new church life: september/october 2015
directness with which He appears to the natural mind of those who receive
Him: He Himself teaches them directly.
Mr. Sandstrom said he agreed with all the passages from the Writings
that Mr. Cole quoted. After reading Stephen’s paper he wished to change
the assertion he made in his paper, “The Huge Changes Brought On By The
Glorification.” Rather than say, “transflux ceased,” it would be more accurate to
say, “the human Divine ceased.” The greatest joy of the angels is to do the Lord’s
work, even though their work is less than perfect.
He explained that in the Advent the Lord first took on that which was
with the angels and, as the Son of Man, became His own terminus for His own
transflux, so that it was now within Him, between His soul and His mind – His
Human. The Divine Human is now an essence by itself that fills the heavens,
and is what is referred to when we pray, “Our Father who art in the heavens.”
From there, Mr. Sandstrom spoke of other huge changes dealt with in his
paper, including the simultaneous enlightenment of the spiritual and natural
mind made possible by the Lord’s Divine Human, which also made possible
the modern era and the blossoming of scientific study.
In the discussion of these two papers, several men spoke to the use of these
studies to help people see the Lord, see Him speaking through the Writings,
see how He works, see Him in the Word rather than just the characters there,
and revive a sense of wonder regarding the Lord.
Thoughts About Membership
The afternoon was again set aside for electives. Immediately after lunch there
were two choices.
One was to join the Rev. Robert Cole for a discussion of his paper, “The
World of Spirits: Three States Then and Now,” in which he gave a thorough
review of the resurrection process and the three states in the world by which
a person transitions from earth to heaven. He proposed to inquire into how
these states may have changed between the 18th and 21st centuries. Would
people’s experience of them be influenced by such things as the way spiritual
cities may have modernized; current psychological therapies to discover one’s
internal character; or the development of New Church scholarship as an aid to
education about heavenly life?
The leader of the second elective was the Rev. David Lindrooth with a
workshop, “Thoughts About Membership.” To start a conversation about
what has been working, what has not, and the effect of the environment
on membership, he invited three ministers who teach young people in our
Academy schools to share their thoughts.
The Rev. Chris Barber spoke about the untapped potential for church
members in the Academy Secondary Schools, and about the difficulty of
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