Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life

In a question posted on Christianity StackExchange a few years ago, a person named Ambrosia asked: I’ve lately been interested in the life of the people in Eden. According to Emanuel Swedenborg, how separated is it from the life we are living today? How did husbands and wives interact? What were their daily routines or lifestyles? You can see the original question on StackExchange here, and the…

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. (Genesis 19:29) Tales of brave rescue from the clutches of evil and from impending disaster have always been a staple of popular storytelling. Traditionally, a damsel in distress is rescued from death or dishonor, as in the ancient myth of…

Recently a reader named Gary submitted a Spiritual Conundrum to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life in which he asked, among other things: The Angel appearing to the Three Marys at the Sepulchre, by William Blake, 1803 I want to understand how you, from a Swedenborgian perspective, conclude that Jesus’ stories are true. How do we know Jesus actually rose from the dead when we don’t have any…

Recently a reader from Germany named Michelle submitted a Spiritual Conundrum to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life asking for my thoughts on some Vedic (Hindu) ideas quoted from an article by Swiss poet and thinker Armin Risi. Michelle began by saying: I find the teachings of Swedenborg and your in-depth and insightful articles here on your blog really helpful. And I have read (among others)…

Not long ago a reader named David submitted a Spiritual Conundrum to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life asking about near-death experiences (NDEs), why they’re so contradictory, and whether we can trust anything near-death experiencers (NDEers) say. He is also struggling with hellish NDEs. Is hell really the horrible, hopeless place described in some NDEs and in traditional Christian…

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1–2) Even when the Christian Church was first beginning, the Bible predicted that its end would come. People have been waiting for…

Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities, and also the vegetation in the land. (Genesis 19:24–25) Genesis 19 is one of the most difficult stories in the Bible. In the previous article in this series we covered a much nicer story—but it was leading…

Recently in the comments section of one of the articles here, a reader named World Questioner asked: Why did God take 15 billion years to create the physical world? Couldn’t he have done it in just six days? What is a good reason for God to have all species descended from a common single-celled ancestor? Couldn’t he make all species distinct and create each creature to reproduce after its kind?…

Recently a reader named Average Joe submitted a Spiritual Conundrum to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life. His question: Is it okay to continue to masturbate for sexual release considering that he is now married, but in the six years since the wedding there has been no sex at all? He also asked whether he is really married, since the ceremony was not done in a church, but in a courthouse…

What if someone we love goes to hell? Will we still remember them? Won’t that kind of suck? That is the essence of some questions that a reader named Max asked in several recent comment threads here on Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life. And though the answers aren’t what everyone wants to hear, the point of this website is not to be popular, but to give real answers to hard questions. First,…

In recent weeks and months, the latest way for young people to annoy their parents has been in the news. Most of the action happens online, but there are in-person gatherings and conventions too. That’s when the older generation really gets worked up. What terrible, awful thing are the youth doing now? They’re dressing up as animals and calling themselves “furries“ and “therians.” Shocking! But…

Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? (Genesis 18:23) In the previous article in our series on the inner life of Jesus, we followed the story of Abraham having a meal with three visitors, who predicted Isaac’s birth. That was the second prediction of the birth, and it was made in person by three angels who were filled with God’s presence. That…

Imagine for a moment that you suffered a catastrophic illness that has kept you hospitalized for such a long time that you forget what it feels like to be out in the world. In the early days of your illness, you were bedbound and barely conscious. A few months later you remain bedbound, but your mind is becoming alert. You see the nurses and doctors moving around you, smell the pervasive…

In a recent comment here on Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life, a reader called sran4275 posted two videos by American intellectual Robert Lawrence Kuhn titled “Is God Totally Free?” and “How Free is God?” The videos feature interviews with various thinkers on the issue of God’s freedom. They are heady and fascinating if you’re into that sort of thing. Each video is a little over 25 minutes…

Here is a Spiritual Conundrum submitted to Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life by a reader named Lincoln: Dear Lee, I’ve been a reader of this blog for a few years now and I think it offers a truly beautiful, logical and comforting theology and some great advice for spiritual development and doing good. However, there’s one question that I’m still really struggling with, if God is there, why is…

I grew up in a house full of books. The living room wall was lined with books. From time to time, I would pull one off the shelf and read it. Many of them were serious classics. Then, there was humorist James Thurber. I flipped through his book Men, Women, and Dogs, originally published in 1943, laughing at the cartoons. But the only ones I remember decades later were a series that, to my young…

“If I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—for this is why you have come to your servant.” (Genesis 18:3–5) If you get a sense of déjà vu as you read Genesis 18:1–15, which is the next story in…