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Being Insightful

A Sermon by Rev. Jong-Ui Lee

Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel. “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you” (Daniel 5:13,14). 

We often hear, someone saying, “I wish I had more insight on this.” We all want to have such a capability to see straight through unclear things. We wish to be able to envision the outcomes and the future. Daniel was extremely wise and intuitive. His personal profile was likewise, “a man in whom the Spirit of the Holy God; light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; the chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers…” Actually this description was proved in his act. He behaved very intuitively before the king and saved his own life in conveying the dreadful message from the Lord. We wish to have the same insight. Moreover, Olivet’s “new pastor committee” needs such an intuition from the Lord in its work; even our Prime Minister seems anxious to have some insight on his dealing with his outspoken party member.

There are times we get entangled in no-way-out situations, and feel stuck in predicaments. Then we hope we can understand the matter crystal clearly and can find quickly the perfect solution to it. These are very frustrating moments. Do you sense Babylonian king, Belshazzar’s frustration? A disembodied hand suddenly appeared and wrote four cryptic words on the palace wall while he was presiding over the state banquet.

Worse than all, none of his wise men could unravel the message. The arrogant king called Daniel in and ordered him to interpret the inscription.

Daniel was put in an extremely difficult situation because he had to deliver the final sentence to the king himself. Intuitive Daniel didn’t reveal the message immediately. Instead he carefully built up his argument, beginning with the comment about Nebuchadnezzar, his father. Daniel mentioned reasonably how Nebuchadnezzar rose to throne and honor; why he was deposed; and how he finished his life. Daniel applied the same format and explained the Lord’s message to him. Isn’t it very clear that Daniel’s intuitive wisdom came from the Lord? Belshazzar said, “I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you” (Dan.5:14).

Then we might wonder what intuition or insight is. Intuition comes from a Latin noun, Intuitio and Intuitus; and these Latin words are translated in the Heavenly Doctrines as the view, looking at, and consideration. These direct connotations give us the idea that intuition is a capability to visualize and picture a certain image in our minds. This is referred to as an ability to help one see straight through confusion and unclear things. Intuition is compared to seeing and perception is more likely to hearing. In this respect they are slightly distinguished, but they complete each other in knowing and understanding (see HH 351:2; AC 6989).

The general purpose of having intuition is the elevation of our life o earth from its darkness and confusion. It is to lift our spiritual eyes to see well and to see the place far off. We need to focus the purposes of our life in this world on heaven that seems far off. In order to be there and to lead a heavenly life, we need to see clearly what is good and what is true. The beautiful image of spiritual elevation is represented in Abraham’s lifting his eyes; we read, “Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place far off” (Gen.22:4).

Where is this sort of elevation from? Where is intuition from? It is from the Lord in His care and operation. The Heavenly Doctrines for the New Church state, “This thought and insight from the Divine is a thought and insight into every single thing that will ever take place, in keeping with the Divine Providence” (AC 2829). Intuition is given to all through general influx from Lord. General influx is an influx that flows into all members of His creation besides humans, being contrasted with particular influx that is confined to humans.

Such a broad-spectrum intuition in general influx gives humankind a fundamental religious insight on several essential teachings. Intuition allows us to see the Lord in a Human form and believe in Him as a visible Human. Such an idea about the Divine Human existed from the most ancient time. The first church, the Most Ancient Church, understood the Lord as a Human from their keen perception. In consequence they worshiped God visible under the Human form more than their posterity did. The same is true of many nations elsewhere, of the ancient peoples in Greece, in Rome, and in Asia, who had many gods, all of whom were regarded by them as men. In Christianity both living and dead, who are called saints, are adored as gods by the common people. Their sculptured images are placed in the church and are loved and revered (AE 955:6).

Intuition is also given in our goodness and affection for truth. Though goodness is the end and purpose, we cannot produce goodness without truth as means. We read in Arcana Coelestia, “A person first of all is introduced into general truth. After that it is enriched with particular truths, and in the end there comes an insight into those truths from the internal, which is reason and understanding. This is plain to see in a person, for the power of judgement develops in him from young childhood onwards. Something similar happens with spiritual truths and forms of good when a person is being born anew or regenerated” (AC 6089).

Intuition is given us so that we may see good and evil and truth and falsity. This capability cannot come to exist suddenly; rather it is formed and developed. It begins with the reception of various things through our five senses. The objects which enter by these senses appear to an infant or a child at first as pleasure and delight. Afterward the infant or child distinguishes between the different delights, from which one learns to discriminate things.

When light from heaven flows into these things, the person begins to see them spiritually, and first to discriminate between the useful and the non-useful. From this one begins to have an insight as to what is true; for what is useful to one becomes to that person true, and what is useless is not true. This insight increases according to the light of heaven, until one discriminates not only between truths, but also between truths within these truths (AC 9103:3).

