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That Magical Moment
WELCOME TO TODAY'S WORSHIP SERVICE
January 4, 2009
First Sunday of the New Year
Open your Bible
Light a candle
OPENING SONG
Morning Has Broken
Sung by Cat Stevens.
lyrics: [Cat Stevens lyrics]
Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day.---------------
http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/stevens/morning_has_broken/
READINGS
From the Bible:
Genesis 1 (New International Version)
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
From Swedenborg
I have talked with angels about wisdom on occasion, and they have told me that wisdom is union with the Lord because the Lord is wisdom itself. They have told me that they attain this union when they banish hell from themselves, and that the union is in direct proportion to the banishment.
They picture wisdom, they said, as a wonderfully elegant palace with twelve steps leading up to it. No one gets to the step except with the Lord’s help and by union with him, and for all of us, the ascent depends on that union. The higher we climb, the more clearly we realize that no one is wise on her or his own, but only from the Lord. We also realize that relative to what we do not know, what we do know is like a droplet compared to a vast lake. The twelve steps to the palace of wisdom mean whatever is good united to what is true and whatever is true united to what is good. Divine Providence, #36. NCE
“The beginning” includes the first period of regeneration too, as that is when people are being born anew and receiving life. Because of this, regeneration itself is called our new creation. …
Before regeneration a person is called the void, empty earth, and also soil in which no seed of goodness or truth has been planted. Void refers to an absence of goodness and empty to an absence of truth. The result is darkness, in which a person is oblivious to or ignorant of anything having to do with faith in the Lord and consequently with a spiritual or heavenly life. …
Heavenly Secrets, parts of #16-17. NCE
Genesis 1 (New International Version)
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
From Swedenborg
I have talked with angels about wisdom on occasion, and they have told me that wisdom is union with the Lord because the Lord is wisdom itself. They have told me that they attain this union when they banish hell from themselves, and that the union is in direct proportion to the banishment.
They picture wisdom, they said, as a wonderfully elegant palace with twelve steps leading up to it. No one gets to the step except with the Lord’s help and by union with him, and for all of us, the ascent depends on that union. The higher we climb, the more clearly we realize that no one is wise on her or his own, but only from the Lord. We also realize that relative to what we do not know, what we do know is like a droplet compared to a vast lake. The twelve steps to the palace of wisdom mean whatever is good united to what is true and whatever is true united to what is good. Divine Providence, #36. NCE
“The beginning” includes the first period of regeneration too, as that is when people are being born anew and receiving life. Because of this, regeneration itself is called our new creation. …
Before regeneration a person is called the void, empty earth, and also soil in which no seed of goodness or truth has been planted. Void refers to an absence of goodness and empty to an absence of truth. The result is darkness, in which a person is oblivious to or ignorant of anything having to do with faith in the Lord and consequently with a spiritual or heavenly life. …
Heavenly Secrets, parts of #16-17. NCE
Message
That Magical Moment
That Magical Moment
10- 9- 8- 7- 6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1
The ball drops! You kiss someone you love… open the champaign … sing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Did you watch the ball drop from Times Square in New York City this past Wednesday night? I don’t think I’ve ever missed watching that ball drop at midnight on Dec. 31st in the Eastern time zone.
Commentators on TV said things like: “Thank goodness 2008 is gone. It was a miserable year for a lot of us. Now we have a fresh start with a brand new year!” I find that reassuring and hopeful.
I always feel that way about the start of a new year. Whatever I didn’t like about my self last year is history. Whatever I was in 2008 doesn’t have defined who I am in 2009. It’s a great sense of liberation and affirmation of the capacity to change.
It’s an amazing yearly ritual that has a lot of meaning for many of us. Every New Year’s Eve I put together my resolutions for the coming year… and try to remember the ones I made the year before.
Yet; 2008 existed just seconds before the ball dropped announcing 2009. Can we really make resolutions that change ourselves dramatically in those seconds?
Of course, we can become different in an instant. That's all it takes to open one's heart to the Divine energy ever flowing into us.
I believe that with our willingness and God’s transformative power, we can make resolutions that, within seconds, start us on a new path.
