Mary was the first to wonder about the possibility of the virgin birth. In response to the angel Gabriel's announcement of the forthcoming birth of the Lord by means of her, Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I do not know a man?'' (Luke 1:34). Yet, before the angel left her, she had not only accepted the Divinely given promise, but had also indicated clearly her complete willingness to serve the Lord, saying: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word'' (Luke 1:38). In the same way, Joseph, who certainly had a greater interest in this matter than anyone else, also was convinced by the message of the angel of the Lord that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20) and that, consequently, she had done nothing dishonourable, but rather was highly favoured.

Joseph and Mary had to be convinced, not by any means of their own, not by their own reasoning, but by supranatural means - by a Divine message faithfully delivered. It is always "the Divine that bears witness concerning the Divine, and not man from himself'' (Apocalypse Explained 635:2). As the Lord on earth said to Simon Peter after he had declared His Divinity, "Flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father who is in heaven'' (Matt 16:17).

So must it be with all who have followed Mary in wondering how there could be a virgin birth. We cannot be convinced of it through any reasoning of our own; we can acknowledge it from the heart only as our heart is made new from above. Only from the Divine can we bear witness to the Divine. Only through what flows into us from the Lord above can we, in heart, believe in the virgin birth. Yet this belief is fundamental to Christianity.

In this section l am greatly indebted to a sermon by the Rt. Reverend Alfred Acton, entitled "The Glorification'' (New Church Life, December 1901, pages 639-647). What beclouds the understanding of the natural mind when asked to consider this matter is the thought that all the miracles recounted in the Word are an intellectual embarrassment. The natural mind in us and around us is rather inclined to be impressed with its own intelligence and finds it somewhat humiliating to be told about a miracle, which, by definition, is something inexplicable, something that cannot easily be understood, something that seems to be a departure from the order of the universe - the order discovered by natural means, by scientific investigation. However, as a general principle, what are commonly called miracles are never really departures from the Divine order, despite appearances to the contrary. If the Creator were to depart from the order that He has imposed upon His universe, He would be departing from Himself. He would be going outside of Himself because He is order and wisdom itself, in its very essence. Surely we can see the absurdity of saying that the greatest way the rd shows His Divine order is by making some departure from it! The Lord does not set aside His laws of order at any time. What seems like a miracle to us in our ignorance is simply the Lord's introducing another law that we have not yet understood. This applies even in the matter of the virgin birth.

The greatest help in understanding the miracles of the Word is the teaching about the law of influx, or the way the Lord operates first in the spiritual world (the world of causes) and then in the natural world (the world of effects). Influx is the action of what is higher upon what is lower. For example, the feelings of friendship in our mind act upon our facial muscles to produce what we call a smile. The feelings are higher, the smile on the face is lower. The term influx is derived from the same Latin root as the common word influence. To the extent that our understanding of influx, or the Divine influence, is lacking or deficient, to that extent we are baffled by the miracles of the Old and New Testaments. The world at large generally lacks a realisation that the Lord our Heavenly Father is the real agent in any conception and birth that occurs. Failing to see the Lord's part in human birth, the natural mind can hardly be expected to see the truth of the completely Divine conception involved in the virgin birth. The birth of any baby is a miracle, in a certain sense. How can we believe that the seed of the father, received in the womb of the mother and fertilising the ovum, can produce a perfect human form, complete in all its parts and fitted for life not only in this physical world but also in the eternal spiritual world? How can we possibly believe this miracle? Has any intellectually honest person at any time ever claimed to understand this process fully in all its details? How then can we possibly be asked to believe it?

Yet we must, because we see this happening all the time. No one can deny the fact of this miracle. Incontestably, it does happen, though there are some things in the process that are not fully understood by science. Scientists frankly admit that they do not know what directs the growth of the babe in the womb. What force directs the cell division so that the human form and shape result? Surely, this is a miracle, a marvel, a matter of wonder. No light can be shed on this miracle of human birth until we human beings admit that we do not have life in ourselves, that life flows into us. We receive life; we are only receivers or recipients of life from the Lord, who alone is life in itself. He alone lives of and from Himself. All other beings live by virtue of the influx (or inflow) of life from Him. So the seed from the human father is only a receptacle of life. No human father gives life to his children. The only father who does that is the Lord our Heavenly Father. All that a human father does is provide and transmit a finite receptacle of life, and that finite form goes on receiving life in a finite way even when transmitted into the womb of the mother.

The seed from the father contains an offshoot from the father's soul. This offshoot becomes the soul of the potential offspring. The father's soul is finite, a receptacle of life; so too is the offshoot. The physical seed or semen is simply the carrier - the means of transmitting the soul. Having accomplished its use, the seed is cast off by the new soul, by the soul of the potential new being. This new soul is the means of directing the formation of the embryo. But it is only a means. Actually, it is life from the Lord that directs the formation and growth of the foetus in the womb. Life flowing in from the Lord, focused and channelled in an individual way by the new soul, is the force that directs the growth of the babe in the womb, the physical material being supplied from the body of the mother! Life from the Lord is, of course, something above nature, something supranatural. This is why science, patiently and faithfully following its own proper methods and thereby limiting itself to nature and natural things, has never identified the force that directs growth, not only embryonic and foetal growth, but every other kind of growth. Nor will it ever be able to discover it while remaining loyal to its own proper sphere: the natural and physical. There is more to life than the merely physical, but science is limited to the physical; the best of scientists admit this limitation.

By the same token, religion has its limitations or limits, in the sense that its proper sphere is those parts of our life that are above the natural plane and cannot be discovered by scientific observation. Each discipline has its limits and its own foundation of truth. Science is founded upon observation of the natural world; that is its criterion of judgment, its test of truth, its limit. Religion is founded upon what is revealed by the Lord about the things above the range of our physical senses, things that we would never know if the Lord did not reveal them. This is its proper criterion of judgment, its test of truth, and its limit. Neither foundation truth can by itself give us the whole truth concerning the Lord's universe: the natural world and the spiritual world. But both together give us the complete picture: religion supplies information about what is above nature, while science reveals the mysteries of the natural world by using its own method, sense observation. There need be no antagonism or contention between them, for they are two parts of one whole. This is true not only in general but also in particular, even with regard to the virgin birth.

Having seen that there is a supranatural element in every human conception and birth - that the Lord is indeed our Heavenly Father, the real agent every time a child is born, with the human parents merely cooperating or procreating - we can now see what was similar and what was different in the virgin birth. The only thing that distinguished the virgin birth from any other birth was the lack of seed from an earthly father, and consequently the lack of any finite receptacle of life, a human soul from an earthly father. There was no finite form receiving life from the one source of life. There was nothing like that acting as a means of fertilizing the ovum in the womb of Mary, as in the case of the subsequent children born of Mary, who were fathered by Joseph. The ovum was fertilised by the Divine Life itself ! So the angel Gabriel had said to Mary, ''The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you'' (Luke 1:35). In fact, the angel went on to say, "Therefore, also, that Holy One who shall be born of you, shall be called the Son of God,'' meaning the offspring of the Divine Soul, thus the body of the Divine Being. Here was the Divine Being Himself, the Creator of the universe, forming a body for Himself in the womb of the virgin Mary, as He had foretold He would do. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name lmmanuel'' [that is, God with us] (Isaiah 7:14 )

The Lord had no tendencies or inclinations toward evil from any human father because the virgin Mary "did not know a man." But because she was a normal human being, she had and she transmitted tendencies toward evil, which the Lord in the flesh inherited. Of course, as it is explicitly taught further on in the passage just quoted, "the Lord had no evil that was actual, or His own, as He also says in John: 'Which one of you convicts Me of sin?' (8:46)" (Arcana Coelestia 1573:8).

The Lord did inherit tendencies toward evil, but no actual evil. Actual evil is evil resulting from yielding to the inherited inclinations to be delighted by evil. He received these tendencies from His human mother, but only good from His Divine Soul, which was and is the Father.

