Swedenborgian Community Interfaith Podcast

Reading: John 12:1-8

John 11:32-45

How do you define yourself? This is often the question at the root of many spiritual teachings as well as many mental health issues. We tend to think that our issues are our own, whereas in fact the roots of all our problems tend to stem from our histories with other people, genetics, family systems, social systems, economic systems, and many other things that only exist in a continuum with the universe itself. Tell me, could you have had that defining moment if gravity never existed, or the solar system, or a billion other things? The same goes for our good qualities, we think we are our intelligence and prowess when in fact it isn’t really something we had control over. Even if we feel like we worked for something, what were the root causes of being able and willing to work for it? In this way our idea of ourselves is just that, an idea, often confined by our social norms; “I am my body and what its done,” “I am my mind.” To find peace within ourselves, we have to come to identify with more of what we truly

I love how Jesus just straight up ignores the accusers of the woman in our reading from John 8, who they say has been caught committing adultery. It’s a bold move, and not one we see often in any of the world’s scriptures: God or a sage shrugging and literally ignoring someone’s condemnation of another to their face. It’s a funny scene, imagining him just stooping down to doodle (or whatever) on the ground as is described, essentially saying that doodling deserves more attention than this crowd’s attempts to discredit and murder another while also trying to entrap Christ in the process. He’s not dismissing the woman but the destructive nature of the crowd’s intent. And further, when he does respond, it is to point out that not one of them is better than her, saying that he himself also does not condemn her. That being done, and with the crowd dispersed, he then points out that she too isn’t living her best life and that she should move past her own destructive tendencies. He goes full circle in the boldness o

Sometimes we think that accepting our current situation (or life’s “confines”) is a limiting proposal, but our sages tell us that our inner light already has the freedom and fulfillment that we are looking for. Therefore, finding it in our present situations opens our inner door, which opens our outer. Often, we are so caught up in how we want things to be, or this feeling of lack or that, that we never truly start to turn and enjoy the freedom of the naturalness of our spirit, one with the Spirit. Indeed, the Great Spirit is often misunderstood to be something distant from us, but as Christ tried to teach us (like Krishna, like the Buddha), God is within us, and we should remain in this infinity of God beyond words, instead of always “branching out” into false, stilted living. This means knowing ourselves as Christ knew our true selves and himself to be, as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” inherent in all things as the light of being, living, and consciousness.

For Fathers’ Day it may seem a little strange to highlight a quote from Christ that says not to call anyone on earth “father,” but trust me – I have my reasons! That sounds like something a father would say, doesn’t it? Jokes aside, I believe it’s true, all truly fatherly attributes are from the Divine Parent, our Heavenly Father known by many names. And the aspects of each of us that can be called “fatherly” are not of this world either but are sourced from above. And so, he’s right, in a true sense no one on earth can be called father as it is our Divine light and the Divine workings of Providence and Life that make anyone even an earthly dad. It is the aspect of us not “on earth” that is the root of our parenthood, the core of life that we call angelic, heaven, Divine, and God. This means that when we call our fathers “father” in this world, we would do well to remember that the fatherly light is from the One Divinity known by many names, and that any true fatherhood is the Lord made manifest, just as it i

The heart of usefulness is the heart of love that beats within each of our spirits: the heart of the universe, the infinite Heart of God that we all share. Within this heart all things rise, and so it is also called the light and warmth of consciousness. We’re told by sages that all things that arise must be used eventually for good, a truth often hard to fathom. That being said, the Lord has told us throughout the world religions that God desires good things for us, God points us within to the peace, love, and joy that God is (whatever we call God), and promises that Divinity will eventually bring all beings into knowing itself. Finding this core of Life within is the ultimate purpose of life, according to the sage Emanuel Swedenborg, as well as many others. This means that all things in life are ultimately useful to the extent that they support people’s awakening to the Great Spirit within themselves and all things; as it’s said Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” or, in other words, “I AM