So, given that God and we can transform ourselves so that at 12:01 AM on January 1st, we are different from whom we were at 11:59 on Dec. 31st, why can’t that happen in ANY moment? Why just that one? Isn't God’s transformation available to us in any moment? Can our mind see a ball dropping at any old moment that we are ready to transform?
Absolutely! We don't have to wait for New Year's Eve and the ball on Times Square to become different in an instant.
The process of transformation can begin in a moment. However, Swedenborg tells us that continuing this process is a life-long journey. How many resolutions from past New Years became forgotten in your life? Most of us have given up on resolutions that were unrealistic, or we weren't ready to undertake. But when we are ready to change, we start walking a path that contains many steps.
Swedenborg explained this pathway of spiritual growth by using the story of the Creation of the world. Swedeborg tells us that a deeper meaning of the story is about our own spiritual journey. Each of the 6 days of creation is another aspect of a transformative process.
In 2009, our worship focus will be on this process of spiritual transformation. Swedenborg called it "“regeneration.”
How do we make each day an opportunity for continuing transformation? How do we choose spiritual growth over stagnation in our lives? We’ll look at how the Divine actually works with us and within us to create us anew in our oneness with God and all of creation.
For January and February, we’ll look at Swedenborg’s first stage of regeneration which is the deeper meaning of the first day of creation.
That first day is described this way in Heavenly Secrets:
Before regeneration a person is called the void, empty earth, and also soil in which no seed of goodness or truth has been planted.. Void refers to an absence of goodness and empty to an absence of truth. The result is darkness, in which a person is oblivious to or ignorant of anything having to do with faith in the Lord and consequently with a spiritual or heavenly life. …
Heavenly Secrets, parts of #16-17. NCE
Our "Spiritual Movie" for January and February is "Regarding Henry." It shows us a dramatic example of beginning the rebirth of transformation. Henry is a highly-successful and well-to-do attorney. He races through his life with a focus on his career; we see his shallow relationships with his family and friends. We note his lack of moral judgement in his work.
Henry stops in a convenience store one day, to find that he has interrupted a robbery. He attempts to avoid getting involved, but the robber turns and shoots at Henry; hitting him in the head.
He is in a coma for days, causing tremendous fear in his family. Then -- it is a miracle -- he awakens!
The question is, though: just who is it that awakens?
It is not the Henry who existed before he was shot. It is a Self that Henry had never met. In fact, the new self is created daily with Divine energy.
The movie is an incredible account of the day-by-day journey to salvage a life in ruins; coming to terms with who he is to himself, to the world, and to family and friends.
It is a "rebirth" as Swedenborg described it.
The new "Reader's Guide" to Heavenly Secrets notes that the stage just prior to rebirth can be one of devastation; a stage called "the dark night of soul" by St. John of the Cross, and others in Christian mystical history.
Before we can learn what is true and be affected by what is good, the things that stand in the way and resist have to be put aside. The old self must die before the new self can be conceived.” [footnote #36 on page 602.]
Henry's story is about losing all that he is; and then becoming transformed with God into a new being.
It is also the story of each of us in our own lives. Are there times that you have felt so beaten down by life that you don't even know who you are? Through the writings of Swedenborg ... and of teachers from many religious traditions ... we'll explore how we can work with God to make those times into a rebirth.
The ball drops! You kiss someone you love… open the champaign … sing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Did you watch the ball drop from Times Square in New York City this past Wednesday night? I don’t think I’ve ever missed watching that ball drop at midnight on Dec. 31st in the Eastern time zone.
Commentators on TV said things like: “Thank goodness 2008 is gone. It was a miserable year for a lot of us. Now we have a fresh start with a brand new year!” I find that reassuring and hopeful.
I always feel that way about the start of a new year. Whatever I didn’t like about my self last year is history. Whatever I was in 2008 doesn’t have defined who I am in 2009. It’s a great sense of liberation and affirmation of the capacity to change.
It’s an amazing yearly ritual that has a lot of meaning for many of us. Every New Year’s Eve I put together my resolutions for the coming year… and try to remember the ones I made the year before.
Yet; 2008 existed just seconds before the ball dropped announcing 2009. Can we really make resolutions that change ourselves dramatically in those seconds?
Of course, we can become different in an instant. That's all it takes to open one's heart to the Divine energy ever flowing into us.
I believe that with our willingness and God’s transformative power, we can make resolutions that, within seconds, start us on a new path.
