(Edit: I should warn you this post contains some profanity) This evening I went to Wendy’s to grab a quick dinner before going to see Beastly with the high schoolers group. I took my tray to a table and sat down, and after a few seconds a heard a voice from the next table over say, “What the hell are you doing here?” I looked over and saw that it was man sitting at a table with a little girl... Read more
Swedenblogian is active again! After a long hiatus, Susan has started posting again, beginning yesterday with a post entitled “I can’t shut up“. I’m glad she can’t. Susan has described herself as a Catholic fan of Swedenborg, and I love her outside-the-organized-New-Church perspective on the Writings. A little more about her, from a post earlier today: I have Swedenborgian tendencies, but I am in the closet in my real life. Everyone around me is normal, but I always knew I... Read more
It’s fairly often that I hear people say, “Swedenborg never intended to start a church.” For the most part, I think I agree with this statement – he never gathered people to himself, and he never actively encouraged priests or lay people to break away from their denominations to form a new one. Still, I think he may have seen, especially toward the end of his life, that the current denominations weren’t going to accept the revelation that the Lord... Read more
C. Michael Patton has a great series over at Parchment and Pen called “Questions I Hope No One Will Ask.” The latest question he addresses is, “What will we be doing in heaven?” Obviously, as a New Church person, this is the FIRST question I hope to be asked. The Writings have answers – entire books of answers. But of course some people (including Patton) would argue that parts of those answers are unbiblical. He writes, No matter what your... Read more
This is the audio from the sermon I gave yesterday, Sunday, January 30, 2011, at the Olivet New Church in Toronto. (Sorry, I haven’t figured out how to embed it on this new blog – but you can stream it from the New Church Audio site.) The lessons are Exodus 16:1-5,13-15, 31; Mark 6:31-44; and Arcana Coelestia 5405. Although if I had to do it again, I think I’d change the Heavenly Doctrine lesson to Divine Providence 133: The effect,... Read more
I’ve been following the protests in Egypt and praying for the Egyptian people – for their safety, and for a birth of greater freedom. A few passages from the Writings that come to mind: A king who has absolute power, and who believes that his subjects are such slaves that he has a right to their lives and properties, and who exercises this power, is not a king, but a tyrant. (Arcana Coelestia n.10805) When the freedom of speech and... Read more
First of all, welcome to my blog, and welcome to the new site for those who’ve already been following me! I’m excited to work with Patheos – they host several of my favourite blogs (e.g. Jesus Creed, The Deacon’s Bench, The Bible and Culture), and I look forward to getting involved in the conversations that happen at this site. In getting this blog set up, I’ve run into a conundrum that I’ve faced several times before – how do I refer... Read more
I’ve posted before about angels who go to the lower levels of heaven being content with their place, since they are as happy as they can be and don’t wish to be in the higher heavens. I was having a conversation about this recently, and another thought struck me that helped me picture the attitude these angels probably have. Imagine if someone told you that your children would be happier, stronger, more loving people than you. Imagine if they told... Read more
I experienced a lot of grief last year. A lot of people I care about died. It’s been a struggle to stay positive light of the stark realization that everyone dies. I hold on to my faith in life after death, but in times of temptation (if that’s what it is), everything seems lifeless, and I’ve had my fair share of those time over the last year. There’s a passage from the Psalms that describes this whole experience perfectly: “I... Read more
I’m a guest on today’s Chapman Cast podcast with Pearse Frazier and Malcolm Smith, on the topic of New Year’s resolutions. It was my first podcast, and I think you can tell that while they were actually listening to each other and holding a conversation, I was furiously trying to think of what I was going to say next. Still, it was fun, and I’m hoping to do more with them in the future. (We actually recorded two of them... Read more
Good and Truth
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