"Do they know the 'powers' in Lund?"
"The 'powers' are preparing to return."
"Do people sleep well here?"
"No; they complain of nightmares, constrictions of the breast and heart."
"My arrival is appropriate, then; for that is precisely my case."
We talk for some hours over the strange times we are living in, and my friend relates to me some extraordinary occurrences which have recently happened. Finally, he gives a brief account of the minds of the present young generation, who are looking out for something new.
People want a religion; a reconciliation with the "powers" (that is the phrase), a new approach to the invisible. The fruitful and important epoch of naturalism is past. One cannot say anything against it, nor regret it, for the powers willed that we should pass through it. It was an experimental epoch, the negative results of which have disproved certain theories when they were put to the test. A God, unknown at present, seems to be developing, growing, and revealing Himself from time to time. In the intervals, so it seems, He leaves the world to itself, like the farmer, who lets the tares and wheat grow together till the harvest. Each epoch of revelation shows Him animated with new ideas, and practically improving His methods. Thus Religion will return, but under new aspects, for a compromise with the old religions seems impossible. We do not await an epoch of reaction, nor a return to out-worn ideals, but an advance towards something new. But of what sort? Let us wait!
At the end of our conversation a question escapes my lips like an arrow which flies sky-wards, "Do you know Swedenborg?"
"No; but my mother has his works, and has found wonderful things in them."
From atheism to Swedenborg is only a step!