In summary, the Creator Himself came on earth as the Redeemer, and this coming was achieved with the cooperation of the virgin Mary. The virgin birth was the same as any other birth, but in one respect it was also different: life came not through the receptacle of a human father, but directly from the very source of life itself.

(From Chapter 2 of Spirituality That Makes Sense by the Rev. Douglas Taylor. Available at the Swedenborg Bookroom for $15.)

The Bible never speaks of the "end of the world." That indeed is what the translators of the King James Version of the Bible made it say. But the newer translations, following the original more closely, say correctly the "end of the age" (Matthew 24:3) -; meaning the end of the Era.-the end of the Christian Era and the beginning of the Post-Christian Era. The Greek word in the original is aion, which unquestionably means era or age. Why, then, did the King James translation (and some later ones also) use "world," which is from a different word in the Greek?

We can only surmise that they were influenced by having only a literal understanding of the imagery in Matthew 24:29, and Mark 3:24, which say that "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." It would indeed, be the end of the world if those prophecies were to be fulfilled literally and physically!

Almost identical imagery was used by the Prophet Joel with regard to the first Advent "The sun and the moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness"(Joel 3:15). Yet there was no literal fulfilment of this prophecy on the physical plane. The internal historical sense of the Word reveals that the subject is the end of the Jewish Church when there would be almost no charity (the "sun"): consequently no genuine faith (the "moon," which is a reflection of the sun, just as faith is a reflection of charity)

A present from Owen and Margaret after their recent overseas trip was a small folder attractively designed, containing cards with short quotations from the Writings. I've begun reading one each morning - my message for the day.

The first one read : "We are not born for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of others." (True Christian Religion 406) -; a fine thought, and I reflected on it during the day. The next one read: "As one tone does not produce a melody, still less a harmony, neither is a solitary truth complete." (Arcana Coelestia 4197)

I decided to look up both passages. Also, I remembered that ministers in their sermons refer to relevant passages that make the subject clearer to us. TCR 406 does begin as quoted on the card, but then, mentioning a common saying that a man must be neighbour to himself, explains that unless a person looks after his own welfare first, and that of his family in the way of food, clothing, dwelling and other necessaries, he is hardly able to serve society, his country, the church and thus the Lord, adding: "He who does this, provides well for himself to eternity." We know that in heaven angels are provided with a furnished house and garden, food and clothing. We learn too that if we have chosen in this life to work for the happiness of others, there will be wonderful opportunities to do that, and contribute to the happy sphere of heaven.

This is a sad world at present, with wars raging, and dire poverty and disease killing millions. The thought comes that if nations were influenced by love, not hatred, reflecting that all religions teach love to others, how different things would be. In the Middle East, for instance, Palestinians would not wish to wipe out the Jewish State and the Jews would help to establish a Palestinian State - both peaceful and prosperous. The world's wealthy nations would give generously to poorer countries, help to modernize their industries and farms, and trade fairly with them. As Mrs Christine Taylor observed; "The world sorely needs the truths of the New Church." But we must be content with the Church's slow but steady growth.

In the meantime how about a New Year's resolution to make and keep: "In my work and social life I will do my best to serve others and promote their happiness.'

One way of making the New Revelation better known is to write letters to people in the public eye who seem likely to be interested in it. An example is the letter Norman Heldon wrote in September to the acclaimed Australian composer, Peter Sculthorpe, who, in an interview in Spectrum, said that he "was always looking for the sacred in nature."

That prompted Norman to write about the New Church teaching that there is a correspondence of natural things with spiritual things. In thanking Norman for "his thoughtful letter," Mr.Sculthorpe wrote: "From your letter, I imagine that the New Church grew from Swedenborg and the Swedenborgians. My mother's uncle, who had an important influence on me, was extremely well versed in Swedenborg's writings." Who knows where that exchange of letters may end?

