new church life: november/december 2015
and the first of the five laws of providence is that we must always be free to act
from reason. One familiar example of how this works in our lives is the “rules
of the road.” When we obey them, we move about freely. If people just did what
they wanted, acted “freely,” stopped driving in proper lanes and obeying traffic
signals, we would have chaos, frustration, danger – hell.
As the booklet for Living Gratefully notes, when we are in the flow of the
Lord’s providence – when we put our trust in Him, devote ourselves to serving
Him and our neighbor, and feel His constant presence in our lives – that is
when we feel happiness and should most feel gratitude.
This Journey is all about cultivating that awareness of the Lord’s daily
presence and leading with us, and developing an attitude of gratitude.
A favorite number of many a New Church man and woman is Arcana
Coelestia 8455: “Peace has within it confidence in the Lord, that He directs all
things, and provides all things, and that He leads to an end that is good.”
That is happiness. It is not something we achieve as a goal but feel as
a byproduct of being with the Lord in a life of serv ice. And that is “living
gratefully,” realizing that everything that is good in our lives – everything – is
from the Lord’s love and care for us.
Living gratefully says: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me
bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
(Psalm 103:1,2)
(BMH)
rejoining what man had put asunder
In His first advent, by means of continual temptations and continual victories,
culminating in His death on the cross and His resurrection from the tomb, the
Lord joined together the Divine and the Human in Himself. In Him, they were
united in a Divine and eternal marriage, and all were invited to “the marriage
supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9)
What this means and how it was accomplished is fully explained (as fully
as it can be to our natural minds) in the Writings of the New Church. The
simple truth of it, though, is contained in His prophetic statement, “I and My
Father are One.” (John 10:30)
But what God joined together, man put asunder. Not actually, of course,
but in the erroneous doctrine of the Trinity, which divided God and Jesus,
along with the Holy Spirit, into three separate Divine Persons who somehow
make one God.
This confusing paradox obscured the idea of God in the minds of
Christians and left them with a “mystery” which they were told we’re not
meant to understand, only believe. There will always be an element of mystery
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