Reflection

Preached on 10-08-00

REFLECTION

A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose

"How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word." (Ps. 119:9)

OUR SUBJECT THIS MORNING is the doctrine of reflection. This doctrine is truly remarkable. It is said, in the Spiritual Diary, that "there are more arcana in the doctrine of reflection than in any other whatsoever" (SD 733). It is also said that "the doctrine of reflection is a complete doctrine, and without it no one can know what interior life is, nor even what the life of the body is" (SD 739). In other words, reflection, and our ability to reflect, go to the very heart of what life is all about. They go to the very heart of what it means to be a human being. Indeed, our ability to reflect upon things is fundamental to salvation itself.

We can get some idea of just how important reflection really is, by considering the role it plays in everyday life. A simple ordinary day is something that is really very complex indeed. From the time we get up in the morning till the time we go to bed at night, we have to deal with a multitude of different things. Just think of how many things you see, how many things you have to react to or deal with, and how many things you have to consider, in just one very ordinary day! How do we manage? How do we cope? The reason we can deal with the many things which happen every day is that we don't reflect upon most of them. Much of what we do is done from habit. It is done without reflection. And much of what we see and hear we don't stop to think about.

The Writings give the example of Swedenborg's not noticing a bell that chimed every hour. Because he was used to it, and wasn't paying attention, he wasn't even aware of the sound (SD 2248). And, when he was writing, he would be holding the pen in his hand, but, unless he stopped to reflect on it, he was completely unaware of the pressure of his fingers upon the pen (ibid.). And it is of course the same with us. Much of what we do, and much of what we see or hear, we do not reflect on.

Our ability to reflect, then, is a way of exercising mental freedom. We can choose to ignore certain things, and so filter out unwanted distractions. We can also choose to reflect upon and notice those things that are significant to us.

Because of this, each of us lives to a large degree in a world that we have fashioned for ourselves. Ten people may be in the same room. But it really isn't exactly the same room at all. Each one sees, notices or reflects upon different things, depending upon his or her interests.

It is primarily our interests, our delights, which govern this process. It is said that a person "does not reflect upon any other things than such as his pleasantness and desire take up. The rest are to him as shades, all as it were rejected far to the sides, so that he sees and hears, and does not see and does not hear" (SD 2850).

To see and not see. To hear and not hear. As human beings, endowed with mental freedom, we have a remarkable ability to focus our attention upon those things which we love. And we also have a remarkable capacity for being blind to and for not listening to those things we dislike.

We see this in all areas of human life. It explains why a child, deeply immersed in some game, doesn't hear his mother calling him in for supper. It explains why different witnesses to the same crime so often have different accounts of what actually happened. And think of something so prosaic, and yet so dangerous, as the highway. How many accidents are caused by a driver, whose mind is elsewhere, simply failing to see another vehicle?

On a deeper level, in spiritual matters, lack of reflection also results in blindness. People can read the Word -- the Old Testament, the New Testament, or the Writings, and fail to see anything of real interest in them. How incredible it is that the source of all spiritual light, the source of all spiritual wisdom should fail to interest them! Such, though, can be the blindness of human beings. And when it comes to seeing their own spiritual weaknesses, people can be just as blind. They can clearly see the weaknesses of others, but they can be completely unaware of the most glaring weaknesses within themselves.

Such is human blindness. And such is human freedom. The freedom which the Lord gives us is very real indeed. We can focus our minds on whatever we want. We can see what we want to see, and ignore what we want to ignore.

In giving us this freedom, though, the Lord does not simply abandon us to our own devices. Freedom: the freedom to love, the freedom to think, the freedom to reflect, is, essentially, the Lord's. It flows into us from Him, from within. And He leads us in the exercise of this freedom. He doesn't make our choices for us. But He helps us, He encourages us, to make good choices. And one way in which He leads us is by bringing things to our attention.

The Lord does this even on the plane of ordinary everyday life. Although we tend to focus only on certain things, things which interest us, we are still generally aware of many other things that might be going on around us. For example, we might happen to go for a walk with someone, and be so deep in conversation that we are only vaguely aware of our surroundings. But still there is some awareness, what the Writings call a "general reflection" (SD 3991), which helps us avoid obstacles while we are walking. This general reflection, as does all ability to reflect, comes from within, from influx from the Lord, and it is the way in which He draws our attention to potentially dangerous things, and so protects us from many of the things which might harm us (ibid.). So it is that even though people do indeed sometimes walk into trees, trip over things, or pull out right in front of another vehicle, most of the time they notice such dangers, even when they are thinking of other things. Such is the nature of that general reflection in everyday life which is granted to us by the Lord for our protection.

It is similar on the spiritual plane. The ability to reflect spiritually is a precious gift from the Lord. It is something which distinguishes us from animals. There are, the Arcana tells us, three degrees of life within a human being. The lowest degree of life is similar to that of animals. Above this we have a second degree of life. From this degree we can reflect upon the Word, and think about heaven, and about the Lord. And from this same second degree we can look down upon ourselves, reflect upon what we see in the lower degree, and so change the way we live. And the second degree has this ability by virtue of influx from the third or highest degree. This third degree is above our awareness, but it is through this highest degree that the Lord flows into our minds and gives us the ability to feel, to think, to reflect and act as human beings (AC 3747:3).