I would like to arrange an informal "brain-storming" discussion meeting about ways and means of finding people out there in the world who are "hungering and thirsting for righteousness" -; people who are "looking for something more satisfying about spiritual things, people of all ages and backgrounds. We have an obligation to help such people, and the ability to do so - because of the New Revelation that the Lord has provided for the whole world.

If you are interested in taking part in this project, please ring me at 9580 1589 so we can arrange a time. "Freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)

Rev. Douglas Taylor

Preparations for our seven week trip happened amongst the frenzy of organising the smooth running of the society while we were away, eg. Order of Service booklets via email from Rev Doug Taylor in Bryn Athyn, and the Farewell of Rev Frank and Louise Rose. But on Monday afternoon, 4th September with family and friends around us at the airport, excitement set in and grins appeared on our faces -; at least mine anyway. It was thirty-five years almost to the day that my brother Brian and I left for Bryn Athyn College, USA. I was full of expectation at meeting friends I hadn't seen since my return way back in July 1973.

As some of those friends were in the United Kingdom now and also our daughter Carolyn was working in Scotland, our first stop was Colchester, England (via Bangkok and London). David Glover met us in hot humid London. He and his lovely wife Anne offered their comfortable home for our week's visit. We met their new minister Rev Olaf Hauptmann and his energetic young family, thoroughly enjoying his fresh approach to worship and also meeting the people of the congregation. John Cunningham, who often comes to our Australian Church Camp lives in Hadleigh just north of Colchester. He generously gave of his time, one day taking us to Standon, a couple of hours west of Colchester, where my father Christopher Horner grew up; another day we saw pretty Suffolk villages in Constable Country. Also John took Owen to London while I spent a special day with a friend in Colchester. Along with all the sightseeing Owen and John fitted in a visit to Karen Lockhart which just happened to be the same day Mike and Kerry had arrived to see their daughter!

Paths cross in London! From L to R Owen Heldon, John Cunningham, Mike Lockhart, Kerry Lockhart, Karen Lockhart and Karen's boyfriend Michael. (Karen continues to progress well recovering from her motorcycle accident)

The day came when we boarded a plane in London bound for Edinburgh where we were met by Carolyn. She had finished her work at Pitlochry Youth Hostel in Perthshire, but we continued to be based there while the three of us travelled the beautiful peaceful and serene countryside to Tongue in the north to the Isle of Skye on the west coast then back to Pitlochry finishing with four days exploring the environs. Scotland is calling me back. Whether I see it in this life or the next I do not know but I truly believe I will see the places I love when I arrive in the spiritual world. (See C.S. Lewis's "The Last Battle".)

Our world ticket bookings gave us a direct flight from Glasgow to Philadelphia on 25th September. Brian and Claudia Horner were waiting for us and whisked us off to their home in Bryn Athyn. Carolyn arrived the next day. It was surreal coming back; some things seemed the same -; but not quite . . . The biggest change was seeing the open green rolling space in front of the magnificent buildings of Glencairn and Cairnwood opposite the Cathedral. Glencairn was now a famous museum, not Mildred Pitcairn's home and Cairnwood was a much sort after reception place for hire, not Bishop Williard Pendleton's home. There was a new library on campus next to the College building. It was fun catching up with Huiling Sun and Robert Cooper and baby Matthew (growing rapidly!), Rev Dave and Darcy Ayers and many others.

After a week in Bryn Athyn we had the good fortune to go to the Kempton New Church Society, a couple of hours into the Pennsylvanian countryside. The Rev Paul Schorran and his wife Nina were our hosts. We had a tour of the church and school, met several teachers and the Rev Lawson Smith. Lots of friends were visited including Ian and Wellesley Keal and family.

It was back to Bryn Athyn briefly before flying out to western Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh. It was fantastic to stay with my bridesmaid and former college room mate Karen Junge Luce. Catching up on thirty odd years was a joy as was getting to know Karen's husband Dale and daughters Arianna and Katy. We had a couple of opportunities to go to the Pittsburgh New Church, once to a Sunday service (Rev Amos Glenn is their minister) where we also had a tour of their school and again for Maddy Glenn's wedding (Amos's sister and one of our college interns from 2000). Carolyn was her maid of honour and Rev Dave Ayers drove out from Bryn Athyn to marry Maddy and Tim!

