and truth. For example, I’ve had great satisfaction from serving on the Board
of Trustees of the Academy of the New Church, the parent institution of Bryn
Athyn College.
I always had a love for the school, but after I graduated and moved away,
I wasn’t all that involved. Then, about seven years ago, I received a call asking
if I would join the Board. It wasn’t terribly convenient: I had a new baby and
lived thousands of miles away. But I was worried about how the schools were
doing – I knew that they were running large deficits and I didn’t see how that
was going to stop – so I took a deep breath and thought that if I wanted all
the good things about the schools to continue it was time for me to step up. It
was time to combine into a use my knowledge about schools and law (and my
willingness to buckle down and learn a bunch of other stuff) with my love for
the school.
I’m not going to claim any of the credit for what has happened at Bryn
Athyn College and the rest of the Academy over the past seven years. But I am
so proud of what the faculty, administration, donors, leadership and students
have accomplished. And I hope that my service on the Board and advice on
legal matters have helped.
In reading about good and truth, I looked at Arcana Coelestia. In number
2258, Swedenborg writes that Divine truth is judgment and Divine good is
mercy. Reading this took me back to living in New York after 9/11.
I was lucky – even though my office was very near the World Trade Center,
I didn’t lose anyone I knew at the towers. But it was still an unsettled, disturbed
time for the whole city. Like most New Yorkers, I wanted there to be something
I could do to help, but there wasn’t really that much.
I spent some time at the big assistance center at pier 94, helping people fill
out requests for death certificates. I figured that lawyers can help with forms,
although I had second thoughts when they told us during training that we
absolutely could not cry. (“Not crying” is not really part of my core skill set.)
The assistance center was an
incredible example of what can
happen when you combine good and
truth – so many people combining
their love for their neighbors and
their knowledge of how to provide
help created an amazing resource for
people.
Anyway, one of the things that
was off-kilter was that the subways
weren’t running like usual, and I
ended up taking a car downtown
Even when things have
gone very wrong, I
believe that using truth
and good to walk humbly
with your God will lead
you to use and happiness.
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