Many Colors, One Longing

Readings: Genesis 37:2-14, 18-36, Secrets of Heaven #4742:2
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Today, my friends, we start a journey with the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis. It is a relatively long and twisty saga, with many ups and downs, and it is foundational to the story of the Children of Israel, for it will bring them to Egypt. Their story in Egypt will eventually lead to Moses, the most important prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures, and to the powerful account of the Exodus, the liberation of the Children of Israel from slavery.

For now though, we begin with Jacob and his family. Jacob is the third of the Genesis patriarchs, after Abraham and Isaac. He is the one who cheated his brother, Esau, out of his birthright and had to flee his homeland. After many years of estrangement, he and Esau reconcile, and the story now centers on Jacob’s twelve sons. Of all his twelve sons, Jacob’s favorite is Joseph, his eleventh son, the firstborn to Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel. 

In the Swedenborgian tradition, we look at these ancient stories as pictures of our own internal lives. The story of Abraham to Isaac to Jacob paints the story of our spiritual development in broad strokes, from early states of innocence, through the development of our rationality, and then our attempts to live our actual lives in the world with integrity and wholeness. Within each story is the familiar cycle of temptation and transgression, repentance, restoration and peace, each cycle providing valuable insight and growth and propelling us further along our journey. And, since our development is always ongoing, just as Jacob and Esau reconcile, so we then enter into a new cycle with Joseph.

As we seek to live our independent Jacob-life in the world, his sons represent all the different ways we try to do that. All our different motivations, desires, strategies and values. The first ten sons are the more practical and worldly versions of these things - good and necessary but somewhat superficial. Joseph and his next brother Benjamin, represent something deeper: our spiritual desires, values and longings. 

Joseph, in particular, represents the yearning that we have inside of us for spiritual truth, the love that we have for Divine truth that is beyond us, a spiritual impulse that draws us forward into the big questions, into devotion, into worship, into service. It is the Joseph-longing that has brought us here today, friends. It is the Joseph-longing that propels us to pray, to sing praises, to sit in awe of nature, to serve the image of God in one another, to try to make this world a more just and peaceful place. This Joseph-longing is holy, precious, and beautiful.

So, out of love for Joseph, Jacob gives him an “ornate robe.” We might have heard this being described as a “coat of many colors.” This comes from early translations that made their way into the cultural consciousness, but the word means less varying colors and more ornately or intricately designed. Swedenborg’s interpretation runs with the “many colors” theme though, and I like where he goes with it. He tells us that this represents the glorious diversity that is found within Divine truth, and therefore within the human expression of the Joseph-longing. We can absolutely see this in the wonderful variability of human spiritual experience and practice. Some of us are drawn to music, to teaching, to learning and asking questions, to creating art, to contemplation, to service, to systemic change. The coat being “of many colors” celebrates this diversity, shows us the gloriousness of human spirituality, which in turn points us towards the glorious diversity of human beings in general. This additionally works well with the sense of being “intricately designed” for we recognize that human diversity is a gift from, and an image of, the Divine. A pure gift from a “parent” who loves us dearly.

But unfortunately, as we see in the text, the reaction of the rest of the brothers to Joseph is not a positive one. It is with sadness that we note how familiar their reaction seems. Human beings often close ranks against someone who is different. We fail to value and cherish the “many colors” and what that represents. We reject the opportunity to learn and grow for all our various reasons. And we manifest the worst behaviors of the human race: bullying, war, misogyny, racism and more. This sad and demoralizing story has its genesis inside of each of us, as we likewise recognize that our external desires and motivations may not always react well to the Joseph-longing inside of us. Perhaps these bullying parts of ourselves roll their eyes, try to sideline or dismiss our Joseph-longing, ignore it, deny it, or suppress it. 

