Three Essentials of Love

The February edition of the Chaplain's Corner by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

The month of February is a month of love. This is because Valentine’s Day is in it. We talk about love, but what does love mean? Perhaps our first thinking is about our friends and family. Maybe there is a special person in our lives whom we call our beloved.

Swedenborg identifies three essentials of love: 1) to love someone outside ourselves; 2) to wish to be one with them; 3) to want to make them happy from ourselves. Spiritual love extends to others than just those who are in our families and friends. In a way, family and friends are an extension of ourselves because they are part of us. But we are called to love others than those who are in our own circle. Love wishes to join with others and become one with them. It is in the nature of love to want to get close to those we love. We want them to become part of us and we want to become part of them. Finally, we want to make those we love happy from our own abilities. We want to give of ourselves to make those we love happy. When we make others happy, we want it to come from our hearts. When those we love are sad, we try to cheer them up. We want to share the things that make them happy and the things that make us happy.

I think Swedenborg is on to something with his three essentials of love. In any event it gives us a way to think about a very elusive quality. We all talk about love, but what does it mean?

Former League President Bill Baxter

We continue our profile on former SCYL Presidents ~ Where are they now?

This month's featured former League President:

Bill Baxter

Served 1999

Where am I now? Well that's a big question...

Mostly I am a husband and a new dad, I spend most of my time at home with my family or at work. I do far more yard work than I like to do, and mostly, now that I am old, I spend my time keeping kids off my front lawn...

For work, I design toys and games in Connecticut, and am not the president of anything... which is probably a good thing.

I am in my late 30's... and barely involved with the Swedenborgian church at all. I still go to Almont Summer School every year, and while there I teach the teen class. I lead the class as a discussion group about the lectures, and anything about our spiritual and inner lives we want to talk about.
That's my first rule, It stays about our inner lives... no tangents... yeah that always works well, ask anyone who has been in one. My second rule is that we listen to each other. My third is that nothing is off limits, so long as it is about our thoughts, feelings, spiritual life, or relationship with God.

Where was I then? It goes a little like this...

Bill Baxter was the worst president in the history of the SCYL. Remember this was 15 -20 years ago, I don't remember exactly when I did it. I am pretty sure that I was one of the last presidents elected at convention.

Drn KIDS! GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!

Back in ancient times, the New Church Youth League (We were more inclusive back then, we welcomed anyone in the "New Church" not just Swedenborgians) elected it's president at convention, this was supposed to be very inclusive, but the reality was, the same few Minster's Kids were elected SCYL president time after time. So in an effort to combat this we went through some severe technical mumbo jumbo to make sure we could move the elections to the Winter Retreat at Almont. It was the Hoppin' center of teen activity in the church.

Hey! Hey! I said OFF THE LAWN!!!

Anyway, I am pretty sure that I did nothing the entire year, except go to all the retreats I could. I was going to do that anyway, so it wasn't a real stretch. I am not even sure I forced everyone to call me 'Mr. President' all year. That would have been something. The only thing I really remember was giving the official report of all the league had done all year on the floor of convention. We got to go on right after the Convention Day Care kids did their little play. (that is a great opening act, by the way, if you can manage it.) I got to stand up and talk about all the great things the league had done that year. It was all true, but it was the work of the adults that were running the program. Still it was a pretty good speech.

I think that my NCYL leadership may have been better than my year of being Survivor president... which was...dum dum dum... the only year I didn't make it to camp. I was stuck in summer school in order to graduate from High School.

THAT DOES IT! I AM GETTING THE HOSE!!!!!

In the end what's more important than my time as president, was my time with the league as a whole. The feeling of connection with my SCYL friends made a really tough time in my life bearable. I felt appreciated for who was, and I felt free to experiment with who I wanted to be... the reason I am still involved, is to help make an environment like the one I had. There isn't much adults can do to make it, except give the space that you guys need to connect with each other.