To the ego, or our proprium in Swedenborg’s terminology, doing greater works than Jesus on the surface level appears to be larger than life. Like John Lennon telling reporters in 1966 that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus. So when we really dig down a bit more spiritually as to what Jesus is actually saying here, it has everything to do with our relationship with the Lord and shifted spiritual consciousness.
It is when we start to consider the great gift of miracles and worldly power that we get into trouble with what Jesus is actually pointing towards and how anyone who enters into Christ Consciousness will also be creating a spiritual field of great power. So great, that anyone entering into this field will also be changed as well. The reality is that most people will never have this experience because of being trapped into the pulls of this world that continue to absorb the majority of our time and attention. Wants, desires, and preferences based out of our fears are what drive the average human while living here on earth. And it is a constant striving to get what we want because when we get what we want, it makes us feel better for a few minutes, or hours, or even a few days.
We avoid what we do not want and pursue that which we desire. More money, more fame, a new relationship, a bigger bank account, better health insurance, more life insurance, a legal team, etc. This list is endless because no amount of insurance will relieve our anxieties about losing any of these things that we acquire. If we obtain lots of money, we start to get weird inside about how we might lose it. In other words, we are not okay. And for many people, an entire life is lived this way of not being okay because we are in constant pursuit of acquiring those things we want and avoiding those things that we do not want. Sooner or later, life is going to throw use a challenge or two that we cannot handle. It throws us off our center and makes us feel unstable.
When we are talking about these words spoken by Jesus, it is of an entirely different order of reality that has nothing to do with acquiring certain things and avoiding the things that we do not like. Reaching this spiritual state of consciousness means that we can handle whatever is thrown at us in life. The conditions of this world are secondary at this point.
And this is where we move more deeply into how our spiritual interiors operate and why on the surface it may look one way and yet spiritually it feels completely different. Emanuel Swedenborg described this process from Heaven and Hell §506 where people in heaven actually felt this divine influx in real time.
“They are actually thinking from heaven’s light and therefore from a deeper wisdom; and they are acting from what is good and therefore from a deeper affection. Heaven is flowing into their thoughts and affections with a profound feeling of blessedness and pleasure that they had never known before.” (1)
This is important in our day and age because not only is this not well known, it is beginning to have broader societal impacts as people who are apparently disconnected from their source of divinity that it has direct impacts on their health in real ways. It is not that God is not with them, it is simply that their attention is so focused on this world that it is not leaving room for the Divine Proceeding to be felt as a lived experience.
This past week, I read a statistic that stopped me in my tracks. 30% – 37% of Americans are currently experiencing moderate to severe loneliness. That is essentially one out of every three Americans and the scary part is how absolutely detrimental this is for our health both as individuals and as a country. Chronic loneliness impacts longevity as a top-tier health risk, exceeding that of physical inactivity and obesity, with risks equivalent to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. It is also increasing the risk of premature death by 26%. This level of isolation is associated with a 32% increased risk of stroke and 29% for heart disease, making it more dangerous than obesity or lack of physical activity. (2)
The good news is how easy it is to do something about this. Pick up the phone and talk to an old friend. Say hello to your neighbors. Join a club that interests you. Go to church! (We even have online church these days)
This is also a parable about moving beyond our comfort zone as 75% of people fear public speaking. This fear of being seen and of being judged is so powerful that it is a greater fear than the fear of death. And what is death but a removal of all that is false. So, we are living this out in our modern world instead of being uncomfortable with growing pains and expanding our spiritual lives. This belief in, “rugged individualism” is actually killing us through isolation.
I lead a group online in our Exploring New Earth Series each Sunday from 12-1pm (PST) and last week we spent some time exploring the power of prayer and why it works. We compared some of Emanuel Swedenborg’s ideas with those of Unity Church and I must say I was very impressed with Unity having a claim to continuous prayer 24/7 for over 130 years. Talk about being of use! We also compared how both Unity and Swedenborg emphasize the change in our spiritual consciousness and of our becoming better vessels for the divine to flow through us as the real power of prayer.
And there is something timely in this discovery as we as a nation are so divided and isolated and facing real health challenges. Could the answer be as simple as joining in prayer with our God and our neighbors? Witnessing this actually happen would be a New Evangel miracle revival. Our world is spiritually thirsty and in need of spiritual restoration. I pray this message and these words find their way to whomever needs to hear them now.
John 14:12-14
“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” (3)
The Glorified Lord with the Divine Proceeding is active and on the move here and now. This deeper inner spiritual work of opening our minds to the light of heaven is a great work that is urgently needed here on earth. And we need to add a caveat to this that the Lord will do whatever it is we ask for in prayer, as long as it is in alignment with the nature of God as being that marriage of divine love with divine wisdom.
So connect with another child of God today and share some good news together. Heaven is a divine and holy community and the data shows that people are living at crisis levels of isolation. We become the bodies and hands and voices of God for others whenever we actively bring people out of the feeling of isolation of being alone.
I will conclude with one final story that gets to heart of our New Evangel. We do a good amount of street ministry at The Garden Church where I presently work part time as a minister there. After our community meal, there was an unhoused man who shared his life story with me that was truly heartbreaking of one bad break after another. Living on the streets with cancer and begging for food, he shared with me how people coming in and out of storefronts completely dismissed him as if he did not even exist. We had a good 20 – 30 minutes of really intense ministry conversation. The type that feels medical grade in terms of this person really needing someone to listen and be present for him. At the end of our conversation, tears were flowing down his face and I could see he was hesitant but he really wanted to ask this question. “Can I have a hug?”
It was a powerful embrace because I knew that this man had not had any physical contact with another human being in quite some time and this physical connection is not only a sharing of our spark of divinity, it is what makes us human and being with one another. It is simple. And it is profound. And I believe these are the moments that Jesus was pointing to. Not big miracles that wow people. Small gestures that restore dignity to a sacred child of God doing their best in challenging times where society tends to look the other way. Simply recognizing the spark of divinity in another person and in creation can become a great work. Let us all do our part. Where we are, with what we have, to help ease the burden of feeling isolated and alone.
(1) Swedenborg, Emanuel. Heaven and Hell. Translated by George F. Dole. West Chester: Swedenborg Foundation, 2000.
(2) Juan R. Albertorio-Diaz, Christopher W. Wheldon,
Prevalence of Loneliness States Among the U.S. Adult Population: Findings From the 2022 HINTS-6,
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 70, Issue 3, 2026. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074937972500426X)
(3) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Rev. Dr. David Brown has been serving Wayfarers Chapel as lead chapel minister since his ordination into the ministry of the Swedenborgian Church in 2006, and currently oversees rites and sacraments there.