Distributed for Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
12 Miracles of Spiritual Growth
A Path of Healing from the Gospels
Our spiritual wounds and weaknesses, E. Kent Rogers tells us, are truly blessings in disguise. They allow the Lord to enter our hearts and work through us, revealing his healing power to all.
In this practical guide to healing our inner selves, Rogers takes the reader on a journey through twelve of Jesus’s miracles from the Gospels, examining the lessons that each can teach us. From the story of the Canaanite’s daughter (healing from feelings of unworthiness) through the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus (finding spiritual rebirth), Jesus’s miracles trace a path of spiritual growth that is as powerful today as it was during his lifetime.
Written as a guide for group sharing, this book can also be used for personal study. Each chapter concludes with a guided meditation, a summary of the lessons taught by the miracle being discussed, suggested exercises, and questions for discussion or reflection. While the book grew from the author’s experience as a Swedenborgian, it can easily be used by seekers from any faith tradition.
Excerpt
[This chapter discusses the healing of the paralytic from Mark 2:1-12]
In most cases of paralysis the brain is in good condition and has messages to send the body, and the body is also fit, able to execute the commands of the brain. The problem arises because of a failure in communication between the head and the body due to nerve damage in the neck. People who believe in Jesus as Lord often refer to themselves as “the body of Christ” and understand Jesus to be the head of that body. In this miracle we see the same problem replicated in a fractal-like manner on three levels of reality. Just as communication between the paralytic’s brain and body was blocked, so communication between Christ and the man as a member of the body of Christ was physically blocked by the pressing throng, which he could not get through. These are the first two parallel replications of the same problem. The third way communication failure is expressed within this miracle is by the unforgiving spirit of the Pharisees. The false belief that sins cannot be forgiven blocks us from sensing God’s communications with us. Until we arrive at a state of forgiveness, we are severed from feeling God’s presence in our lives. This miracle is Jesus’s way of healing us of this form of spiritual paralysis.
“Who can forgive sins but God alone?” It would seem that these are the words of a callous, uncaring heart, and yet many of us have a similar voice sounding in our own consciousness. We want people to pay for their misdeeds in full—especially those whose actions harmed us personally. Someone aggravates us. We mentally review the interaction over and over, enforcing our rightness and the other party’s wrongness. Maybe we even imagine revenge scenarios or future arguments in which we really cut the other down to size. Every time we hold a grudge like this, we can know that the Pharisees of our heart are hard at work. In holding a grudge, we are cut off from communication with God. Our condemning attitude and God’s forgiving love are mutually exclusive.
Sometimes this unforgiving voice targets other people. But just as often, it is ourselves we refuse to forgive. We did something we knew was wrong. We hurt someone or we betrayed our own sense of what is right. We are dismayed or maybe even horrified, and we choose not to forgive ourselves. Frequently, we don’t even know how to forgive ourselves. We are paralyzed.