Words of Wisdom

"It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself". Charles Dudley Warner

"Music originates in heaven. We first learned music from our exquisite inner hearing and then transformed the harmonic sounds of heaven into natural sounds. Music corresponds to our passion for what is good and true and so it is that music stirs us beyond words just as deeds done without any thought of reward give an inner joy which surpasses any physical pleasure. Music deepens our connection to the spiritual world because it corresponds to the many states of joy and gladness which come from heaven". Paraphrased from Swedenborg¹s AC 8337

"There is a universal influx from God into the souls of all people whispering that there is a God and that God is one". Swedenborg TCR 8

"There comes in response to prayer a flowing into our minds perception, an opening of our inner reaches toward God". Swedenborg AC 2535

"We are not changed merely by learning new things, or by knowing or understanding, for thought alone does not change what we are. Our internal self is transformed by Divine Influx. As we say Yes to God our affections change about what we have learned. We desire to put our knowledge to use. We change internally because we want our outward actions to correspond to our inner desire to serve God". Swedenborg H&H 423

"The ancients felt a joy exceeding all joys when they contemplated that Divine Love and Wisdom had become human, a light that would save the world from destruction". Swedenborg AC 8261:3

"You are the light of the world. A town that stands on a hill cannot be hidden. When a lamp is lit, it is not put under a basket, but on a lamp stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. And you like the lamp, must let your light so shine among your fellows, so that, when they see the good you do, they may give praise to your God in heaven". Jesus of Nazareth Matthew 5:14-16

"From the deepest part of yourself, let love be born for the rays of the One that shine around you....Let this come from your whole heart- the center of your life: your passion, courage, and audacity-and touch your whole subconscious self- that instinctive soul within which scatters and gathers. From this self liberate your whole animal energy and life force to flood your entire being with love". The Aramaic words of Jesus

"We all have an inner and outer person. The inner person is formed in the image of heaven and the outer in the image of the world, even to the point that the inner person is a heaven in miniature and the outer a world in miniature, a microcosm". Swedenborg. AC 6057

"Nothing unconnected ever occurs, and anything disconnected would instantly perish". Swedenborg. AC 2556

"The reason so many different things act as a unit is that there not a single thing involved that does not do something for the greater whole and fulfill a function". Swedenborg HH 63-64

"God created the world to make a heaven from the human race. The very nature of spiritual love is to selflessly give to another and the more given the greater is the peace and blessedness it brings". Swedenborg DP 27

"Food derived from plants ­ especially from plants sown and harvested in fields ­ corresponds to affections for what is good and true, because these nourish spiritual life the way earthly foods nourish natural life...so bread (and pancakes) in general corresponds to an affection for everything good". Swedenborg HH11

"Eternal life is an endless rendering of blessings from God. All love breathes forth delight from itself. So it is that blessedness, happiness and felicity are continually offered by God to those who receive Divine Love into themselves". Swedenborg AC 451

"A very learned man thought that heavenly joy consisted in eternal praising and celebrating of God. The angels explained to him that God has no need of praises but wants all those in heaven to express their love by finding joy in being useful". Paraphrased from Swedenborg AC 455-456

"Insight only works with people who are motivated to change". Unknown

"No one is able to purify themselves from evil by their own power and ability. This purifying power flows from God alone. However, our transformation can not be done without our commitment to do so as if we were doing it ourselves. God provides the appearance that we are the source of change so that we may spiritually grow. This appearance gives us the ownership necessary for our transformation even though all transformational power flows from God". Swedenborg Paraphrased from TCR 438

"Sometimes angels speak not from themselves but from the Lord and believe themselves to be the Lord because their externals are quiet. At these moments their internals are possessed by the Lord and nothing of themselves gets in the way. During those moments they are the Lord speaking to us". AC 1745.3

"The spiritual growth of a person happens slowly. The seeds of the life of heaven are planted in a person in infancy and begin growing and continue to grow to the very end of life in this world and are perfected to eternity". Swedenborg AC 9334

"Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway". John Wayne

"A human being is an organ of life, and God alone is life. God pours Divine life into the organ and all its parts, as the sun pours its warmth into a tree and all its parts". Swedenborg TCR 504

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. You were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within you. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others". Marianne Williamson (Nelson Mandela read this during his inauguration speech.)