New Church Perspective

Friday

Jul302010

Living on a High

Friday, July 30, 2010

Angela Cockerell digests her experience of hosting the recent Soccer World Cup in South Africa. With her country in the world's spotlight, it is easy to feel strong feelings — both negative and positive — about her homeland. Angela shares her shifting attitude towards South Africa as it successfully hosted the first Soccer World Cup on African soil. -Editor

I was one of South Africa's biggest cynics during our build up to the 2010 Soccer Wold Cup. I was convinced that we would NEVER be able to pull it off. Our roads would never be ready, our airport was nowhere near ready, our stadium was still just a shell and the service was appalling! Every time I went out I was met with a long journey due to the roads being dug up, traffic lights out of order and unfriendly cashiers in the shops. We still had loads of crime, beggars, including child beggars, at every traffic light and corporate strikes.

Each day I was told new glum news by other cynics that would make me even less of a believer. Things like: No-one is coming from overseas, If we get 500 000 tourists for this World Cup we will be doing very well! We will NEVER be ready. Wonder how many tourists will be murdered?

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Snap-Shots of Marriage

Lori Odhner |

Friday, July 23, 2010

In one of her recent, daily "Marriage Moats," Lori Odhner responds to the mystery and questions prompted by Caleb Kerr's photography. In thinking about stories told by photographs, Lori shares her growing view of marriage and its dynamic nature. -Editor

My personal feelings about photography have changed. Drastically.

I used to want only photos of my own children, clean, cute, and facing the camera. Now I think that is vanilla. Pictures like that mark the end of a scene... the one in which I struggled to comb and coax, lick stray strands into place, and hush rebellion into submission. Ta-da. Click.

Not only that, I was incredibly ego centric. I wanted the snapshots to tell about my progeny, and how they reflected well on me.

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Epiphany: A Lived Wisdom

Angela Heldon |

Friday, July 16, 2010

Angela Heldon tells an optimistic tale of hope and healing. While recounting her experiences battling Ulcerative Colitis, Angela shares her reflections and inspiration about the Lord's guidance and purpose in leading her through this challenging journey toward physical health. Originally published in 2008. -Editor

I had an epiphany. All the links seemed to come together all at once as I was on my run this morning. The condition I have, called Ulcerative Colitis (chronic inflammation of the large intestine), deemed incurable by the medical profession, has been with me for over six and a half years. It’s been a long yet wonderful journey which still has many chapters I'm sure, yet now the reasons for this healing process make a lot of sense to me.

I believe the sensations in our body are one way the Lord uses to communicate with us; this has played a huge part in my condition.

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Friday

Jul092010

It Will Not Be So Among You

Isaac Synnestvedt |

Friday, July 9, 2010

With excitement and urgency, Isaac Synnestvedt asks the reader to consider the Lord's powerful and present rule in this world and in the lives of all individuals. He considers the difference between useful and destructive loves of ruling. Finally, Isaac leads the reader to consider the amazing blessings in store when we “persist in charity against all odds.” -Editor.

In actual fact heavenly blessedness does not consist in wishing to have dominion and to be served by others but in wishing to serve others and to be the least, as the Lord teaches.... (Arcana Coelestia 6393:2)

Can our love and good works be filled with the glory of the Lord? Yes! if we prepare ourselves and receive Him. Can we shine from our hearts and rule nations and peoples in the presence of the mighty God of the universe? Yes! The nations we will rule are the affections of good flowing in continually from heaven that we will form into beautiful vessels receptive of life according to our art and skill. The peoples we will govern are the tools of thought and reflection that we will use with intelligence and increasing knowledge to shape our offerings of service. This humble rule will be ours as we turn away from any desire to exercise external compulsion of our neighbors' words or actions. We shall inherit our thrones as we decline the invitation to control our neighbors.

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Friday

Jul022010

Does God Have a Sense of Humor?

Coleman Glenn |

Friday, July 2, 2010

Do you have to be boring in order to be good? This week Coleman Glenn wonders if God has a sense of humor... and what God's sense of humor might imply about human joking. Coleman acknowledges some gray area in distinguishing appropriate and inappropriate humor but works towards his own conclusion. -Editor

A person may frequent places of amusement, talk about the affairs of the world, and need not go about like a devotee with a sad and sorrowful countenance and drooping head, but may be joyful and cheerful. (Heaven and Hell 358)

Some persons from habit, and some from contempt, make use in familiar conversation of the things contained in Holy Scripture as an aid or formula for jokes and ridicule, thinking that doing so makes these more pointed. But such things of Scripture when thus thought and spoken add themselves to their corporeal and filthy ideas, and in the other life bring upon them much harm; for they return together with the profane things. (Arcana Coelestia 961)

Does God have a sense of humor? In the New Church we worship a Human God – and it seems hard to imagine someone who is truly human lacking a sense of humor. On the other hand, there is no story in the Word where the Lord tells a joke or laughs at one; there is nothing that explicitly says He does have a sense of humor.

That’s the first question I want to address in this article. The second is related, but not identical: if God does have a sense of humor, does that mean it’s okay to make jokes about Him or about the Word? Maybe you can tell from the tone of the question that I think the answer is “no.” But I’ll get to that in a bit.

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