Last week I spoke about correspondences – the symbolism in the Bible and in nature, and I noted that some correspondences seem obscure, some more plain. What does “water” represent? Swedenborg says it in thousands of places: water is truth. In Secrets of Heaven #5676 he even says “Everyone can plainly see that “seeking water” denotes seeking truth.”
But another question I posed last week is: what do I do with that information? It’s a little like learning about botany or birdwatching. You can find a guidebook that tells you what the name of a particular plant or bird is, and your response might be just “okay.” It’s just a tidbit of information that you might file away. It only becomes meaningful if you have a use for that information. A list of plants can tell you what to plant in a particular area, or what to avoid when walking through the woods, or when a particular plant will bloom. If you are a birdwatcher, you want to do more than just identify a bird: the fun is in watching them in action, seeing how they behave, learning about migration patterns. In other words, you are supposed to go beyond the basic level of information and do something further with it.
Likewise, I think a Swedenborgian is supposed to do more than just note that this thing corresponds to that, and that’s all. I don’t think Swedenborg intended for us to just learn and catalogue things like that. I believe he wanted us to take it to the next step, and the step beyond that, and beyond that. If water = truth, what does that teach us about the nature of truth? How it works, what it does, what its interesting qualities are.
When it comes to water, it has many interesting qualities. Because it is so common, it is easy to forget how strange it is. I looked up articles on the odd qualities of water, but I don’t have a chemistry degree so I couldn’t follow a lot of what I was reading. But I did get that water is the only common substance that naturally transitions from liquid to solid to gaseous state. It is also the only common substance that expands instead of contracts when it freezes to solid state. It is, of course, highly “fluid” and easy to move through, but thanks to surface tension, insects can ride on top of it without breaking through, and if you land on water from a high enough distance, it is like hitting concrete. Scientists are only now beginning to understand why ice is even slippery. Why do we need so much water in our bodies, and can so easily die of thirst? And what does all of this say about the nature of truth? So, there are many qualities of water I could talk about, but for today I will focus on two, and how they connect to other elements.
One thing that has intrigued me during this whole past month, thinking about the elements, is the question of strength. I liked to imagine playing a game of rock-paper-scissors, but instead of paper and scissors, it would be a game of rock-water-air-fire. Which one defeats which? Rock is so solid, and air is thin and invisible, so rock defeats air, right? Well, we talked previously about tornadoes and hurricanes, and how air can destroy stone and brick and wood. What about fire? Water extinguishes fire, obviously, but raging fires can dry up a pond. So it sounds like if I was making up the rules for a game of rock-water-air-fire, I could arbitrarily decide one way or another. But this isn’t about arbitrary games. I want to talk about how symbolism can be translated into practical life lessons.
Last week we talked about the dual nature of correspondences; how there is a good and a bad symbolism for everything. And that means there is a good fire (love) and a bad fire (hatred and anger). One thing I didn’t mention about the bad kind, the fire that keeps burning and consumes, is that it needs fuel. You have to feed that fire, and if you are talking about anger and hatred, what is the fuel? Sometimes people feel like they ought to stay angry; it is good to be outraged, it gives them energy and makes them feel alive, so they search for fuel to feed that fire. The question is: does the fuel for that fire consist of lies?
Think of situations where someone has wronged you in some way. You keep reminding yourself of the hurt, to make sure you don’t inadvertently forgive them. You say “They ruined my life!” But is that the truth of the situation? Yes, they presented you with a challenge, they made you suffer. But did they “ruin” your life? Perhaps you actually benefited from that challenge. Perhaps the suffering made you stronger, or drew you closer to people you love.
What happens if you add the water of truth to that situation? What if you acknowledge, “No, that’s actually not true that my life was ruined”? What happens to the fire?
I think of a therapist named Byron Katie, who has developed a program she calls “The Work.” It’s all about personal hurts and conflicts that plague you, and how to get beyond them. She has a series of four questions that you should ask about those hurtful things, and what you tell yourself about them. The first question is: Is it true? Have you been distorting, exaggerating, or lying to yourself? The second question is: “Can you absolutely know that it’s true?” This may sound redundant, but it is a useful exercise to stop and question how you know what you know, and if you are making assumptions. The third question is: “What happens when you believe that thought?” Does it keep an angry fire going? Does it make your life better? The fourth question is: “Who would you be without that thought?” Is your identity wrapped up in your anger and pain? What if you let it go?
If you look at it, Byron Katie’s plan is to look for the truth of the situation. And if you understand the truth, the fire goes out.
The story of Balaam and the donkey is a great example. Balaam was enraged with his own animal, and said he wanted to kill it: that is angry fire. What is the sin that is so bad that Balaam deserves to kill his own animal? “You made a fool of me.” What is the truth of the situation? That the donkey was protecting him. I can just imagine Balaam asking Byron Katie’s four questions: “It is true that the donkey is trying to ruin your life?” No. “Can you absolutely know that it’s true?” I like the fact that when the donkey begins to speak, the first thing it says is, “What kind of donkey have I been to you before?” And Balaam has to admit, it’s been a good donkey up to now. “What happens when you believe that thought that the donkey is trying to ruin you?” It makes you want to kill a loyal and useful animal. It is not until Balaam recognizes what the donkey could already see – the truth of the situation – that he immediately calms down. The water of truth doused his raging anger. So there is the life lesson: if you feel burning rage, stop and look for the truth. And perhaps the truth is that you want to keep that fire burning by throwing lies onto it.
