new church life: jan uary/february 2017
So every time we say the Lord’s prayer, and ask the Lord to “give us this
day our daily bread,” we can think about the Lord filling us with His love,
giving us the strength to do what is right, forging ahead in the desert. Every
time we read about bread in the Word, we can think of the Lord filling us with
what we need to survive spiritually in times of drought. And every time we
take the Holy Supper or watch others take the Holy Supper, we can think about
the Lord filling us with His loving presence and being conjoined with Him.
As the crowd said to the Lord: “Lord, always give us this bread.” (John 6:35)
Amen.
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.
INFLUX
With this term is related one of the most fundamental doctrines given in the Writings. It
denotes the successive operation of what is higher into and through what is discretely lower,
as of thought into speech, will into action, and so on. The essential idea is that nothing under
God acts of itself, but through the operation into it of something higher, and this all the way
back through the scale of degrees to the Lord Himself.
Influx should not be thought of in terms of water being poured into a cup, but rather
of a wave motion impinging upon a substance which reacts and is thus a receptacle. This
is important because it shows that the inflowing source and the receptacle are not merged.
The Divine does not become finite in proceeding; yet neither does man become Divine in
receiving Divine influx.
Two pairs of related terms should be noted, first, general and particular influx. General
influx, which is from the Lord through the order of the heavens, is into those things which are
in the order of their life, such as animals; particular influx, which is from the Lord through
angels and spirits, is into those things which are not in order, that is, the minds of men. Note
that man’s body is under general influx.
The second pair, immediate and mediate influx, are readily distinguished. Influx
through heaven or through the Word is mediate; influx from the Lord into the human soul,
which is above the angelic heavens, is immediate. (See Arcana Coelestia 6128, 5850, 5854,
5862, 6058, 6495)
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