"And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.'

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East."

by Minnie Louise Haskins

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From a sermon by Rev. Emily Jane Lemole:

Readings:

• Isaiah 26:1-4, 42:5-8
• Matthew 7:7-14
• Revelation 22:14
• Arcana Coelestia 2851

We are standing at the Gate of the Year, a threshold to the unknown in many ways. “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

We read many passages from the Word and the Writings about gates. Gates provide a connection between what is inside and what is outside. They suggest a choice – whether to open or shut it – whether to come in or stay out.

A closed gate makes us hesitate and stop. In this Sufi saying the gates provide thoughtfulness and reflection about what we say:

Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates.

1. At the first gate, ask yourself, “is it true?”

2. At the second ask, “is it necessary?”

3. At the third gate ask “is it kind?”

How best to begin this New Year? There are the usual resolutions – to lose weight, be healthier, be more organized, and spend more time with loved ones. But there are deeper resolutions or intentions that are crying out for a new start, a fresh beginning.

Number 1: Putting God in the center of our lives – seeing the Lord Jesus Christ as the beginning, middle and end of our day. A good habit is to pray – a lifting up of our perspective – of our priorities – several times a day. Even the physical action of looking up and pausing can shift an annoyed, resentful mood into a moment of correction – a turnaround of most of what we fuss about.

"Sub specie aeternitatis" is a great reminder. Under the auspices of eternity – what matters? Not most of what worries and upsets us. In the long view, with God at the center, what really matters becomes evident and what doesn’t diminishes.

So how do we put our hand into the hand of God? How do we open the gates of our minds and hearts to all that is good and true, wise, kind and peaceful? How do we shut the door to selfishness, unkindness, resentfulness, ingratitude and violence? By what we do every day.

“The way we do anything is the way we do everything,” says Fr. Richard Rohr, the Franciscan priest.

What do we pay attention to and give our time to? What do we love?

A New Year seems a good time to take inventory, a reflection on last year, not so much what we have accomplished as who we are becoming. What matters most to us? What are our priorities? Or as Swedenborg would ask, What do we love? For we are what we love!

We learn that there are two gates that are in each of us:

1. The Gate to Heaven, surrounded by angels, leads to what is good and what is true.

2. And the Gate to Hell, surrounded by evil spirits, leads to what is evil and false.

These gates are in us. We get to choose, and what determines our choice? What we love!

Every year, every week, every day, every moment we have the freedom to choose who we are, what brings us pleasure, how we spend our precious time – what we love and how we love.

And let’s remember that if we don’t honestly like what we see in our inventory, we can repent! Turn around! Change our direction! Change our minds! Change our loves!

Swedenborg describes what we cannot see – our spiritual companions – the company we keep and are for the most part unaware of. Like guests, they come by invitation.

We are surrounded by spiritual guests, invited by our states of mind and heart: Through the Heavenly Gates come the angels and good spirits; from the Hellish Gates come the evil or bad spirits. My high school Latin teacher used to refer to these as the “Basement Boys”.

It is out of fashion today to speak of evil, guilt, repentance or hell. These terms have become obsolete, uncomfortable and ones we really don’t want to be reminded of. But from everything Swedenborg teaches, these are spiritual realities.

Evil is very much alive and well in our world (if one reads the papers and watches TV) and in each one of us, recognized with some introspection! When we honestly become aware of our own intentions and emotions, we know this!

Evil, with its twin, falsity, is everything that is against God, that is selfish, dishonest, greedy, mean and cruel. But evil can also appear with a deceptive face – we can justify our resentments, our ingratitude, our unforgiving stance. Sin means missing the mark, the mark being God. All that draws us away from God makes us miss that mark!

Guilt – a very necessary emotion that makes us want to repent – not to wallow in, but to lead us to repentance – to persuade us to change course!

And evil spirits – these are the very real spiritual companions that we are told are fighting for our attention, and in the end, for our spiritual life. We are in the balance. We are between two gates.

An ancient Buddhist proverb teaches: Everyone is given the key to the Gates of Heaven; the same key opens the Gates of Hell.” The key is what we love.

