new church life: jan uary / february 201 4
becoming angels.
And be reminded that there were no angels created such from the
beginning, but angels come from this human race. And the Lord’s purpose is
“a heaven consisting of people who have become or who are becoming angels.”
(Divine Providence 27) You are “becoming.” Your time here is a starting point.
The purpose of this educational process is to prepare and launch you on a
heavenly path. It is to open up your minds so you can see the wonders of this
world, the variety of human states, and how spiritual truths are present and
make natural things alive.
This means that if you leave this institution with an extensive amount
of knowledge and don’t see how the Lord is present and leading in it, the
Academy has failed. If you leave this institution with skills but do not use them
to benefit the world, the Academy has failed. And if you leave this institution
self-centered and not caring about your fellow human beings, the Academy
has failed.
I say the Academy has failed. But in the last analysis, it is really up to
you. We can’t, nor would we want to, force you to think or act in one specific
way. We certainly will point the way, directing you to spiritual and natural
information, and encouraging a life that leads to genuine good. This is our
charge, seen in our Charter, to establish a New Church on earth. Then it is up
to you.
We hope, no trust, that you will freely and rationally respond. You will
use what you have been given to fulfil the Lord’s purpose for you. As you do
this, you become the Academy – one with our Charter purposes, one with our
faculty and alumni, and one with the Lord: a heaven from the human race.
The Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith is Executive Bishop of the General
Church and Chancellor of the Academy of the New Church. He
was ordained in 1976, into the second degree of the ministry
in 1978, and into the third degree in 2004. He and his wife,
Gretchen (Umberger), live in Bryn Athyn.
[email protected]
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