Think on a larger scale about what happens during a war. I would not say that all wars are started by lies, or that it is wrong to defend your country if you are attacked. Sometimes the attacker does have bad intentions, and stopping them is right. But regardless of the reason for the war, there is a lie that creeps into many wars, and it’s a lie about the enemy.
The lie: “Those aren’t human beings.” The enemy isn’t actually human; they are just brute savages that can’t be reasoned with. And yes, they may do inhuman things, and they may not listen to reason (perhaps because their heads are on fire with lies about you). But are they human beings? Yes, of course they are. You can tell by looking at them.
On the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, and all the ensuing discussion of racism, many of us have been thinking about where racial tensions began in America: with slavery. And what is the lie that was necessary to justify slavery? “Those aren’t human beings.” It’s okay to take people away from their homeland and their families, because they are not really people.
Here I would like to turn my attention back to the first element I discussed: earth. Specifically, the stone form: stone walls. Some people, when they are confronted with the truth, just deny it and ignore it. Or, to put it another way, they “stone wall.” And what is stronger, water or stone? Well, if you are in a flood plain, you can build a levee to keep the water at bay.
When I preached about earth, the theme was that solid foundational beliefs are essential. But again, there is a good and bad form of every correspondence. And some beliefs are wrong – some people build stone walls to protect themselves against the truth. In the case of slavery and the belief that some races are inferior, that stone wall held up for hundreds of years. But which side will eventually win, the water of truth or the stone wall of denial?
So that is the other quality of water I want to talk about. In addition to putting out fires, water also dissolves. It has been called the universal solvent. It’s a little hard for beginning chemistry students to grasp, especially after they hear about more dramatic solvents like sulfuric acid. And they might think, “But our bodies are 60% water!” Thankfully, our bodies are not made of stone.
Water dissolves stone. It may take a long, long time, but even the hardest stone is no match for the constant flow of water. I think of the Grand Canyon, carved out by the Colorado River. The Colorado is not even a particularly strong river, but over the course of five million years, it carved out a canyon a mile deep and 300 miles long. Or closer to home, St. Anthony Falls, which has to be artificially reinforced. During the height of the milling boom, the water was eroding the limestone so effectively that the falls retreated 26 feet per year. I grew up near Niagara Falls, which was retreating at an average rate of five feet per year.
If you are trying to keep the truth at bay, doing everything you can to hide from it, it may work for a while. I recently watched a BBC series called “Mrs. Wilson” – a true story of a woman in England in 1962 whose husband died of a heart attack. And soon after his death, another woman showed up at her door step announcing that she was also Mrs. Wilson. And then a third, and a fourth. Alec Wilson was a bigamist, which he succeeded in keeping a secret until the day he died. But the truth kept coming, like a stream that won’t stop.
Think of George Floyd, and the trial of Derek Chauvin. The court process is not perfect, but there is something very comforting in the slow, methodical process of trying to get at the truth. It felt like a stream of water breaking away a stone wall. People had different goals and hopes and agendas, and some of the facts may have been uncomfortable to look at. Was George Floyd on drugs at the time? Yes, the evidence showed, he was – he was a drug addict. But was he a threat to Officer Chauvin after he had been arrested and subdued? No, the jury concluded, he was not a threat. Some people may still deny that the truth came out during that trial. But for most of us, it quenched the thirst we had to find out what really happened.
It is why I chose the New Testament reading that I did, even though it does not mention water. “The truth will set you free.” That may sound ironic to Officer Chauvin, or any other defendant that is thrown in prison. Sitting behind bars, they may feel “enslaved.” But as Jesus went on to say, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” If you are trying to stay out of prison (or a lawsuit), you may build a stone wall as protection. But that stone wall is your prison.
You may be horrified at the possibility that the stream of truth will erode that wall, and you will be exposed. But that is the only thing that will truly free you.
So you can thank the Lord that in the battle between fire and stone and water – the water of truth will win. And the reward is that you will be as free as the air. Amen.
READINGS
Old Testament reading: Numbers 22:21-31
Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road. Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again. Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.” The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” “No,” he said. Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
New Testament reading: John 8:31-36
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Reading from Swedenborg: Secrets of Heaven #5676:(6) (Discussing Isaiah 41:17-18)
“The poor and needy search for water,
but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the Lord will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.” (Isaiah 41:17, 18)
Everyone can plainly see that “seeking water” denotes seeking truth; that “failing for thirst” denotes being deprived of spiritual life from a lack of truth; that “rivers,” “fountains,” “a pool,” and “springs of waters” denote the truths of faith in which they were to be instructed.