new church life: jan uary/february 2015
eternal gifts that the Lord offers to all.
“Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”
(Revelation 19:9)
The Rev. David H. Lindrooth was ordained in 1990 and into the
second degree in 1992. He has served as acting pastor in Stockholm,
Sweden; assistant pastor in Tucson, Arizona; and pastor of the
Ivyland New Church in Ivyland, Pennsylvania. He is director of
General Church Outreach and serves as the Bishop’s Representative
for Outreach. He and his wife, Aven (Pendleton), live in Bryn Athyn.
Contact: [email protected].
O U R N E W C H U RC H V O C A B U L A R Y
Part of a continuing series developed by the Rev. W. Cairns Henderson, 1961-1966.
CONATUS
This word means “endeavor” and is often so rendered in English translations of the
Writings. In every affection and thought, indeed in every natural thing, there is something
spiritual – a constant effort inflowing from the spiritual world to come forth and subsist by
ultimating itself in forms of use; one which seeks to do so by setting in action the necessary
active and reactive forces. This effort is what is meant by “conatus.” It is not force or motion,
but that which animates force and through it initiates motion; and if it fails, activity and
motion cease.
In man, conatus is the will united with the understanding; living forces are the motor
fibers; and motion is action. The spiritual world is therefore the world of conatus and the
natural the world of motion. (See Arcana Coelestia 5173: 2-3, 8911; Divine Love and Wisdom
218, 219)
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