The Fall colours were beautiful in Pittsburgh and were doing very nicely in Bryn Athyn too when we returned for our last week. Reds and oranges and yellows everywhere. What a sight! There was more visiting of people, a day train trip to the Washington New Church to see Rev Garry Walsh and Laurel and family (they say hi!) and then Charter Day celebrations on our final weekend. A Theta Alpha International Luncheon for me, a Banquet for both of us where we heard Bishop Tom Kline speak and where we met Bishop Brian Keith and his wife Gretchen.

Everywhere we went we were welcomed with oped arms and treated most royally. When our departure date of 23rd October arrived we were ready to take the long journey home via Los Angeles so we could share our stories and photos with our family and friends.

Sermons for December

3rd The Golden Calf (Externalism)

10th This Do In Remembrance Of Me" (Holy Supper Service)

17th The Valley Of Decision (Advent)

24th Lessons and Carols (Christmas Eve)

25th "Good Tidings of Great Joy" (Christmas Day)

31st Time and Wisdom

Doctrinal Classes for December

1st The Role of John the Baptist

15th The Meaning of Christmas

Sunday 17th December:

1. After church there will be a Society Pot Luck Christmas Luncheon in Baringa. Please bring a savoury and sweet to share. Drinks will be provided. The singing of Christmas Carols will add to the fun!
2. Open house at Mike and Kerry Lockhart, 28 Dudley St Penshurst, from 2 pm to 5 pm. All are welcome.
3. At 7.30 pm come and enjoy Carols by Candlelight at the Roseville New Church, 4 Shirley Rd, Roseville.

Christmas Eve Sunday 24th December:
Please note there will be no morning service but an Evening Service of Lessons and Carols at 7.30 pm.

Christmas Day Monday 25th December:
There will be a 10 am service. The topic will be "Good Tidings of Great Joy."

January 2007 church services will be uninterrupted as the visiting pastor Rev Doug Taylor will not be attending the New Zealand New Church Family Camp.

Lori Heldon has returned from a surprise two week visit in November to the USA. She spent time with Gretchen Schnarr in Chicago and her son, Jeffrey, her mum, Endrede Gladish, plus friends in Bryn Athyn.

Frank Couthorne of Bryn Athyn stayed in Baringa for a few days during November to see the sights of Sydney en route to Central Australia and Cairns.

Happy Birthday to Sam Johnson (1st), Gai Kennedy (2nd), Beryl Laidley (14th), Tom Taylor (15th), Ken Horner (16th), Patricia Walsh (19th), and Kristen Johnson (29th)

Note: All events are located at the church at 22 Dudley St, Penshurst 2222 (off Hillcrest Ave) unless otherwise stated. Contact the Hurstville New Church on (02) 9580 1589 for more information or email us at newchurch@optusnet.com.au All are welcome and refreshments are served after church each Sunday.
Friday	December 1st	7 00 p.m. Dinner and Class ("The Role of John the Baptist")
Sunday	December 3rd	10 00 a. m. Worship ("The Golden Calf")
Friday	December 8th	6 00 p.m. Young People (Reunion at Roseville)
Sunday	December 10th	10 00 a.m. Worship ("This Do in Remembrance of Me") (Holy Supper)
Friday	December 15th	7 30 p.m. Doctrinal Class ("The Meaning of Christmas")
Sunday	December 17th	10 00 a,m, Worship ("Valley of Decision") followed by Pot Luck Lunch, Open House & Carols by Candlelight (See Newsletter)
Sunday	December 24th	7.30 p.m. Vespers Service (Lessons and Carols)
Monday	December 25th	10 00 a.m. Christmas Day Service ("Good Tidings of Great Joy")
Sunday	December 31st	10 00 a. m. Worship ("Time and Wisdom")