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“To Bind up the Nation's Wounds”

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“To Bind up the Nation's Wounds” Published by the Swedenborgian Church of North America Volume 244 • Number 10 • December 2020 “To Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds” By Paul Deming t has been said that Abraham Lin- agents were in the city seeking to seemed to be turning into something coln thought his best speech was destroy it without war—seeking to akin to the demilitarized zone. We his second inaugural address, dissolve the Union and divide ef- best not talk about politics or it might IMarch 4, 1865—not the Gettysburg fects by negotiation. Both parties quickly dissolve into whose side God is address. The country was near- deprecated war but one of them on. Then we might be reminded that would make war rather than let the ing the end of a civil war that lasted nation survive, and the other would Joshua, when preparing for battle was four years in a greatly divided coun- accept war rather than let it perish. nearing Jericho and came face to face try. It was not to be a speech of victo- And the war came. with a man bearing a sword. He said, ry. It was not a speech of second term This is not about politics Whose side are you on, ours or promises. The speech was directed to or about war. It is about our enemies?” “Neither,” he said, one primary purpose which would be- “I’m commander of God’s army, come the phrase for which the speech healing. There has been I’ve just arrived.” Joshua fell, face was known: “To Bind up the Nation’s a collective sigh of relief to the ground, and worshiped. He Wounds.” that the great turmoil and asked, “What orders does my Mas- As our forty-sixth President-elect division that has plagued ter have for his servant?” God’s army makes preparations for his first inau- our country... might commander ordered Joshua, “Take gural address, there is a strange paral- your sandals off your feet. The place witness a shift in focus to where you are standing is holy. Josh- lel to our sixteenth President’s burden the reconciliation that is ua did it (Joshua 5:13–15). to seek the re-unification of a greatly desperately needed. divided country. Lincoln spoke not of If we are to understand the spiritual politics but of the war that had torn But this is not about politics or sense of the Word, we often need to re- families apart, pitted brother against about war. It is about healing. There move our reliance on the self-love and brother, and made party alliances has been a collective sigh of relief that materialism that represent our lowest more consequential than the hundreds the great turmoil and division that has senses and can block us from seeing the of thousands of lives that had already plagued our country, especially in the truth—not if God is on our side but if been lost. last four years, might witness a shift we are on God’s side. in focus to the reconciliation that is Certainly, Lincoln, was familiar All dreaded it—all sought to desperately needed. I have seen, first- with this passage as he remarked, avert it. While the inaugural ad- hand, family members, loved ones, and dress was being delivered from this Neither party expected for the place, devoted altogether to saving members of a greater religious commu- war, the magnitude, or the duration, the Union without war, insurgent nity on different sides of a fence that Continued on page 165 154 the Messenger December 2020 it has created: video worship servic- Contents Editor’s Corner es, virtual convention and camps, on- line courses and support groups—so “To Bind Up the Discovering many ways to connect that will outlive Nation’s Wounds”..................................153 Pandemic COVID-19 and continue to bring our Editor’s Corner .............................................154 Perks heavenly community closer together. Letters to the Editor ...................................154 What are some of the Pandemic Letter from the President ........................155 Perks that you have discovered? Applying the Science of It’s hard to be- Correspondences .................................156 lieve that we have —Beki Greenwood Year of the Spiritual World: reached the end [email protected] Our Revival from the Dead ......................159 of the unforgetta- Kurt Fekete Appointed ble year 2020. No Vice President ........................................160 one will forget this year or the things Follow Perfect Holiday Gift ....................................160 that happened to them while going The New Church— the Messenger through a global pandemic. It has for- on Facebook! A Spiritual Climate Change? ............161 ever changed us and is something that Swedenborg’s Principle’s unites us all. of Usefulness .........................................162 I attended Dr. Devin Zuber’s on- 2020 Annual Appeal ..................................164 line class “Swedenborg and Pandem- Passages .........................................................166 