Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Behold! I Make All Things New!

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

Jesus said, "Behold I make all things new" (Revelation 5:5). And while it can seem like things are the same day in and day out, we are changing as time passes. In the spiritual world, angels are brought through changes of state that follow seasons. They go through a springtime, when their love and wisdom are at a peak, then a summer, then a fall, as they begin to fall more into their selfhood, and then into a winter when they are more deeply in their selfhood and less in God's peace and life.

There is a reason for these changes of state. They teach the angels that their whole spiritual life depends on God. It breaks their desire to follow selfhood, and turns their hearts toward God. And it teaches them to feel goodness more keenly from the diminished goodness of spiritual winter.

We go through similar changes here on earth, if we pay attention to our inner life. As the seasons return, we think of where we were last year this time. We have the passage of time in this world to help us to pay attention to what's going on inside us. We have photographs to show us how we have changed over the years. All these things help us to see how our minds and hearts have changed, developed and grown over time.

In this new year, we may have made resolutions, as we do each year. Some of these resolutions last for a few weeks and then are forgotten. Some resolutions stay with us. But whether we consciously choose to change and follow a resolution, God is still leading us into new states. We are being made new each day, whether we are aware of it or not. "Behold, I make all things new."

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