Every decision we make feeds either our proprium (our unregenerate will) or feeds our "remains" – that inviolate treasure, a storehouse of all the good and true things we have experienced since before birth. Remains are our birthright, and we draw from it and add to it forever with true thoughts and good deeds.

Since the number one focus of most New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight (and I’m not against that, if needed) let’s try to use that concept for a spiritual weight loss – losing the burden of negative emotion, the bad habits of criticism, complaint, gossip, irritation, annoyance, being easily offended, anger – the list we know goes on and on. The diet for this weight loss is good thoughts, honest behavior, truthful intentions. Turning off the bad news, turning on the good news. Supporting a hopeful optimism that encourages others; kind acts that look for no return.

Think on these things, Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians.

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8.

And the exercise required for this transformation of the soul’s health is spiritual practice – the exercise that brings the abstract into the real, the doing of what we say we believe. Perhaps this year we can embrace a spiritual exercise:

- Meditation

- Prayer

- Lectio Devina – slow, purposeful reading of Scripture and other Holy Books.

A dear friend of mine makes a habit of thinking about which type of spirits are influencing her, and then asking the Lord to send away the harmful influences, when there. Also, she has developed a practice of thanking the Lord for all good things when they happen.

We can open the Gates of Heaven. Angels can rush in at any time that we cause the gates to swing open by loving what is good, what is true, the Lord and one another. These choices open those gates.

We all need reminders to help us make the right choices. We forget so quickly and are distracted by the loud noise of our times. We are plugged into T.V., radio, our computers, phones and i-pads -- a secular culture that is immersed in what is natural, not spiritual. But it is not natural for us to turn away and turn toward God and the Heavenly gates. It is unnatural. It is spiritual. Here are a few reminders that I have found helpful.

SET A TIME FOR AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE LORD: Every morning and before bedtime are two commonly used times to reserve for the Lord. When feeling angry, raise your thoughts and vision upward, and ask for the angels at the gate for assistance. Try a phrase learned from one of our daughter’s friends: Bless and release! Work toward seeing God in everyone and in all things.

Let ugly states pass – bless your enemies, remembering that those who disagree or dislike us are likely our best spiritual teachers. We can see our response to them, usually a response that mirrors the behavior that irritates us. Love our enemies, we are told, as well as our neighbor.

We need to watch our thoughts.

From the Ancient Vedas:

"Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

Most important is to detect what we love, for that will determine which gate we hang around, and later, enter.

How auspicious it is that we have Holy Communion as we enter the New Year. What better way to begin, seeking first the kingdom of Heaven – putting what matters most into the forefront?

This is a beautiful prayer by Sister Joyce Rupp:

SACRED MYSTERY,

Waiting on the threshold

of this new year,

you open the gates

And beckon to me:

(You say) “Come! Come!

Be not wary of what awaits you

as you enter the unknown terrain,

be not doubtful of your ability

to grow from its joys and sorrows.

For I am with you,

I will be your Guide.

I will be your Protector,

You will never be alone.”

Guardian of this new year,

I set aside my fears, worries, concerns,

I open my life to mystery, to beauty,

to hospitality to questions,

to the endless opportunity

of discovering you in my relationships,

and to all the silent wisps of wonder

that will draw me to your heart.

I welcome your unfailing Presence

And walk with hope into this New Year.

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“Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.”

It really matters as we stand at the Gate of the New Year whose hand we will take – whose inspiration we will follow and whose influence may determine who we are becoming.

From Psalm 118:19-20:

“Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I will go through them,

And I will praise the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord,

By which the righteous shall enter.”

Amen!

(References: Arcana Coelestia 2851 [1-15])

785. Verse 3. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been wounded to death, signifies the discordance of their doctrinals with the Word, in which "love," "life," and "works," which do not at all agree with that religious principle, are so often mentioned. This is evident from the signification of the "heads" of that beast, as being the knowledge of the holy things of the Word which are falsified and adulterated (See above, n. 775). When the church and those of the church are treated of in the Word, "head" signifies intelligence and wisdom; and in the most universal sense the understanding of truth and the will of good. But as this treats of those who are not willing that the understanding should enter into the mysteries of faith, but who wish it to be held captive under obedience to their mysteries, and as these are described by "the dragon" and this his "beast," it follows that the "head" of this beast signifies knowledge [scientia]; for where the understanding does not see there is no intelligence, but in place of it knowledge. Moreover, intelligence cannot be predicated of those who are in falsities, but only knowledge (See about this in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 33). The above is evident also from the signification of "being wounded to death," as being in disagreement with the Word; for doctrine which disagrees with the Word is dead; and this death is what is signified by "being wounded to death."

