HH 481 & HH 484 - heavenly loves & deeds are from the Lord

HH 481
Heavenly love consists in loving what is good, honest, and just,
because it is good, honest and just,
and in doing this from love;
and those that have this love
have a life of goodness, honesty, and justice,
which is the heavenly life.
Those that love what is good, honest, and just,
for its own sake,
and who do this or live it,
love the Lord above all things,
because this is from Him;
they also love the neighbor,
because this is the neighbor who is to be loved.

HH 484
The love from which deeds are done is either heavenly or infernal.
Works and deeds of moral and civil life,
when they are done from heavenly love, are heavenly;
for what is done from heavenly love
is done from the Lord,
and everything done from the Lord is good.

HH 472 & 475 - thought, will, deed

HH 472
If the thought and will are good
the deeds and works are good;
but if the thought and will are evil
the deeds and works are evil,
although in outward form they appear alike.

HH 475
To think and to will without doing,
when there is opportunity,
is like a flame enclosed in a vessel and goes out;
also like seed cast upon the sand,
which fails to grow,
and so perishes with its power of germination.
But to think and will and from that to do
is like a flame that gives heat and light all around,
or like a seed in the ground
that grows up into a tree or flower and continues to live.
Everyone can know that willing and not doing,
when there is opportunity,
is not willing;
also that loving and not doing good,
when there is opportunity,
is not loving,
but mere thought that one wills and loves;
and this is thought separate,
which vanishes and is dissipated.
Love and will constitute the soul itself of a deed or work,
and give form to its body in the honest and just things that the person does.
This is the sole source of a person's spiritual body,
or the body of his spirit;
that is, it is formed solely out of the things
that the person does from his love or will.
In a word,
all things of a person and his spirit are contained in his deeds or works.

HH 467 & 468 - the inner memory & true rationality

HH 467
People living in the world
who are in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor
have with them
and in them
angelic intelligence and wisdom,
but it is then stored up in the inmosts of the inner memory;
and they are not at all conscious of it
until they put off corporeal things.
Then the natural memory is laid asleep
and they awake into their inner memory,
and then gradually into angelic memory itself.

HH 468
The genuine rational faculty consists of truths
and not of falsities;
whatever consists of falsities is not rational.
There are three kinds of truths,
civil, moral, and spiritual.
Civil truths relate to matters of judgment
and of government in kingdoms,
and in general to what is just and equitable in them.
Moral truths pertain to the matters of everyone's life
which have regard to companionships and social relations,
in general to what is honest and right,
and in particular to virtues of every kind.
But spiritual truths relate to matters of heaven and of the church,
and in general to the good of love and the truth of faith.

[2] In every person there are three degrees of life.
The rational faculty is opened to the first degree by civil truths,
to the second degree by moral truths,
and to the third degree by spiritual truths.
But it must be understood
that the rational faculty that consists of these truths
is not formed and opened by person's knowing them,
but by his living according to them;
and living according to them
means loving them from spiritual affection;
and to love truths from spiritual affection
is to love what is just and equitable
because it is just and equitable,
what is honest and right because it is honest and right,
and what is good and true because it is good and true;
while living according to them
and loving them from the bodily affection
is loving them for the sake of self
and for the sake of one's reputation, honor or gain.
Consequently, so far as person loves these truths from a bodily affection
he fails to become rational,
for he loves,
not them,
but himself . . ..

[3] All this shows how a person becomes rational,
namely, that he becomes rational to the third degree
by a spiritual love of the good and truth
which pertain to heaven and the church;
he becomes rational to the second degree
by a love of what is honest and right;
and to the first degree by a love of what is just and equitable.

HH 457-459 - natural faces / spiritual faces

HH 457
When the spirit of a person first enters the world of spirits,
which takes place shortly after his resuscitation . . .
his face and his tone of voice resemble those he had in the world,
because he is then in the state of his exteriors,
and his interiors are not as yet uncovered.
This is a person's first state after death.
But subsequently his face is changed, and becomes entirely different,
resembling his ruling affection or ruling love,
in conformity with which the interiors of his mind had been
while he was in the world and his spirit while it was in the body.
For the face of a person's spirit
differs greatly from the face of his body.
The face of his body is from his parents,
but the face of his spirit is from his affection,
and is an image of it.
When the life of the spirit in the body is ended,
and its exteriors are laid aside and its interiors disclosed,
it comes into this affection.
This is a person's second state.
. . . in the other life no one is permitted
to counterfeit affections that are not his own,
and thus assume looks that are contrary to his love.
All in the other life are brought into such a state as to speak as they think,
and to manifest in their looks and gestures the inclinations of their will.
And because of this
the faces of all become forms and images of their affections;
and in consequence all that have known each other in the world
know each other in the world of spirits,
but not in heaven nor in hell.

HH 458
The faces of hypocrites are changed more slowly than those of others,
because by practice they had formed a habit
of so managing their interiors as to imitate good affections;
consequently for a long time they appear not unbeautiful.
But as that which they had assumed is gradually put off,
and the interiors of the mind
are brought into accord with the form of their affections,
they become after awhile more misshapen than others.
Hypocrites are such as have been accustomed to talk like angels,
but interiorly have acknowledged nature alone
and not the Divine,
and have therefore denied what pertains to heaven and the church.

