A Church That Belongs to Everyone

Description

What does it mean to belong to a church that reaches across faiths? I find something deeply hopeful in the Swedenborgian understanding of the Universal Church: wherever people acknowledge God and practice love, we share a spiritual home. “The variety of all the forms of worship is the source of heaven’s perfection.” Our different perspectives contribute to that beauty. Love holds us together. When I remember that there is a higher power and I am not it, humility opens the door to curiosity, respect, and service. Yet living this way asks something of us. We have spiritual work to do: listening carefully, letting go of the impulse to judge another person’s worthiness, and clearing away the habits that keep us from loving our neighbors. Today, I invite us to look at one another with fresh eyes and practice being the church that belongs to all.