[2] The discordance is that they separate the life of love, which is good works, from faith, and make faith alone justifying and saving, and they take away everything of justification and salvation from the life of love or from good works; and as loving and doing are mentioned in the Word in a thousand passages, and it is declared that man is to be judged according to his deeds and works, and as this does not agree with that religious principle, therefore this is what is signified by the death-stroke of the head of this beast. From this it can be seen that the words, "I saw one of the heads of the beast as if it had been wounded to death," signifies disagreement with the Word, in which "love," "life," and "works," which do not at all agree with that religious principle, are so often mentioned. That they do not agree is clearly evident from the fact that it is a dogma of that religion that faith alone, without the works of the law, justifies and saves, yea, that if anything of salvation be placed in works it is damnable, because of man's merit and what is his own [proprium] in them. For this reason many abstain from doing them, saying in their heart, Good works do not save me, and evil works do not damn me, because I have faith. From this principle they also assert that those are saved who about the hour of death declare with some confidence that they have faith, whatever their life may have been. But "deeds" and "works," also "doing" and "loving," are mentioned in the Word in a thousand passages, and as these disagree with that religious principle, therefore its dogmatists have devised means of conjoining them with faith. This, therefore, is the signification of the words "he saw one of the heads of the beast as if it had been wounded to death," and "the stroke of his death was healed, and the whole earth wondered after the beast." But how that stroke was healed, namely, by devised modes of conjunction, shall be said in the following article.

[3] In the first place, some passages shall here be quoted from the Word where "deeds," "works," "doing," and "working," are mentioned, that everyone may see the discordance that is here signified by "one of the heads wounded to death;" also that this stroke is wholly incurable unless man lives according to the precepts of the Word by doing them.

In Matthew:

Everyone that heareth My words and doeth them is like to a prudent man; but everyone that heareth My words and doeth them not is like to a foolish man (Matthew 7:24, 26).

In Luke:

Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? Everyone who cometh to Me and heareth My words and doeth them is like a man that built a house upon a rock; but he that heareth and doeth not is like unto a man that built a house upon the ground without a foundation (Luke 6:46-49).

In Matthew:

He that was sown in good earth, this is he that heareth the Word and giveth heed, and who thence beareth fruit, and yieldeth some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold (Matthew 13:23).

In the same:

Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever doeth and teacheth them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 5:19).

In John:

Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you (John 15:14).

In the same:

If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them (John 13:17).

In the same:

If ye love Me keep My commandments. He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him. And I ¹ will come unto him and will make ² My abode with him. But he that loveth Me not keepeth not My words (John 14:15, 21-24).

In Luke:

Jesus said, My mother and My brethren are those who hear My ³ word and do it (Luke 8:21).

In Matthew:

I was an hungered and ye gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and ye gave Me to drink, I was a sojourner, and ye took Me in, I was naked and ye clothed Me, I was sick and ye visited Me, I was in prison and ye came unto Me. And to these the Lord said, Come, ye blessed, possess as inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And to those who had not done these things He said, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:31-46 the end).

In John:

My Father is the vinedresser; every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away (John 15:1, 2).

In Luke:

Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance; every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.

By their fruits ye shall know them (Luke 3:8, 9; Matthew 7:19, 20).

In John:

Herein is My Father glorified, that ye may bear much fruit and become My disciples (John 15:7, 8).

In Matthew:

The kingdom of God shall be taken away from them, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matthew 21:40-43).

In John:

He that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest that they have been wrought in God (John 3:21).

In the same:

We know that God heareth not sinners, but if anyone worship God and do His will, him He heareth (John 9:31).

