New Church Life March/April 2016 | Page 89

  world – of accepting “free stuff ” without recognizing our own obligations to support those benefits. Hopefully someday we will be reflecting on “What hath God wrought?” as we see such programs growing and spreading the influence of the Church. And hopefully we will also be able to feel the satisfaction of knowing, “Yes, I supported these efforts.” (BMH) the inevitability of spring Look out the window on a cold, wintry day late in February and the sky is grey, the ground is frozen, the trees are leafless. But you know that all this is about to change. There’s no question about it, it is going to happen, as it always does. Within a few weeks the sun will shine brighter in a sky of blue, the ground will thaw, fresh green leaves will unfold, and a chorus of birds will greet the dawn. The changing of the seasons is inevitable. This is true of nature and of the human spirit. They are both governed by the same Divine Order, the natural world mirroring the spiritual. As the earth goes through cycles in its relation to the sun, so we, spiritually, go through alternations of state in relation to the Lord. “Seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22) There is a message of hope in this for the Church as well as for individuals. Winter states are never permanent. Spring will come, as it always has. And the sign that a new season of spiritual warmth and light is approaching is a resurgence of charity. “Now learn a parable from the fig tree. When her branch has become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.” (Mark 13:28) A fig tree, with its low, wide-spreading branches and sweet fruit full of little seeds, is an emblem of natural charity. Its leaves are the truths that teach us to be charitable; its fruits are good deeds; and the seeds they contain are the innumerable insights that inspire further spiritual growth and multiply the effects of charity in the world. The growth of the New Church on earth is in its beginning stages, in a state of early spring. The sun is still relatively low in the sky, the light is weak, patches of snow remain. Much damage from the winter that came upon the previous church will have to be repaired. But the world is turning, and even though we still hold our coat tight around us in the cool air we sense a new warmth in the sunlight touching our face; a new concern for charity shining into the world from the new heaven. The spiritual climate is changing. And on the tree of charity, buds are beginning to open. There are still outbreaks of inclement weather, and chilly gusts of falsity 191