The Death of the Fear of Death

Erica vividly describes the path of her life. She shares a delicate awareness gained firsthand - the resolution to an abiding question - what is death, and must I fear it? -Editor.

As a child, while most little girls were learning how to tie their shoes and walk to school by themselves, I was busy working on a more distressing task: figuring out what happens when we die. I developed the awareness very early that I would not exist forever in my current form. I was young, healthy and growing, without ever knowing anyone who died, so this existential question was slightly unexpected. I cannot identify the exact moment I was hit by this painful and terrorizing realization (and it truly felt like a blow), but I can remember staying up countless nights, trying to determine the answer. What would happen after my body ceased to exist? When the sun blew out, how could I ever come back to life if there was no habitable planet for me? What did infinity and forever look like, and how was it possible that my whole life was just a small blip on the radar screen of eternity?

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What Art has to do with Faith

Ayisha reflects on how the tenets of the New Church have yet to be fully embodied in forms of art. She ponders how these images may augment our experience of God. What are we waiting for? -Editor.

There's an idea out there that heaven is dull. In fact, I can quote someone on it: “I dunno. Heaven just always seems kinda boring to me. Like, who'd wanna go there?”

It's an understandable view, given traditional interpretations of heaven. Take a person with a Christian-ish background, who has a good work ethic and a general zest for life. If their view of heaven is an expectation that they will be sexless, living to eternity playing a harp on a cloud, with a pair of wings that excludes them from small human luxuries like tree-climbing and sleeping on their backs, then it would be no wonder if their desire for heaven were only an obedient one. They feel they ought to want to go to heaven, but they may dread it in reality.

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Do You Think the World Will End in Your Lifetime? Part 2

In part two (part one may be found here) Judah looks at the bible for evidence of the resurrection being either an absolutely material event, as Millennialists would have it, or a spiritual reality apart from time and space. Judah finds confirmation of the latter, supported by Swedenborg's vision of a concrete spiritual world. -Editor

Why celebrate New Church Day? What makes the New Church different from any other Christian group? I could compare New Church ideas and practices with a variety of other faith traditions in an effort to explain why it is unique, but you’re probably familiar with the results of such a comparison: the New Church believes in a one-person rather than a three-person God; it teaches a life of repentance; it proclaims that heaven’s gates are open to all good people everywhere, whatever their race, their culture, or their religion. But instead of broadly pointing out the teachings that set apart (or at least define) the New Church, I would like to follow up my previous article on the end of the world by contrasting a New Church view of human resurrection with that of Dispensational Premillennialism. I hope this little study gives you a small but specific sense of how an approach shaped by New Church teachings can revitalize Biblical study—and transform the prospect of death into a balanced hope for an afterlife that is at once concrete and spiritual, at once present and future, and entirely grounded in a personal approach to Jesus Christ in sacred scripture.

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Mythbusting: Talking With Spirits. Part 3

In the final entry in his three part series Todd questions how members of a church based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg could harbor as much fear about contact with spirits as the New Church seems to. He examines communicating with the other world from a fresh perspective. Follow these links to find part 1 and part 2. - Editor.

So if communication between the natural and spiritual worlds is to be open again with the New Church, why do most General Church people that I know think that any spirit contact must be an evil spirit contact, whereas new age folks generally regard them as “spirit guides” or “helpers.” So which is it? Sorry for the non-answer, but for now I think there is both. I figure it just depends on you, and what spirits you are attracting by your thoughts and your life.

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Mythbusting: Talking With Spirits. Part 2

We return to part two of this this three part series where Todd questions how members of a church based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg could harbor as much fear about contact with spirits as the New Church seems to. He examines communicating with the other world from a fresh perspective. Find the opening essay here. - Editor.

Speed limits in the USA are designed to be safe for everybody. Even a poor driver can navigate the road safely at the set speed limit. The Writings take a similar approach when it comes to communication with spirits. They say, “Don’t do it” because if you don’t do it, you’re certain not to crash. Evil spirits are out there trying to destroy you, so why take the chance. Seems logical.

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Help My Unbelief

Abby examines the role of belief in her life, especially as it relates to life after death. She suggests that in bringing her focus away from a literal interpretation of the Word, and by applying the Word to her inner life, she is better able to connect with a belief in an omnipotent God. This is the third essay in our series on doubt, the opening essay is available here. -Editor

Between reading Jennica’ s article and hearing a sermon about belief I have been thinking a lot about faith, doubt, and what it means to believe in God. How does my belief in God affect my life? How does it change it on a day to day basis? How do I change my life (habits and behaviors) because I believe in God?

I don’t have answers to these questions. I have had some thoughts over the past few weeks that were helpful, but still most of the time I am left wishing that I had more answers. I have some solid rocks that my faith, simple though it seems to me, is built on. One of those rocks is the same as Jennica’ s: marriage, explained by many teachings in the Writings of the New Church. Another is a belief in the life after death that settled in for me after my mom died. I still have questions about both of these, but I also feel calm and sure in the essentials of these beliefs.

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