750. After this merry party all the wedding guests left, and so did the ten men with the angel, for it was late in the evening, and they went to bed. At twilight they heard it being announced: 'Today is the Sabbath.' So they got up and asked the angel, 'What does that mean?' He replied that it was for Divine worship; this is repeated at fixed intervals and is announced by the priests. 'It is conducted,' he said, 'in our churches, and lasts about two hours. So if you like, you can come with me and I will take you in.'
So they dressed themselves and went with the angel and entered the church. It was, they saw, large enough to hold about three thousand; it was semi-circular, with pews or seats running in an unbroken arc to match the shape of the church. In front of these was a pulpit, a little back from the centre. The door was behind the pulpit on the left. The ten newcomers went in with their angel guide, who assigned places to them where they were to sit, telling them: 'Everyone who comes into the church knows his own place. He knows this intuitively, and he cannot sit anywhere else. If he does, he cannot hear or perceive anything, and he upsets the arrangement, and if this happens, the priest is not inspired.'
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church