I can think of a simple, low-stakes example in my own life. I have for a long time been drawn to the experience of holiness in nature. But recently, I felt a strong pull to make it a more robust spiritual practice, and decided to prioritize my life so that I could take at least ten minutes everyday in the seclusion of nature, the type of nature immersion that is beyond just enjoying my own backyard. I’m extremely lucky that I have access to nature walks very nearby my house, so this *is* possible for me, and I recognize that it is not possible for everyone. And yet, the roadblocks that my external self throws up in the way of this life-giving practice are interesting to behold. Sometimes I think, “oh look at my to-do list, I can’t do nature today,” when really I can, or I accuse myself about how indulgent it is to prioritize something so “unproductive.” Sometimes internal voices even try to tell me its boring (when it is actually my favorite thing) or that it is not “worth it” to do a small amount of time (when any amount is beneficial to me) and so on and so forth.
This dynamic is a picture of the way Joseph’s brothers tried to sideline him, and do him harm, and it will play out in each of our own internal lives and situations differently. But why? Why do our more external impulses naturally act against the Joseph-longing, in ourselves and in others.

Because the Joseph-longing is devoted to and is constantly searching for the truth. For Divine truth that is beyond us as well as our own emotional truths, crucial insights that help us move forward in our journey. This is represented by Joseph observing his brothers and bringing back a report to his father. Culturally, we are trained to be suspicious of tattle-tails, but in our emotional landscape, it is the Joseph part of us that is most devoted to honesty and accountability. Our Joseph-longing will observe the outer elements of our lives and make observations, observations that can sometimes make us feel uncomfortable or afraid. 

For example, perhaps our Joseph-longing is pulling us towards serving and connecting with others. What a wonderful thing! And, what this longing might reveal to us as we pursue it, is how necessary curiosity, empathy and listening are to service and connection with others. It can be hard to hear the truth of any deficits we might have in those areas. It can feel scary to have to learn how to do something new. Perhaps we even thought we were already good at these things but now we are learning that even more growth is required. At this point, we get to make a decision. We get to decide how we react to Joseph’s dreams from the text in our own way. We get to decide if the external elements of our lives, those ten brothers, are actually willing to bow down to the Joseph-longing, and to follow it. We get to decide if we are on board with the growth that our spiritual journey demands. Will I put my nature walk as the #1 non-negotiable on my daily to-do list, or will I keep making excuses? Or from the other example, will we accept that we need to learn to de-center ourselves in service work, or will we decide that it is too scary and hard to do? 

Will we throw Joseph into the pit and sell him into slavery in Egypt to get him out of the way? The answer is yes, we probably will at some point and in some way. Of course we will, we’re human. We will do it again and again. The good news is though, as we will learn over the course of Joseph’s story, our Joseph-longing is incredibly resilient, wise, and forgiving. For as much harm as the brothers intended, it did not come to pass, and in fact, it led them to their own salvation. Because, our Joseph-longing is always there, waiting for us to listen to the dream, waiting to be chosen. And it is this choosing that is transformative. Where the Joseph-longing leads us, that will *be* good and create good, but it is the choosing it, over and over again that transforms us internally.

And so my friends, what are we called to do today in response to this text? Can we look at our own Joseph-longing with reverence and care instead of impatience? Can we take joy from the “many colors” that we see around us? Can we submit to the way our Joseph-longing leads us towards truth, knowing that even if we are uncomfortable for a time, it will lead somewhere good? Can we choose to protect and honor the various beautiful, precious Josephs in our lives, the ones who show us how to choose joy, self-acceptance, and growth? I think we can. I know we can. And we will help each other do it. 

Amen.

Readings:

Genesis 37:2-14, 18-36
2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. 5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.” “Very well,” he replied. 14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.”

18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” 21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing--24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?” 31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” 33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Secrets of Heaven #4742:2
Since this is what produces colors in the other life, in their origin they are actually manifestations of the truth that comes from goodness. Truth has no light of its own, because in itself it contains nothing fiery; it has light only from goodness. Goodness is like a flame that gives off light. The nature of the goodness, then, determines how the truth appears; and the nature of the truth determines how it shines from goodness.