Bryn Athyn College Alumni Magazine Fall/Winter 2017-18 | Page 21

Phyllis said, “Your course, Rise Above it, is just
what my husband Garth would have wanted.”
Ray and Star gratefully received the prize,
which they promptly used to hire a graphic
designer, get the book published, and order
their first shipment.
Within two years, their book had sold
over 5,000 copies. Many books went to people
in the New Church, while others went to ne w
places. For example, the director of prison
chaplains in South Carolina ordered books
for every prison chaplain in the state. Dur-
ing this time, Ray became a professor at Bryn
Athyn College.
Bringing the Ten Commandments to the
z
College
In 2001, Ray had been teaching religion at
Bryn Athyn College for three years and felt
ready to bring the course to the college stu-
dents. It seemed like a natural fit. In fact,
prominent spiritual educators had begun to
recognize the book’s potential for use in aca-
demic settings.
Harvey Cox, professor of religion at Har-
vard Divinity School said, “For the first time
to my knowledge this book brings the an-
cient wisdom of the Ten Commandments to
bear on the college experience. The result is
a kind of guidebook on how to look beneath
the daily round of classes and seminars to see
the spiritual core of what for many of us turns
out to be the most unforgettable period in our
lives.”
Echoing this sentiment, Rev. James F.
Lawrence, Ph.D., Dean of the Center for Swe-
denborgian Studies said, “Rise Above It enters
the rare company of the best works emphasiz-
ing praxis through the keeping of a journal
to record and concretely engage numerous
lessons arising from the expanse of spiritual
meanings within the Ten Commandments.”
After using the text with his graduate
students, Rev. Lawrence reported that “the
methodology of Rise Above It assures each par-
ticipant a far greater personal yield in daily
living than they would normally extract and
apply from spiritual study.” He added, “Stu-
dents love the more profound and penetrat-
ing analysis of each commandment than what
Ray and Star
on the day of their
baptism into the
New Church, May
3, 1980. Star is six
months pregnant
with twins Aria
and Skyler.
IT STARTED WITH LOVE
When Ray met his soon-to-be-wife, Star, in the 1970s, the two
found themselves in a vulnerable, yet hopeful state. They had
witnessed and experienced the heartbreak of relationships
that lack a spiritual foundation—both in their families and in
their own personal relationships. They craved something radi-
cally different: a loving relationship that would bring out the
best in one another. Excited to learn more about this idea, and
share this vision with others, they decided to write a book to-
gether on “eternal marriage.”
While researching the topic in a small library in Eau Claire Wis-
consin, Ray and Star came across a book called Conjugial Love
by Emanuel Swedenborg and said, “This is it!” Ray explained, “I
remember opening the book to a passage about a couple who
had been married for thousands of years. Thousands of years!
And the passage went on to describe the way the two were
becoming unified over time. My jaw just dropped.”
Soon after discovering Conjugial Love, Ray and Star found a
Swedenborgian church in Massachusetts where they contin-
ued their research. Ray said, “The more we read and learned
about Swedenborg, the more we saw that the kind of true love
described in Conjugial Love depended on following the Lord
and keeping the Ten Commandments. We realized we needed
to really learn and study them.” For the next four decades, even
while raising seven children, that is what they have continued
to do. Star said, “This religion and its teachings are incredible.
Learning more deeply about the Ten Commandments has
changed our lives.”
Ray and Star Silverman live in
Meadowbrook, Pennsylvania. Ray
has a Ph.D. in English and education
(University of Michigan), a Master of
Arts in teaching (Wesleyan University)
and a Master of Divinity (Bryn Athyn
College Theological School). Star
has an Master of Arts in education
from the University of Denver.
B RY N AT H Y N A LU M N I M AG A Z I N E
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