and darkness, toward the source of
light and love. “This was why the Lord
was called the Morning, the East,
and the Dawn” in the Word. (Arcana
Coelestia 920)
And He shall be like the light of
the morning when the sun rises, a
morning without clouds, like the
tender grass springing out of the earth,
by clear shining after rain. (II Samuel
23:4)
Real faith in the global
sense is realizing that
the Lord is working
tirelessly in the hearts of
all people for the good of
all people, now and for
the generations to come.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound
the alarm in My holy mountain! Let
all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. Like the
morning clouds spread over the mountains, a people come, great and strong, the
like of whom has never been seen. (Joel 2:1).
Thus the Lord wants us to experience a dawn of love in our own hearts,
but He is also bringing the light of dawn to a larger group as well.
We can experience the dawn of the Lord’s love in a church movement like
our own. For example, if we did not have a group of men and women in the
19th century who read the Heavenly Doctrines, understood what they were
saying and were moved by them, we would not be here today, not one of us. It
was a work of love.
Our church movement, even through all of the changes that have taken
place in 120 years – and will take place in the generations ahead – owes its
allegiance in some part to the men and women who not only understood the
Writings, but loved the Lord in them, devoting their lives and fortunes to the
task of seeing our church developed and nurtured throughout the world.
We can continue their work by directing our good will toward the minds
and hearts of our brothers and sisters, and to our children’s minds and hearts.
This is the field in which we work as parents and guardians, so the next
generation might know the Lord, and know where to find Him during their
lives, and pass this on to the next generation.
But larger still is the Church worldwide: the New Church in the universal
sense. The light of the Second Coming is the spiritual light which illuminates
the minds of men and women of good will around the world, in all cultures.
This dawn of love and faith is little by little growing in the hearts of people
around the world. Though world affairs make it appear that we are in times of
great darkness, the dawn is surely coming; this also is the promise of the New
Church.
Our time is truly a New Day, a New Dawn of the light of the doctrine
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