In November last year, I attended four interactive lectures on the spirituality of novelist Jane Austen. They were presented by the Rev Preb Paula Hollingsworth, a sub dean of Wells Cathedral, who is also our Anglican parish vicar in my village of Priddy. She has been invited to write a book on this subject and her discourse on a ‘virtue centred approach to ethics’ has fired my imagination.

In New Church terms, my understanding of virtue based ethics centres on a person’s ability to consistently discipline and regulate herself internally; to behave in principled ways to support the neighbour through her external behaviour. In our case, these principles are informed by our Swedenborgian teachings, an open rational mind with a developed conscience and most importantly, a willingness to love the Lord and be led by Him. In essence, I’m describing our moral compass.
Continue reading Re-Education is Part of Regeneration →

I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy!

Louise Bogan

At times the Lord can seem pretty divorced from the very real suffering around me. Where is He in the indescribable emptiness after a miscarriage, the hopelessness of a failed relationship, or a broken home? Where is He in the shocking prevalence of abuse as you learn of yet another loved ones’ past experience? Where is He in the numbing reality of a severe illness in a family member? And that doesn’t even touch on the greater world suffering. I find it is especially hard to feel the Lord’s presence as an observer to these pains. I find I have an easier time accepting comfort from the Lord when it is my own suffering, but when it is the suffering of someone I love, I feel helpless. Helpless and guilty. Guilty for not sharing that pain, and guilty for the goodness in my life that seems unjustifiably kept from others. And so I find that a deep, seldom acknowledged part of me is quietly asking: Are You really here, Lord? Do You really care? And since You do care, which I know You do, why so much pain?
Continue reading World of Pain, World of Joy →