Hope.
Hope, from the perspective of Spiritual Christianity, is not the same kind of hope that is spoken of in day-to-day life. It is not the hope that we have grown accustomed to.
For the hope that we mostly have knowledge of brings with it the promise, or at least the suggestion, of something better – of something better than this. An improvement on our current circumstances. A change in how we are feeling. A turnaround in our situation.
And whilst this may look the same as hope from a Spiritual Christianity point of view, the places that each type of hope leads us to are quite different.
The Bible sows the idea of hope throughout its text but here is the passage we will be working with today.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah — not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34 & Hebrews 8:8-12)
It sounds wonderful doesn’t it. A promise of redemption, of clarity and of belonging. Of a time where there is no conflict, just security and peace. And most of all – of a deep union with the Lord, with Love.
Now we will get to the differences in where a natural hope and spiritual hope lead us to, but firstly let’s look at what they have in common. For a state of hope arises out of a state of its opposite – of a lack of hope. And this can include feelings of despair, despondency, helplessness, anxiety, of there being no possibility of change, of an inability to have any effect, and of being completely and utterly alone and uncared for. And at the root of all these feelings is the idea that we have lost something that we feel we should have. Or once did have. So hope is always preceded by grief.
And here is where natural hope starts to become distinct from spiritual hope because if we look to apply the principles that the doctrines for Spiritual Christianity teach then we start to form a very different relationship to our grief and what it is we are grieving the loss of. Hence the hope that arises in the equilibrium as its opposite is also different.
Let’s look at the passage from Scripture again but this time with a more literal translation from Jonathan Mitchell’s New Testament.
For continuously blaming (finding fault and being dissatisfied with) them, He is saying, “‘Consider! Days are progressively coming,’ says the Lord [=Yahweh], ‘and I shall progressively bring an end together (a conclusion of its destiny; or: a joint-goal) upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah with a new arrangement (covenant; disposition), “‘not down from nor in accord with the arrangement (covenant) which I made with their fathers, in a day of My taking hold upon their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain (abide; dwell) in My arrangement (covenant) and, for my part, I cared not for (was unconcerned about; neglected) them,’ says the Lord [= Yahweh]. “‘Because this is the arrangement (covenant; disposition) which I shall continue arranging for the house of Israel, after those days,’ says the Lord: ‘progressively giving My Laws into their thought (into that which goes through their mind; into their perception and comprehension), and I shall progressively imprint them (write or inscribe marks) upon their hearts, and I shall continue being in and among them ([in relation] to them; for them), into [the position of] a God, and they shall continue being (exist being) in Me ([in relation] to Me; for Me), into [the position of] a people. “‘And they may by no means teach each one his fellow-citizen, and each one his brother, saying, “Know the Lord (or: You must be intimate with [Yahweh]),“ because everyone (all) shall progressively perceive and thus understand and be acquainted with Me, from a little one even to a large one of them, “‘because I shall continue being (existing) merciful with a cleansing covering for their injustices (behaviours contrary to the Way pointed out; inequities) and acts of lawlessness, and then I would by no means be reminded further of their mistakes and failures (errors and falling short of the target; sins).‘”
Now one of the key principles of Spiritual Christianity is that all life flows in. The implications of this being that anything which identifies with what is flowing in as its own life is in contradiction to this principle and is therefore an activity that is in opposition to the Divine Law, and hence in opposition to the Divine, to the Lord. So it is in opposition to what truth teaches. The teachings for Spiritual Christianity refer to this sense of self which owns Divine life as the hellish own or proprium and says that the natural man, which in other places is substituted with the term natural mind, is governed by this proprium. It also says that the natural mind is where this own or proprium lives and that this sense of self is the default setting for everyone of us. In fact, the doctrines further inform that it is only the Word, the Logos, Divine truth, that can open the spiritual mind which is the mind that is instead governed by the heavenly own or proprium. So essentially, the spiritual mind is the presence of Divine truth offering us a new way of thinking that is different from our default mode and so is the experience of the Divine Being, the true owner of life, actively at work in our life.
