new church life: november/december 2016
So when these surviving colonists expressed their thanks and praise to
God at that first Thanksgiving, they were especially grateful for their blessings
in this New World – faith and opportunity. They had to be grateful as well for
the kind benevolence of the Lord’s providence that oversaw them all.
(BMH)
bearing fruit
The ideals and principles of New Church education grow naturally out of the
Heavenly Doctrines, which give us deep insights into all the important issues
of life, including the nature, purpose and development of the human mind.
The inspiration to establish and maintain schools based on them is constantly
renewed by the doctrines themselves – that is, by the Lord in His second
coming.
New Church schools are among the most remarkable fruits that have come
from the seeds sown by the Lord in His second coming; and the schools, in
turn, produce new seeds for the future. We can see this working on a practical
level in the way generations of young people well versed in the doctrines by
their New Church education have been inspired to continue supporting that
use and the Church in general throughout their adult lives. This has been the
key to the General Church’s success for five generations.
The potential in these truths for practical application in the field of
education is so strong as to amount to a Divine mandate – which comes with
a promise of success if followed. “If you know these things, blessed are you if
you do them.” (John 13:17)
The field may be small, but it is the field we have been given, and despite
all difficulties, we must cultivate it faithfully. Though small, it is good ground.
It has yielded a rich harvest in the past and it will continue to bear fruit. The
results (in terms of numbers) may sometimes seem disappointing, but like
the manna that fell from heaven upon Israel in the wilderness, they will be
enough.
(WEO)
christmas past: john the baptist and herod
Christmas is all about joy and happiness: the Lord coming to earth as a baby
in a stable, Mary and Joseph, shepherds and wise men, “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.” We celebrate with decorated
trees and lights, festive parties, joyous carols, loving gifts. But Christmas is
also very much about two figures we tend to keep outside the sphere – John
the Baptist and Herod. But both are essential to the meaning and promise of
Christmas.
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