n e w c h u r c h l i f e : j u ly / au g u s t 2 0 1 5
goals, desires and delights? Who among us is comfortable faced with the
undeniable truth that we are, considered by ourselves, nothing but evil, and
that evil isn’t real?
The Lord does not wish for us to see this reality without protection; the
smoke of incense is our protection. By the time the high priest has left and
come back with the blood, the Holy of Holies is full of sweet smoke. The
Heavenly Doctrines explain that the infinite conjoins to the finite, the eternal
with the temporal, through appearances. (Ibid. 220) For example, we perceive
the Divine as something far off like the sun, and like the sun we value the
appearance of distance between ourselves and the Divine even if we know that
distance isn’t real; the Divine is with us here and now.
Filling the Holy of Holies with the smoke of incense is to approach the
celestial state through what the Heavenly Doctrines call “the acceptable
perceptions of worship.” These are our prayers, the adoration of the Lord we
can summon, ideas and goals the Lord can work with despite being obscure.
From our perception of reality, clouded as it is with the appearance or “smoke”
of our own real-ness, we can worship and adore the Lord and ask to be
transformed into heavenly loves without immediately experiencing what that
transformation would feel like. This is like dimly perceiving the Ark of the
Covenant in that curtained room through the sweet-smelling smoke of the
incense. We perceive it is there, but are
protected from the full implications of
what we are perceiving.
We ourselves can spend some time
picturing our day, re-evaluating how we
live our life, and see it, dimly, through
the eyes of heaven: What would your
schedule look like if it was planned by an
angel? What should excite you or bring
you peace? What if you cared only for
the Lord’s truth? A fearless attempt to see
this may make us uncomfortable.
We should not linger long in the Holy
of Holies. The high priest comes out and
uses the holy blood next to cleanse the
Tabernacle, ending with the altar upon
which the sacrifice was originally made.
He then paints the blood on its horns,
the most external part of the a ltar which
is itself the most external item within the
whole Tabernacle site.
Who on earth can
adopt, even for an hour,
the desire to lose their
own goals, desires and
delights? Who among
us is comfortable faced
with the undeniable
truth that we are . . .
nothing but evil, and
that evil isn’t real? The
Lord does not wish for
us to see this reality
without protection.
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