So, given that God and we can transform ourselves so that at 12:01 AM on January 1st, we are different from whom we were at 11:59 on Dec. 31st, why can’t that happen in ANY moment? Why just that one? Isn't God’s transformation available to us in any moment? Can our mind see a ball dropping at any old moment that we are ready to transform?
Absolutely! We don't have to wait for New Year's Eve and the ball on Times Square to become different in an instant.
The process of transformation can begin in a moment. However, Swedenborg tells us that continuing this process is a life-long journey. How many resolutions from past New Years became forgotten in your life? Most of us have given up on resolutions that were unrealistic, or we weren't ready to undertake. But when we are ready to change, we start walking a path that contains many steps.
Swedenborg explained this pathway of spiritual growth by using the story of the Creation of the world. Swedeborg tells us that a deeper meaning of the story is about our own spiritual journey. Each of the 6 days of creation is another aspect of a transformative process.
In 2009, our worship focus will be on this process of spiritual transformation. Swedenborg called it "“regeneration.”
How do we make each day an opportunity for continuing transformation? How do we choose spiritual growth over stagnation in our lives? We’ll look at how the Divine actually works with us and within us to create us anew in our oneness with God and all of creation.
For January and February, we’ll look at Swedenborg’s first stage of regeneration which is the deeper meaning of the first day of creation.
That first day is described this way in Heavenly Secrets:
Before regeneration a person is called the void, empty earth, and also soil in which no seed of goodness or truth has been planted.. Void refers to an absence of goodness and empty to an absence of truth. The result is darkness, in which a person is oblivious to or ignorant of anything having to do with faith in the Lord and consequently with a spiritual or heavenly life. …
Heavenly Secrets, parts of #16-17. NCE
Our "Spiritual Movie" for January and February is "Regarding Henry." It shows us a dramatic example of beginning the rebirth of transformation. Henry is a highly-successful and well-to-do attorney. He races through his life with a focus on his career; we see his shallow relationships with his family and friends. We note his lack of moral judgement in his work.
Henry stops in a convenience store one day, to find that he has interrupted a robbery. He attempts to avoid getting involved, but the robber turns and shoots at Henry; hitting him in the head.
He is in a coma for days, causing tremendous fear in his family. Then -- it is a miracle -- he awakens!
The question is, though: just who is it that awakens?
It is not the Henry who existed before he was shot. It is a Self that Henry had never met. In fact, the new self is created daily with Divine energy.
The movie is an incredible account of the day-by-day journey to salvage a life in ruins; coming to terms with who he is to himself, to the world, and to family and friends.
It is a "rebirth" as Swedenborg described it.
The new "Reader's Guide" to Heavenly Secrets notes that the stage just prior to rebirth can be one of devastation; a stage called "the dark night of soul" by St. John of the Cross, and others in Christian mystical history.
Before we can learn what is true and be affected by what is good, the things that stand in the way and resist have to be put aside. The old self must die before the new self can be conceived.” [footnote #36 on page 602.]
Henry's story is about losing all that he is; and then becoming transformed with God into a new being.
It is also the story of each of us in our own lives. Are there times that you have felt so beaten down by life that you don't even know who you are? Through the writings of Swedenborg ... and of teachers from many religious traditions ... we'll explore how we can work with God to make those times into a rebirth.
CLOSING SONG
Blackbird
sung by Carly Simon
sung by Carly Simon
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise, oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise, oh
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Now extinguish your candle 
And close the Bible. 
Go forth; knowing that you and God are creating you anew every moment.
Sunday Afternoon Video
Movie for Jan.- Feb.
Regarding Henry
Movie selection for Jan. and Feb.
Website about movie
Review from Spirituality & Practice
Discussion Guide from Spirituality & Practice
Rent or purchase from Amazon.com
Trailer for Regarding Henry
Sunday Afternoon Video
Movie for Jan.- Feb.
Regarding Henry
Movie selection for Jan. and Feb.
Website about movie
Review from Spirituality & Practice
Discussion Guide from Spirituality & Practice
Rent or purchase from Amazon.com
Trailer for Regarding Henry
Parts of the Movie on Utube
Part I
Part I
Part II
Downloads
| Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| That Magical Moment |
01/04/2009
|
|
