A Reflective Church. An Active Church (10/12/24)
Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red as crimson, they shall
be as wool. (Is. 1:18)
This is more than just a general promise of salvation to the one who
abstains from evil. It is a statement about the need for reflection which should accompany the shunning of evil acts and consequent purifying of our life, or as we are also taught: “Thought has a purifying and purging effect upon [ancestral] evil.” (Swedenborg, True Christianity 659)
Reasoning together with God is to reflect or meditate from the Lord on the Divinely loving and wise way we are cared for; to reflect from the Word upon the Word; to increasingly realize how individual and intimate our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ really is; and to see
more and more clearly the real nature and purpose of our life. That is how we gradually develop a constant and living awareness of the closeness and reality of the spiritual world, and of ourselves as citizens of that realm.
This is not something we can achieve overnight, and it does not come all by itself. Conscious effort and regular practice is necessary, as with an infant when they gradually learn to stand and then finally walk. External demands
on our time, attention, and energy distract and exhaust our minds, presenting obstacles that often seem insurmountable. [Yes, we must rise above] the environment in which we live for starters...
But if we honestly assess the routine or pattern of our daily life it will become evident that it is possible to find the time to lift our minds from the worldly and bodily things and turn our thoughts to higher and eternal ones. Not every day perhaps, not for too long, but it is not impossible, and it is essential for our spiritual development. As we strive to do this [our God] conjoins
with us, dispersing our delusions and inspiring the understanding [part of our mind] with a genuine vision of the truth as bright and brilliant as snow, purifying our loves from base desires, filling them with an innocence as pure and soft as fine wool.
As individuals and as a flock we must be a reading [praying, and listening] church…and an active church, combating outer evils and performing our useful services faithfully. But we must also be a reflecting or meditating
church, for without this the other things have no lasting effect. It is our lot during life on earth to live and move in the lowlands and valleys; but we must not become so immersed in the external activities, demands, and cares that we forget to lift our eyes to the mountains of the Lord's heavenly kingdom, for that is our true home. That is where our help comes from! (ABM, NCL 1982)