All too often, though, people fail to exercise these precious human faculties. Despite their ability to reflect spiritually, they fail to do so, and so ignore the teachings of the Lord's Word. As in all matters relating to reflection, it comes down to a matter of interest. People, by nature, are more interested in worldly things than they are in spiritual things. "At this day," the Arcana says, "man cares not what is taking place within him, because external things occupy his whole attention" (AC 5224:2). It is so easy to get caught up in external things, to the point where such things become an end unto themselves. Then internal things -- such things as love, faith, and trust in and obedience to the Lord -- no longer matter. The Lord's Word, which talks about such things, then becomes irrelevant. It is even worse when a man is involved in active evil, and is enjoying this evil. The delights of evil, we are told, "captivate the thoughts and banish reflection" (DP 113). When a man regards worldly things as an end unto themselves, or when he is in the active enjoyment of evil, he has no desire to reflect upon the teachings of the Word. The Lord talks about this lack of spiritual reflection in the parable of the sower. "And the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful" (Mk. 4:19).

If we don't reflect upon the Word, it becomes unfruitful. And this is our natural tendency. We tend to ignore the Word -- and fail to reflect on what it is really saying. This, the Writings say, is why it is so important to know truths. "It is of the greatest importance to know truths," we are told, "for without knowledges, there can be no reflection, thus no reformation." (SD 737). Those things a person has learned from the Word may not particularly interest him. He may in fact be far more interested in worldly matters than in the state of his spirit. Spiritual truth may even seem completely irrelevant to him. But still such knowledge is important, for through it the Lord can at times grant him reflection. We read that "men learn what is true and good from the Word of the Lord, in order that from it they may reflect upon themselves, whether they are such, which reflection is given them at certain times, especially in times of distress" (ibid.).

On the natural plane the Lord grants us a general reflection, which gives us the ability to notice dangers which might threaten us. On the spiritual plane the Lord grants us at times a similar reflection. All of us face spiritual dangers, dangers we tend to ignore. And so the Lord calls these dangers to our attention. A person may have only a general knowledge of spiritual truth, and he may never reflect on what he has been taught. But still, when the time is right, the Lord can allow him to undergo various experiences, especially "times of distress," which help the person face to face with spiritual reality. Such experiences gain the his attention, so that he then has the opportunity to stop and think -- stop and reflect -- upon the direction his life is taking. The Lord doesn't bring us hardship. But He will allow it if it is the only way of getting us to reflect and to pay attention.

And the Lord needs to get our attention. He wants us to stop, and to reflect. "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your Word." The Lord wants us to stop and take the time to think about the truths of His Word, pay attention to it teachings, and reflect upon what they really mean. And He wants us to then use these truths to reflect upon ourselves. He wants us to come to see what we are really like. It is the only way that our lives can be cleansed of evil.

To come to know ourselves is the very purpose of such spiritual reflection. Indeed, one passage actually defines reflection as "self-knowledge" (SD 2107). Self-knowledge, though, does not come easily. Of all forms of reflection, the one that can seem the most difficult of all is reflection upon ourselves. And the most common of all mental blindnesses is that blindness that people have about themselves. They don't see, because they fail to stop and reflect, what they themselves are really like.

This is why the Lord has given us His Word. And this is why the Lord flows in from within, giving us the ability to look down upon ourselves. He wants us to do this most difficult of all things. He wants us to look at ourselves, reflect upon ourselves, and measure ourselves and our behavior against the teachings His Word. This seems very difficult, at first. But it is the very means through which we can be changed, and be saved, and be conjoined with the Lord. As is said in the work Divine Providence, "if a man reflects upon the evils in himself, which is the same thing as examining himself, and shuns them, he then frees himself from hell and casts it behind him, and introduces himself into heaven where he sees the Lord face to face. It is stated that man does this, but he does it as of himself, and then from the Lord" (DP 321:7).

To reflect upon the Word, and to then reflect our own lives in the light of the Word, is absolutely necessary for our salvation. We must take heed according to the Lord's Word. It is the only way in which we can be introduced into heaven. It is the only way we can, as it says in Divine Providence, "see the Lord face to face."

Now we all know this. We all know that we should reflect upon the teachings of the Word. We all know that we should reflect upon the way we live. But it is also something that is so easy to forget. We live in a busy world, a hectic world, a world that places many demands upon our time and energy. It is not easy to find the time to reflect upon spiritual things. At least that is what many people tell themselves. But time is not really the issue. Reflection upon the Word is more a matter of focus than it is a matter of time.

We do find time for the things we really want. And we find that time by ignoring other things, things that are less important to us. The only way to cope in life is by making choices -- choices about what we will focus on and what we will not focus on. This is the very freedom the Lord has given us.

What the Lord asks of us is very simple. He asks us to choose to pay attention to His Word. He asks us to take the time, or, more to the point, make the effort, to focus our minds upon the teachings of Divine Revelation. And He also asks us to reflect periodically upon ourselves, upon our inner and outer lives, so that we can see and then shun those evils which infest us.

Such reflection is not a matter of time. Indeed it need not take a great amount of time at all. All it takes is the courage and the determination to pay attention to what the Lord is teaching us, and to then live according to His Word.

To do this is to practice spiritual reflection. This is how we are to cleanse our way. And this is how the Lord can at last lead us to Himself, and bring us into His kingdom in the heavens.

Amen.

Lessons: Ps. 119:9-16; Mk. 4:14-20; SD 733, 737, 739