Letters to the Editors
The ‘Garland’ of all Churches
To The Editors:
I am responding to the article written by the Rev. Dr. Thane Glenn in the
November-December edition of New Church Life (p.569), “The Crown of All
the Churches:” What Does That Mean?
I found this a fascinating treatise of a very well-known passage in the
Writings, especially the translation of the Latin word corona. I grew up
thinking that meant a crown that a king or queen would wear. Lo and behold,
this word has several meanings, and Thane’s use of the word “garland” seemed
so much more appropriate. After all, “crown” implies hierarchy – something or
someone of higher importance – whereas “garland” is so much more inclusive
and nurturing.
While both crowns and garlands are circles, like the circle of life, garlands
imply interweaving and connections, which reflect the Lord’s love so much
better than crown does. It reminds me of the passage I love in John 15:4: “Abide
in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in
the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”
Having now seen pictures of just how interconnected branches of vines
are, I am struck by just how much the Lord is intertwined in our lives, and I am
both amazed and grateful for the Lord’s unconditional love of all of us.
I liked Thane’s reference to thinking of that garland as an “inclusive circlet,”
and especially his reference to an 1895 issue (the year my grandmother was
born) of New Church Life in which the editor urged the readers for a spirit of
charity, which would make “a unit of the church from the harmonious variety
of its parts.” (Page 573)
In a footnote Thane refers to Arcana Coelestia 2385, which says if love
to the Lord and charity to the neighbor were held as the essential things of
religion, there would be one Church.
If the word “garland” is substituted then “crown of all churches” becomes
“garland of all churches.” This is so much more a picture of what the Lord
loves: all people connected together through charity.
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