… when the spiritual man does not flow in, knowledges in the natural man are turned into mere falsities, and its thoughts into confirmations of falsity and into reasonings from them against truths. … Such, therefore, seek truths from no other source than themselves, for each one’s own [proprium] has its seat in the natural man, and what is not his own has its seat in the spiritual; they therefore seize upon falsities instead of truths, and upon evils instead of goods, calling evils goods and falsities truths, and trusting in themselves, because they trust in what is their own [proprium]. (Apocalypse Explained 355{36})
So, in this passage from Scripture, the new covenant that is referred to, or the new arrangement, is the new form of mind that the doctrines for Spiritual Christianity offers us. It is what Divine revelation in the form of truths about the nature of the Divine and the self, offer us. And as these principles about the Lord and about the nature of reality enter into our mind and we start to apply them to examine the sense of self, the own /proprium, they start to form a new default mode. A new core of being that we can live and think and act from. A new heart in the human…
‘progressively giving My Laws into their thought (into that which goes through their mind; into their perception and comprehension), and I shall progressively imprint them (write or inscribe marks) upon their hearts,
Now if we come back to our grief and examine it a little more closely we can see that all grief is a lament that the situation isn’t what we desire it to be because of some other idea that we have of what it should be. Therefore, we are grieving the loss of what we feel is missing or has been removed which then gives rise to states of wanting things to change and be different. But at the core of this thinking is the idea that we are owed something, that we deserve or are owed a certain state of being, a certain state of life. And then hope is consequently a promise that offers to rectify this or return the desired state of life to us. This is natural hope for it is based on the illusion that we are the life that flows in and hence we identify with it as being something that belongs to us, as something that we have ownership of. What follows from this thinking is that therefore our objections are valid when the state of life is not agreeable with what we want. The kind of promise that natural hope offers then actually just reinforces our sense of ownership of Divine life. It ends up being a repeating cycle or endless loop of dissatisfaction with life, then fixation on what will make us feel better, striving to achieve it and then dissatisfaction again when it doesn’t hold up to its promise.
And why doesn’t it?
Because the natural mind identifies with the feelings and thoughts that flow into it as itself. It therefore feels everything as its own. It feels the states of satisfaction and happiness when life goes according to what it wants but it also deeply feels the states of dissatisfaction when there is conflict. So, it feels all the fluctuations of the thoughts and feelings as its own. And the ones that challenge the ideas that are most central to the identity that it has of itself, are the ones that it will feel more intensely as negative states than others.
The house of Israel and the house of Judah each represent the spiritual and celestial states of thinking and feeling that the Word offers us in what it teaches and, when applied, it can transform our life. Now the Lord can lead these potential states of the house of Israel and the house of Judah out of Egypt, out of the natural mind, out of the proprium’s love of itself, for Egypt represents the natural (Arcana Coelestia 5406, Apocalypse Explained 355{36}), but unless the arrangement of truths and the new ways of thinking that the Word offers us is adhered to … then we fall back into that revolving cycle where natural hope is all that is available. And part of that cycle is the state of no hope: of despair, despondency helplessness, of there being no possibility of change, of an inability to have any effect, and a feeling of being lost, alone and uncared for.
because they did not remain (abide; dwell) in My arrangement (covenant) and, for my part, I cared not for (was unconcerned about; neglected) them,’ says the Lord [= Yahweh]. “
So, what is spiritual hope then and how is it different? As we have already seen, the spiritual mind is formed by truths, by the new ways of thinking and thus feeling, that the Word offers us. It is the new default mode that is slowly being formed as we take the principles of Spiritual Christianity and use them to examine the sense of self, the own/proprium, and its activity. So spiritual hope then is the hope that arises from applying these principles when we experience the states of grief and no hope.
Now take note – we aren’t expecting there to be no negative states, or states of no conflict or loss, or states of no despair, hopeless and feeling alone. The hellish own/proprium exists, it is our normal default mode and has been so for a very long time. Its influence isn’t going to go away overnight and in fact, it won’t ever go away – it is part of what it means to be finite, of being a receiver of Divine life. And because of this, it is a part of the process of working with truths and spiritual work. However, Divine revelation offers us a new way of being in relationship with the hellish own/proprium – and this is spiritual hope.
Because what the spiritual mind can do, that is, what truths about the nature of the Divine and the proprium can do, is influence and govern the natural mind. It can rein it in when it sees that it is starting to want to take control, or when it has taken over. And it can do this by offering reminders of spiritual principles when the states of grief and despair arrive or take over. And it can be a very simple reminder like,
All life flows in …
Because the thoughts that can follow from this might be:
- Therefore, these feelings are the proprium cycling over and over in itself.
- Therefore, these big and strong feelings are not ‘me’, not ‘mine’.
- Therefore, these negative states are the sense of self owning what is Divine.
- Therefore, this will pass as something else will soon flow in.
- Therefore, I just need to try and flow with this without owning it and let it take its course.
- Therefore, even though I feel awful, I can also acknowledge this as the proprium and the Lord showing me its nature.
The possibilities of responses to this one simple truth are infinite. The point is, is that the spiritual mind is the arrangement of thinking and feeling that adheres to the covenant with the Lord. And because it does this, even if the natural mind initially falls into ownership of the feelings and thoughts that are flowing in and consequently moves into states of grief and despair, it doesn’t progress into or continue in condemnation once the spiritual mind acknowledges the presence of this proprium and its activity.
because everyone (all) shall progressively perceive and thus understand and be acquainted with Me, from a little one even to a large one of them, “‘because I shall continue being (existing) merciful with a cleansing covering for their injustices (behaviours contrary to the Way pointed out; inequities) and acts of lawlessness, and then I would by no means be reminded further of their mistakes and failures (errors and falling short of the target; sins). (JMNT)
… for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (NKJV)
This is the inner peace that spiritual hope inspires us into.
What simple statement of truth will you work with today?