Those who founded
the Academy were
full of great hope and
optimism. Their hearts
burned with the vision
of a world transformed.
Perhaps the progress
over the last 140 years
has not been as rapid
as they might have
imagined, but there
are those today who
still have the vision
and their hearts still
burn, the world can
still be transformed. It
can be transformed as
those who attend the
schools of the Academy
are transformed; it
can be transformed as
you are transformed,
because, if you are
willing you can become
the agents of change.
areas of our lives. So let us just consider
a couple of examples of particular ways
in which the new revelation has made
it possible to open the eyes with fresh
understanding.
One example is the teachings about
Divine Providence. The New Church
can enter into the understanding of
history, human events and the lives of
individual human beings in terms of
the overarching government of Divine
Providence. But this, you might object,
is not really so new. Surely many
Christians, and indeed many from other
religions as well, believe that God has
a universal government of all these
things. And this is just the point: Many
recognize God’s general government of
the world. But this is like you, strolling
through the forest and noticing a few
trees and flowers. Did you see the vole
tracks?
The Heavenly Doctrine gives us
not only general teachings about the
Lord’s government, it gives us details. It
gives us a series of interconnected laws
describing the way in which the Lord’s
Providence operates. Our eyes are
opened, sometimes to see in exquisite
detail just how these laws come into
play.
Another example is the New
Church teaching about charity toward
the neighbor. It is, we are taught, not so
much the true things known that make
a church but the practice of charity. The
life of religion is to do good. Again,
however, one could point to most of the
major religions in the world for examples
of precepts about the ethical treatment of one’s fellow human beings. Here too,
though, we can return to our analogy and note that everyone delights in fall color,
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