In This Issue
I
n a sermon, “Be Fruitful and Multiply,” the Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith offers this
reassurance: “The purpose of creation looks to heaven, not to this world.
So the Lord uses everything we do in this world to sow seeds that can grow
forever. Because of this, much of the fruits of our labors are not visible in this
life, but will be in the future.” (Page 330)
The Rev. Eric H. Carswell offers a sermon, “Loving One’s Country and
Disagreements,” which seems geared to our hopes for a better world amid the
reality of political discord. He says: “We live in a world that is far from perfect
and yet this is the place and the time the Lord has brought us to and through
which He can help us prepare for a heavenly life. The Lord will work with us
and with others to build a better world.” (Page 336)
Dr. Allen J. Bedford, Dean of Academics at Bryn Athyn College, addressed
the graduates on “Purposefulness” at the dinner prior to commencement. He
used images from the moon landing to give perspective to their journey, and
related stories from the Word – Moses and the burning bush, and Mary not
finding the body of the Lord after His crucifixion but then seeing Him still alive
– as speaking to transformations that can occur in their own lives, especially if
their purpose is to choose freely to follow the Lord. (Page 362)
The Rev. J. Clark Echols, whose daughter Tykah was the eighth and last
of his children to graduate from the Academy Secondary Schools, spoke to
the graduates about “Feeling the Flow of the Lord’s Love.” He told them that
his experience of the Academy – his own and his family’s – “is that all the
educators are using their wisdom, their spiritual gifts and their acquired skills
to cultivate your adult, fully human, understanding and fe eling of the flow of
the Lord’s love.” (Page 348)
In a paper for the Master of Arts in Religious Studies program in Bryn
Athyn College, Craig W. Bostock writes about ‘The Future of the Christian
Church and a Prediction of its Interaction with the New Church.” He mixes
reality with hope in saying: “We must keep in mind that the hells are doing
everything in their power to keep the New Church from growing and gaining
acceptance, since it is a direct threat to them. But, for those who are searching
for a spiritual meaning to life and come with an open mind and desire to learn,
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