New Church Life November/ December 2015 | Page 82

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 628