In This Issue
S
adly, suicide, mental illness, grief and tragedy are insistent issues –
throughout our society and in the Church. Within these pages are an
editorial, two sermons, an article and several Life Line items dealing with
these topics. We encourage a useful and doctrinally based discussion among
the clergy and the laity.
In a Palm Sunday sermon – “The Stones Would Immediately Cry Out” –
the Rev. Eric H. Carswell says: “Palm Sunday represents a quality that the Lord
wants in our lives in all we care about, think, speak or do. It represents our
conscious choice to make a path for the Lord to come not just into our own
hearts and minds but that His presence and His blessings may be ever more
present through our choices.” (Page 85)
In a doctrinal presentation the Rev. Michael D. Gladish looks at “What
the Lord Actually Accomplished by His Incarnation” – for us and for Himself.
“When the Lord took on His own natural human body and mind among the
Jews,” he writes, “He Himself was able to bridge the gap between God and the
world. He Himself was able to restore the circuit that was almost broken for
all life on earth.” And He still does this for us: “He subjugates or controls the
hells for us. We don’t. We can’t. But He did and He can – every day.” (Page 91)
How well do we really know Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus?
The Rev. Christopher A. Barber, in a comprehensive study, says that seeing
Judas as a three-dimensional character offers us a new lens on redemption
– his own and ours. He cites The Word Explained 3158 as a reason for us “to
reconsider everything we know about Judas. If there is hope for Judas, then
there is hope for us.” (Page 103)
The Rev. David C. Roth offers a sermon “In Support of Mental and
Spiritual Health,” which came in response to a recent suicide in the Church.
He was greatly saddened by this and “left with the realization that we need to
turn up the light [on mental health issues]. To turn it up very brightly. To turn
it up so brightly that hell has nowhere to hide.” (Page 118)
Mr. Roth also wrote a six-step message on “Coping With Grief ” for his
society newsletter in the Boulder (Colorado) New Church which offers helpful
strategies in dealing with grief for anyone who has lost a loved one. (Page 129)
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