Our capability to see between true and wrong, and between better and lesser is to be exercised from our infancy and early childhood. This intuition grows according to our goodness and truth in other words heavenly elements and holy qualities. These help us see things in their nature, qualities, and degrees from heavenly light. This mental view is the key to our Christian life. The Writings teach us that “True intelligence and wisdom is seeing and perceiving what is true and good, and thereby what is false and evil, and clearly distinguishing between them, and this from an interior intuition and perception” (HH 351).

Intuition from general influx also gives us ideas about the operation of the Lord’s providence. The Lord’s providence is everywhere, and its operation is observed by a spiritual person. It also helps us see that we have free will to choose things from our own decisions. Without freedom Divine providence is to be identical with pre-destination because there is no room for our choice.

Such fundamental insights are implanted in a person because they flow in with the general influx from heaven. However, in reality many people don’t have such heavenly insights. Indeed, intuition isn’t granted to all; though it is available to all, not all people want to receive it. Intuition is also different according to the religious state of a person. While we are separated from the Lord and His heaven, we cannot receive intuition.

For example, some people don’t see the Lord in His Human. The Writings explain this likewisel, “this insight has been extinguished in all those that by self-intelligence and by a life of evil have rejected influx from heaven. Those that have extinguished it by self-intelligence prefer an invisible God; while those that have extinguished it by a life of evil prefer no God. Neither of these is aware that such an insight exists, because they do not have it; and yet it is the Divine heavenly itself that primarily flows into man out of heaven, because man is born for heaven, and no one without a conception of a Divine can enter heaven” (HH 82). Though this illustration talks about how people have lost their insight in seeing God as a Person, it is a general explanation about the lack of such spiritual insight among people nowadays.

Although Daniel had to give Belshazzar the notice of his ultimate fate, he expressed his thanks with his order to clothe Daniel in purple, put a chain on him, and to place him in the ruler’s position in the kingdom. We are impressed by Daniel’s intuitive wisdom. Many times we are eager to see a challenging matter transparently; we want to find the best solutions to our urgent issue. We remember those times when we were put in difficult and embarrassing situations where we didn’t know what to do and how to respond. We should have the light from above and see the thing clearly.

Intuition resides in the influx from the Lord and in heavenly qualities from Him. While we are not in heavenly life, the case will be the opposite. The Writings point out that “If those who have not a higher, that is, an interior insight, consult memory-knowledges, they do not see the confirmation of truth in them, and they are therefore carried by the memory-knowledges into the negative; but those who have a higher, that is, an interior insight, see confirmations” (AC 4760).

In our church this is the time when we, as a congregation, need a heavenly intuition from the Lord. We’re concerned with the future of Olivet. We’re not quite sure how the transition will work; who will come to Olivet as our new pastor; and how our five-year-plan will go with a new pastor. Many say, “what if new pastor doesn’t like it?” These are legitimate concerns and worries because we should prepare for our uncertain future. However, if we feel anxiety and become over-concerned, we have gone too far.

We need to think of and plan for tomorrow and the future but we should do it without solicitude and anxiety. We trust in the Lord, and we choose among given things the best that fits in our current condition rather than coveting something that is not available. Divine providence is even in the smallest thing. We can live today in our best way, and on tomorrow we will do the same thing. Why do we worry about the things that haven’t happened yet? Why do we already concern about unknown things?

Daniel had an intuition that he didn’t have to worry about the result of his interpretation. He was not concerned with what might befall him after his honest interpretation of the Divine inscription on the wall and his candid communication of it to the king. Perhaps the wisest intuition given to him was to convey the complete message. When he set this up, the wise method came to him. Let’s not compromise and reduce our current tasks because of the concern and uncertainty being laid on our future.

Intuition is neither something magical nor miraculous; but intuition is to see what belongs to the Lord and what is right and to choose and do them. It is the powerful ability to see and to choose the Lord’s attributes, but not ours. Many times while we are immersed in selfish motivations and worldly concerns, we are confused; we feel hazy because we can see only little and few. Daniel chose the right thing and tried to find the best means to make it happen. When we choose the right purpose and end, we don’t have to worry too much about means and methods. We are assured that the Lord will be present with us in His own qualities that we choose and will guide us on finding the best means and methods in the process.

Intuition or insight is a great virtue we all want to have at times. Its secret is to elevate our minds from us and ours to the Lord and His heaven, and it is to see the external from the internal. Let’s abstract our interests from the issues and perspectives of the self, of the world, and even of our local church to His universal providence. When we lift up our eyes from these views, we will see far better and much more. We read, “Unto You I lift my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress. So our eyes look to the Lord our God, Until He has mercy on us” (Ps.123:1,2). Amen.

Lessons: Daniel 5:13-25; Matthew 22:15-22; AC 4760