new church life: jan uary/february 2015
But as our reading said, the reality is far more than that. Our thoughts and
our affections spread out, as it were, into neighboring communities. By way
of example, how many of the neighboring towns and communities could you
comfortably drive around? Your knowledge of the roads in the area extends so
far and no farther. Our spirits are just the same. We are in a certain spiritual
space; we know certain things and we love certain things. And then our spirits
extend, as it were, into neighboring communities.
Our “thought spreads out into the communities of spirits and angels
round about” and our “ability to understand and perceive is determined by
its extension into them.” (Arcana Coelestia 6599) “Therefore when a person
is being regenerated his enrichment in good is nothing other than being
introduced into angelic communities, and in this way being joined to them.”
(Ibid. 8794:2)
Is that a confusing idea? It’s basically saying that the spiritual space each
person lives in is based on a certain way of seeing things and on a corresponding
affection for those things you see. Assuming you are a good person, it is a good
and beautiful thing to be where you are. But it is limited. You see things the
way you see them and if people don’t put them the way you see them your
tendency will be to think they are wrong.
A wiser person can stretch his or her mind a bit. He can see that even
though someone doesn’t see it quite the way he does, maybe that person sees
something good that he does not. A wiser person still can extend his or her
thought a nd affection even further. Even though that person may have very
specific personal ideas, his thought extends so broadly that he can understand
many spiritual challenges, and interact effectively with many people.
What does that mean, practically speaking, for someone’s thought to
extend more broadly? It means they can know what to do in more situations
they face. It means they can understand more often why the Lord acts as He
does. It means they can understand and respect others more fully. It means
they can be around people who are different from themselves more easily
because they can see similarities and differences without being threatened or
losing their own sense of identity in the process.
Consider the political arena. What do people do all too often these days?
They take a very narrow position and pound away at anyone who doesn’t see
things as they do. And because of this we’re getting an increasingly polarized
political landscape around the world. That’s not a very wise environment.
Most people who present doctrinal errors and heresies do the same thing.
They take one point and hold to it relentlessly. In itself the point may be true,
but they don’t modify or soften their view when other passages suggest a
broader approach. Their minds are not willing to extend that far. “From all this
it is also evident that the more external a person’s thinking is, the less distance
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