What’s Happening ......................................167 ic Theologies” that was offered this fall through the Center for Swedenborgian Art & Puzzles .................................................167 the Messenger Fall 2020 General Council Studies (CSS) with about fifty oth- © The Swedenborgian Church of North America Report ......................................................168 er Swedenborgians from all over the Published monthly except July and August by world. In the last class we discussed the Standing Committee for Communication and Information of the Swedenborgian Church of vastations and how many of us felt as North America (founded 1817, incorporated 1861 though we were going through one as the General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America), Rev. Jane Siebert, Letters to the Editor now. I certainly feel that way and have president. had that thought many times over December 2020 the past many months. So much has Volume 244, No. 10, Whole Number 5460 Emily Woofenden’s article (The changed, and several things will never Editor, design, and production: Rebekah Culture Tree, November 2020) brought Greenwood be the same. It occurs to me that many Copy editing and proofing: Robert Leith, Brittany to mind our current sensitivity to the of these things are not negative, but Price, Herb Ziegler & Trevor problem of systemic racism. I found perks that we never would have found Standing Committee for Communication and myself making a kind of hybrid of the Information: Holly Bauer, Kevin Baxter & Val Brugler if we weren’t forced to with the COV- Printing: Classic GraphX, Cambridge MA cultural iceberg and the culture tree, ID-19 pandemic—the new order that Email: [email protected] with blatant racism being the tip of the this chaos is bringing to us. Editorial, Business, and Subscription Address: iceberg and one branch of the tree, and The Messenger, Central Office Virtual Education Offerings for the 50 Quincy Street the bulk of the iceberg being the whole Planet from CSS are certainly a perk Cambridge MA 02138 root “system.” This in turn called to that has come out of this situation we Tel: 617.969.4240 mind Matthew 3:11, “Now the axe is Email: [email protected] have all found ourselves in. It’s a part of Subscriptions: free online subscription at laid to the root of the tree,” and my the virtual revolution that we are expe- https://swedenborg.org/newsletter/. Printed and own conviction that the root of rac- mailed to US address, $20/year; to Canada address, riencing. We have discovered ways to $30/year; to all other addresses, $35/year; single ism is the toxic equation of power with be far apart yet closer than ever. We’ve copies, $2.00, Libraries & prisoners, free. Send privilege rather than responsibility on check made out to “Swedenborgian Church” with never been able to spend time with our “Messenger” on the memo line. Other requests, the one hand and the worship of mon- far-flung spiritual neighbors so often. write or call Central Office. ey on the other, concisely labeled in our Submissions are accepted at any time. The way we think about so many things Submissions must be received by the third doctrines as “love of self” and “love of has changed—and this has strength- Monday of the month to be considered for the the world”—hell itself when they rule, ened our bonds. Although Zoom fa- next issue. heaven itself when they serve. The opinions and views expressed are those of tigue is real and at times can be over- the authors, not of the Messenger, the Standing —George Dole Committee for Communication and Information, whelming let’s look past the exhausting or the Swedenborgian Church. Bath, Maine aspects and see the new opportunities the Messenger December 2020 155 Blessing of Hope Letter So may we know the hope from the that is not just for someday President but for this day— here, now, in this moment that opens to us: The Year of the Spiritual World: 2020–21 hope not made Dear Friends, of wishes I am sending all of you this blessing of hope for this uncertain time. but of substance, As it says in Jan Richardson’s poem, it is not just for someday, but for this hope made of sinew day. This is the hope of Christmas, and nothing can take that away, no and muscle COVID-19, no death, no separation from loved ones. It is with us every and bone, day, for we are a hopeful denomination. We know we are created for heaven and we have been given the gift of hope that has breath bringing heaven to earth. and a beating heart, We know that we are tired, sad, and feeling a loss of control. And we hope that will not know the Lord’s Divine Providence is working for good in every aspect keep quiet of our lives. and be polite, We know this is a very dark time in our country, with this pandemic hope that knows infiltrating every part of our lives and with voices and messages coming how to holler at us from all directions, trying to divide and separate us.
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