Pastor's Message

A February Focus

The midpoint of winter can be a time of stillness and reflection. Certainly in the Northeast, we spend much time indoors and, with the difficulty of travel, we have more hours for solitary pursuits.  How we spend our winter can have a deep influence on our spiritual journey.  The earth is cold and dark much of the time. Are you feeling icy towards others or gloomy in spirit? Perhaps your focus is on what you are not able to do, instead of what this season can inspire in you.  It is true that the ‘bleak mid-winter’ is not time for many of the pleasures of warm weather and long daytime hours, but it is still a part of the cycle of earthly life that holds within it many opportunities for inner growth.

Deep within the earth are seeds safely awaiting the new growth of spring and animals sleeping quietly in hibernation.  If we apply Emanuel Swedenborg’s theology of correspondences to the material realities of winter, and look for what this ‘corresponds’ to in ourselves, we know that we have thoughts, which correspond to seeds, and feelings, which correspond to animals, dormant within us. During the winter is the time for us to reflect on what seeds (or thoughts) and what animals (or feelings) are awaiting a time of new growth when the spring arrives.  In our reflections, we have the time of solitude and indoor activities, to ponder along with the Lord, asking and praying for the guidance that we need to begin the process of nurturing these inner experiences.

Some of the seedlings of thought and emergence of sleeping feelings will need to await the greater warmth and light of spring, others might be ready to be gently awoken during the winter, like seedlings grown in a cold frame. After all, the seed catalogs are already mailed out, and gardeners everywhere remind us that we need time to plan for the new years growth!  Indeed, like the gathering of gardeners to discuss the spring plantings, many of us have similar ponderings and we can help each other by nurturing our new ideas and motivations together.  Perhaps some of these statements resonate with you.

• I don’t know what to think about current events.
• I have questions about my work in the world.
• I feel unsettled about my finances and how the future will unfold.
• I am discouraged in some of my relationships.
• I wish I felt closer to the Lord in my daily living.

Spiritual communities are the ‘cold frames’ for the seedlings of thought and the ‘nurseries’ for the infancy of feelings that emerge from deep within us.  The pondering on the thoughts and feelings that are reaching out for the light and warmth of our conscious awareness can lead us to reach out to a community of others with whom we can explore and discover. In both the inner experience of pondering with the Lord, and the external experience of being in community with others, we can find the deeper meaning in our questions, as well as some answers. As you ponder your questions with the Lord, think about how this spiritual community could gather to explore together. The February focus of the church is the question; what small groups should we start, and only you can tell us.

 

What is the New Church?

The New Church is a Christian faith that believes that The Bible contains an inner meaning that provides guidance for our modern life. The New Church also believes that people of all faiths can be saved by doing good.

Why is the New Church also called Swedenborgian?

Because Emanuel Swedenborg—a Swedish scientist, philosopher, mystic and theologian—set out the theology of the New Church is a series of publications.

How can I learn more?

Ask the pastor.