New Church Life Mar/Apr 2015 | Page 7

Editorials ‘all things new’ Springtime is the perfect metaphor for Easter. As spring struggles between the lingering chill of winter and the promise of a warming sun, we celebrate the ultimate triumph of new life springing out of barren ground – and the resurrection of the Lord that we might have eternal life also. We welcome the snowdrops, the crocuses and daffodils that light up the landscape and our hearts. And we long for deliverance from cold realities – our own temptations, the decline in our culture, the growing secularism and abject evil in the world. Easter offers hope – for each of us and for the world. In roiling debates over morality and faith, situational ethics and political correctness, we are challenged to elevate our minds. While it is discouraging that so many people seem to be worshipping at the altars of technology and materialism, there is a growing spiritual hunger throughout the world for something true and good to believe in and live by. We see it in the growth of the international New Church, in the wave of Christianity penetrating such spiritual wastelands as China, in the millions of people all over the world seeking answers to spiritual questions and landing on Swedenborgian websites, in the many ways we are re-energizing our own societies. Just as winter gives way to the crowning glory of spring, we see the fall of mankind, which brought the Lord into the world, and the temptations He suffered which challenge us as well – all of it come full bloom in the hope and promise of salvation. Even the darkest day of the Lord’s life on earth – His crucifixion – offers the ultimate hope of resurrection and heaven for us all. Indeed, the Lord’s willingness to undergo the most extreme temptation – not just the pain and ignominy of the crucifixion but the attack on what He cared about most, the salvation of the human race – speaks to His abiding love. The eternal message of Easter is repeated in the vision in Revelation 21 of the Holy City New Jerusalem descending from heaven, of God being ever with us and wiping away every tear, with no more death, crying or pain, for: “Behold, I make all things new.” 117