they started lamenting. As soon as the central angels returned, however, the others saw the light again and had the awareness of truth they had had before.
You could draw a comparison with heat and light from the sun in our world. They give trees and shrubs the power to grow even if the sun is low or behind a cloud, provided it is above the horizon. It is the same for the light and heat of heaven that come from the Lord as the sun there. That light is essentially the divine truth, the source of all the intelligence and wisdom that angels and people have. This is why we read that the Word was with God and was God, that it enlightens everyone who comes into the world, and that this light shines even in the darkness (John 1:1, 5, 9). ?The Word? here means the Lord in his role as divine truth.  [A.C.]

 

Message


 

CAN THERE BE SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY?

Are there genuine faith communities … that support its members and friends on the spiritual journey?

Is our Swedenborgian denomination a faith community? … is our web site a faith community?

I can only speak from my own experience. I was confirmed in the Swedenborgian denomination 20 years ago, and ordained there 18 years ago.

In these years, I have found life-long friends and a community that has strived to live the values of Emanuel Swedenborg through its deep roots in the antislavery movement, the suffrage movement, and the interfaith movement. My own faith journey has been both supported and challenged – as I have supported and challenged the faith journeys of others.

It’s been an intense relationship in many ways! Intense relationships are never easy. I’ve struggled with times of disagreeing with practices or beliefs of others in the community. I’ve been part of many contentious meetings – as well as uplifting ones!
Through it all, I am learning the importance of speaking up honestly with my own feelings – without judging the feelings of others. I’m learning to listen empathically to others to open my heart to what I can learn from them.

I didn’t really understand how to do this until our denomination started teaching the non-violent communication of Marshall Rosenberg, and we began to use it here at the Portland Church. It is not new, but rather an integration of knowledge through the centuries. Marshall Rosenberg was subjected, as a child, to taunts about his Jewish religion. As an adult, he became a psychologist
As a psychologist, he found he was not getting answers to his two big lifetime questions:

What happens to disconnect us from our compassionate nature, leading us to behave violently and exploitatively? And conversely, what allows some people to stay connected to their compassionate nature under even the most trying circumstances?

His search for answers led him to develop “non-violent communication,” a spiritually-based model that draws wisdom from many cultures.

One person who inspired his thinking was Mahatma Ghandi. Mahatma’s grandson, Arun, wrote the forward to Marshall’s book:

In it, he writes:
On e of the many things I learned from my grandfather is to understand the depth and breadth of nonviolence, and to acknowledge that we are all violent and that we need to bring about a qualitative change in our attitudes. …
Grandfather always vociferously stressed the need for nonviolence in communications – something that Marshall Rosenberg has been doing admirably for may years through his writings and his seminars.
Unless, as grandfather would say, “we become the change we wish to see in the world” no change will ever take place. We are all, unfortunately, waiting for the other person to change first.”

In the five years I have served the Portland  community as ministry,many of us started learning about NVC, attending NVC workshops and then offering study groups. In 2004, we adopted a peace covenant for our communication with each other and the world. It was not to say that we were or even could be perfectly “non-violent” in all communications! But to make the commitment to sincerely try, and to keep learning, with the support of this community.

It is this effort – together – to be more than we are alone that marks a spiritual community. Together we struggle to communicate peacefully, to share our spiritual journeys openly. This is a community that has respect for all spiritual journeys, supports a wide variety of them, and gives honest feedback to each other.

We struggle with: what does it mean to support all religious traditions, yet also have our roots a particular tradition? How do laity and clergy work together as a team to enhance the entire community? How can we communicate in a loving format?
Part of our learning is that we never do any of these things perfectly; but we also forgive each other’s lapses as we grow together.

Our web community is like that.  We are new, and growing.  Yet we are striving to learn how to communicate in this strange new environment on-line!

We are a community that does not define itself by the past; or even completely by the present … but rather by the journey we are on together to the future.

I think a commitment to communicate with each other  “even when times are hard, is being a spiritual community.“

Everyone here helps to support the journey of this community in some way.

Would you like to take a larger role in helping this community shape itself as it grows towards the future?

Would you like more chat topics?  A basic introduction to Swedenborg?  Can you volunteer some time?  Can you make a donation -- or a pledge for the coming months?

Explore in prayer what your role is within this community, and let your voice be heard.  Together, we are creating the future every day!

 

 

 
CLOSING SONG
Circle of Life



 

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