Looking Outward and Forward, not Inward and Backward

Description

Where do we turn our attention when the past keeps pulling us back? There is a time to look inward, to acknowledge our wounds and honestly face what we carry. Those experiences matter. Yet we also need room to look “outward and forward,” toward the people we can love and the good we can do today. Drawing on Emanuel Swedenborg’s Secrets of Heaven, we explore regeneration, our gradual spiritual renewal, through “a faith based on kindness.” Such faith invites us to trust God and the goodness of life, even amid its imperfections. We find spiritual growth through serving others, allowing our conscience to guide us toward “the next right thing.” Sometimes that means one small act of compassion. As we become absorbed in something useful, we experience self-forgetfulness, a welcome release from making ourselves the center of every thought. Friends, who needs our kindness this weekend? There is meaningful life ahead, and we each have something to give.