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Arcana Coelestia

6004 [2] In regard to truth being initiated into the memory-knowledges of the church, the case is this. The memory-knowledges of the church were at that time the representatives and significatives of their rituals, for all the rituals of the church were from such things, as also were the memory-knowledges which served as their doctrinals of charity. From these memory-knowledges they knew who are meant by the poor, the needy, the miserable, the afflicted, the oppressed, widows, orphans, sojourners, the bound in prison, the naked, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the maimed, and by many other classes into which they distinguished the neighbor, and thus taught how charity was to be exercised. Such were the memory-knowledges of that time. That at this day these are altogether blotted out of remembrance is evident from the fact that where the above are mentioned in the Word, scarcely anyone knows but that such are meant as are so called-as that widows are meant where “widows” are mentioned, sojourners where “sojourners” are mentioned, the bound in prison where these are mentioned, and so on. Such memory-knowledges flourished in Egypt; and therefore by “Egypt” are signified memory-knowledges. That natural truth which is “Jacob” was to be initiated into such memory-knowledges, is represented by Jacob’s going down into Egypt with all that belonged to him.

[3] Truths are said to be initiated into such memory-knowledges when they are brought into them, so as to be in them. This is effected for the reason that when a memory-knowledge comes into the thought, the truths which have been brought into it may come at the same time into remembrance; as for example, when a sojourner is presented to the thought, seeing that by him are signified those who are to be instructed, that there should instantly come into thought all the exercises of charity toward such, thus truths. In like manner in all other cases. When memory-knowledges are thus filled, then when anyone is thinking from them, the thought extends and diffuses itself far and wide, and indeed to many societies in the heavens at the same time. For such a memory-knowledge, consisting as it does of so many truths within itself, unknown to the man, unfolds itself in this way; but it is necessary that truths be in them.

Heaven and Hell 

157. Every angel undergoes and passes through such changes of state and so does each society in general, yet each one there differently from another because they differ in love and wisdom, those in the middle being in a more perfect state than those round about as far as the boundaries; (see above 43, 528). It would be rather long drawn out to specify the differences since each one undergoes changes in accordance with the quality of his love and faith. From this it comes about that while one may be in his clearness and delight, another is in his obscurity and lack of delight, and this, at the same time within the same society. So, too, the state differs in different societies, and will be different in the societies of the celestial kingdom from what it is in those of the spiritual kingdom. These changes of state differ in general like the variations of the states of the days in different climates on the earth, for with some it is morning when with others it is evening, and with some it is hot when with others it is cold, and vice versa.

From the Logopraxis Handbook

The Lived Experience of the Word is the Soul of the Group 

The Lord is looking to be present in our midst and He is present when the things of the Word are made the basis for our being together. The Word governs the whole of heaven, and it is its reception into the hearts and minds of all there that organises it into the human form within which the Lord dwells as a spirit within its body. Thus, the collective human that forms when a Life Group meets together is brought into being as we share our direct experience of the Word working in our lives with others. We find ourselves in a sacred space where the Word can be known as the Lord.  

“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20).  

By the Lord’s name is meant the Word, for the Lord is the Word (Arcana Coelestia  5502; John 1:1).  

 In the very act of meeting, what we bring from our experience of the Word’s operation in our life becomes a living conjoining presence creating connections:  

• between us and each other,  
• between us and those in the spiritual world,  
• between us and the Lord  

It is this lived experience of the Word, when shared with others, that serves as the soul or life of the group. It is what connects each to the other. 

Each time we meet, a sense of the Lord’s presence as the life of the group is created afresh. The Lord takes the shared experiences of people’s work with the Word and apportions to each according to their need and capacity to receive. It is a process through which the Lord weaves the individual experiences into a single collective experience. This opens up the possibility for those present to experience the group as a collective person that has the Word for its soul. To see this is to see another aspect of the Lord in His Divine Human as the Word working in our midst. 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.