In Matthew:

The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall render unto everyone according to his deeds ( Matthew 16:27).

In John:

Then shall come forth they that have done goods into the resurrection of life, but they that have done evils into the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).

In Revelation:

I will give unto you to everyone according to his works; he that overcometh and keepeth My works unto the end (Revelation 2:23, 26).

Their works shall follow them (John 14:13).

The dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books according to their works. And the dead were all judged according to their works (Revelation 20:12, 13).

Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give unto everyone according to his works (Revelation 22:12).

Happy are they that do His commandments (Revelation 22:14).

He said to the angel of the church of Ephesus, I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity; remember whence thou hast fallen, and do the first works; but if not, etc. (Revelation 2:4, 5).

It was said to the angel of the church in Smyrna, I know thy works; to the angel of the church in Pergamos, I know thy works; to the angel of the church in Thyatira, I know thy works; to the angel of the church in Sardis, I know thy works; and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, I know thy works (Revelation 2:9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8).

These two chapters treat of the exploration and judgment of those seven churches as to what they are and will be from their works and according to their works.

[4] Also in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew from their beginning to their end the Lord teaches good works, and what they must be, and that thence is heavenly happiness; likewise in the parables of the laborers in the vineyard, of the husbandmen and servants, of the traders to whom pounds [minae] were given and those to whom talents were given; of the fig-tree in the vineyard which was to be cut down if it bore no fruit; of the man wounded by robbers, to whom the Samaritan showed mercy, respecting whom the Lord asked the lawyer which of the three was a neighbor, who answered, "He that showed mercy," and Jesus said to him, "Go and do thou likewise;" of the ten virgins, of whom five had oil in their lamps and five had none, "oil in the lamps" signifying charity in faith; also in other passages.

[5] Moreover, the twelve disciples of the Lord represented the church in respect to all things of faith and charity in the complex; and of them, Peter, James, and John represented faith, charity, and good works in their order, Peter faith, James charity, and John good works; therefore the Lord said to Peter, when Peter saw John following the Lord:

What is that to thee, Peter? Follow thou Me, John; for Peter said of John, What of him? (John 21:21-22).

This signifies that those who do good works must follow the Lord. Because John represented the church in respect to good works, he reclined at the Lord's breast. That the church is with those who do good works is also signified by the Lord's words from the cross to John:

Jesus saw His mother, and spoke to the disciple whom He loved, who was standing by; and He said to His mother, Woman, behold thy son; and He said to that disciple, Behold thy mother; and from that hour that disciple took her unto himself (John 19:26-27).

This signifies that where good works are, there the church will be, for in the Word "woman," like as "mother," signifies the church. Thus much from the New Testament; there are yet more passages in the Old Testament, as where:

All are called blessed who keep and do the statutes, the judgments, and the commandments, and those cursed who do them not (as in Leviticus 18:5; 19:37; 20:8; 22:31-33; 26:3-4, 26:14, 26:16; Numbers 15:39-40; Deuteronomy 5:9-10; 6:25; 15:5; 17:19; 27:26 in a thousand other passages).

[6] Besides those passages in the Word where "deeds" and "doing" are mentioned there are also very many where "love" and "loving" are mentioned; and "loving" means the like as "doing," since he that loves does, for to love is to will, since everyone wills what he interiorly loves; and to will is to do, since everyone does that which he wills when he is able. Moreover, what is done is nothing but the will in act. Respecting love the Lord teaches in many passages (as in Matthew 5:43-48; 7:12; Luke 6:27-39, 6:43-49; 7:36-50 to the end; John 13:34, 35; 14:14-23; 15:9-19; 17:22-26; 21:15-23), and in brief in these words:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God in thy whole heart and from thy whole soul; this is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:35-38, 40; Luke 10:27, 28; Deuteronomy 6:5).

"To love God above all things, and the neighbor as oneself," is to do His commandments (John 14:21-24); and "the law and the prophets" signify the Word in all things and in every particular. From all these passages cited from the Word it is fully evident that it is not faith separated from good works that saves, but faith from good works and with them. For he who does good works has faith, but he who does them not has no faith.

Footnotes: