Another distinguishing aspect of New Church theology is how we see that nature (or the natural world) plays a role in helping us understand spiritual ideas in life. The natural universe is created out of God’s mind and handiwork, and so it reveals God’s wisdom within its qualities, forms and functions.

All of creation contains an orderliness to it, which starts at the peak or highest level (which is God, as creator), extending down through Heaven and culminating in the physical universe. As we move down this ladder of the Lord’s Spirit manifesting in life, each level is a less-perfect reflection of the one above it. What is higher is revealed symbolically in an object, form or creature. Swedenborg shared this method of interpretation in his writings of a symbolic meaning represented in the Bible as he experienced a deeply reflective and lengthy connection to God.

For example, think of the warmth and goodness of the Sun. The Sun in the sky symbolizes God’s ever-present radiance of Divinity throughout life. And, the Divine Love of the Lord permeating the universe giving life to us all is like the warmth or heat of the Sun pouring out constantly in all directions, sustaining life from the beginning. We are dependent upon the heat and light of the Sun, just as we are dependent on the Lord’s loving wisdom forever as spiritual beings.

Another example of how nature symbolizes our spiritual life within us is the way that birds represent our thoughts (often flitting about, introspectively). They are our affection for higher forms of reflection and thoughts related to God and living life within spiritual values and ways of knowing what is good and true.

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We all have the capacity for higher thinking and insight, but it’s often easy to let these spiritual abilities be overtaken by worldly interests and selfish concerns. If we allow this to happen, then the “birds” or thoughts of our higher, spiritual mind are grounded by our worldliness.

However, we can open ourselves up lovingly toward the Lord, meditating often on His Word and the heavenly values contained in it. When we do this, especially when we choose to use God’s truths, mercy and kindness within our own daily living, our thoughts can soar high above a merely natural way of seeing things, the same way that birds take off from the ground and soar aloft in the golden light from the Sun (which represents God). And how beautiful is that!