HH 459
It should be known
that everyone's human form after death
is the more beautiful in proportion
as he has more interiorly loved Divine truths
and lived according to them;
for everyone's interiors are opened and formed
in accordance with his love and life;
therefore the more interior the affection is
the more like heaven it is,
and in consequence the more beautiful the face is.
This is why the angels in the inmost heaven are the most beautiful,
for they are forms of celestial love.
But those that have loved Divine truths more exteriorly,
and thus have lived in accordance with them in a more external way,
are less beautiful; for exterior affections only shine forth from their faces. . ..

HH 445 & 447 - our life is our spirit and only the Lord can raise us up

HH 445
When the body
is no longer able to perform the bodily functions in the natural world
that correspond to the spirit's thoughts and affections,
which the spirit has from the spiritual world,
a person is said to die.
This takes place when the respiration of the lungs
and the beatings of the heart cease.
But the person does not die;
he is merely separated from the bodily part that was of use to him in the world,
while the person himself continues to live.
It is said that the person himself continues to live
since a person is not a person because of his body but because of his spirit,
for it is the spirit that thinks in a person,
and thought with affection is what constitutes a person.
Evidently, then, the death of a person
is merely his passing from one world into another.
And this is why in the Word in its internal sense
"death" signifies resurrection and continuation of life.

HH 447
After the separation
the spirit of a person continues in the body for a short time,
but only until the heart's action has wholly ceased,
which happens variously . . .
with some the motion of the heart continuing for some time,
with others not so long.
As soon as this motion ceases the person is resuscitated;
but this is done by the Lord alone.
Resuscitation means the drawing forth of the spirit from the body,
and its introduction into the spiritual world. . ..

HH 432 - What part of us is spiritual?

HH 432
Whoever duly considers the subject can see
that as the body is material it is not the body that thinks,
but the soul, which is spiritual.
. . . and what is spiritual receives what is spiritual and lives spiritually,
which is to think and to will.

HH 421, 423, 430 - What is the world of spirits?

HH 421
The world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell,
but it is the intermediate place or state between the two;
for it is the place that man first enters after death;
and from which
after a suitable time
he is either raised up into heaven
or cast down into hell
in accord with his life in the world.

HH 423
Let something first be said about
the conjunction of the understanding and the will,
and its being the same thing as the conjunction of good and truth,
that being the conjunction that is effected in the world of spirits.
A person has an understanding and a will.
The understanding receives truths and is formed out of them,
and the will receives goods and is formed out of them;
therefore whatever a person understands and thinks from his understanding
he calls true,
and whatever a person wills and thinks from his will
he calls good.
From his understanding a person can think
and thus perceive
both what is true and what is good;
and yet he thinks what is true and good from the will
only when he wills it and does it.
When he wills it and from willing does it,
it is both in his understanding and in his will,
consequently in the person.

HH 430
While a person's rational mind is being formed
it corresponds to the world of spirits,
what is above it corresponding to heaven
and what is below to hell.
With those preparing for heaven
the regions above the rational mind are opened,
but those below are closed to the influx of evil and falsity;
while with those preparing for hell
the parts below it are opened,
and the parts above it are closed to the influx of good and truth.
Thus the latter can look only to what is below themselves, that is, to hell;
while the former can look only to what is above themselves, that is, to heaven.
To look above themselves is to look to the Lord,
because He is the common center to which all things of heaven look;
while to look below themselves is to look backwards from the Lord
to the opposite center, to which all things of hell look and tend.

HH 420 - the immensity of heaven

HH 420
. . . heaven is never closed,
and that there is no time predetermined,
or any limit of number;
and that those are called the "elect"
who are in a life of good and truth;
and those are called "poor"
who are lacking in knowledges of good and truth and yet desire them;
and such from that desire are also called hungry.

Those that have conceived an idea
of the small extent of heaven from the Word . . .
believe it to be in one place,
where all are gathered together;
when, in fact, heaven consists of innumerable societies.

Such also have no other idea
than that heaven is granted to everyone from mercy apart from means,
and thus that there is admission and reception from mere favor;
and they fail to understand
that the Lord from mercy leads everyone who accepts Him,
and that he accepts Him
who lives in accordance with the laws of divine order,
which are the precepts of love and of faith,
and that the mercy that is meant
is to be thus led by the Lord from infancy
to the last period of life in the world and afterwards to eternity.
Let them know, therefore,
that every person is born for heaven,
and that he is received that receives heaven in himself in the world,
and he that does not receive it is shut out.

HH 408 - power and wisdom from the Lord

HH 408
. . . in heaven he that is least is greatest,
since he is called least who has,
and wishes to have,
no power or wisdom from himself,
but only from the Lord,
he that is least in that sense
having the greatest happiness,
and as he has the greatest happiness,
it follows that he is greatest;
for he has thereby
from the Lord
all power and excels all in wisdom.

HH 400, 402, 403 - love, use, idleness

HH 400 [4]
. . . love to the Lord and love to the neighbor
wish to share with others all that is their own,
for this is their delight,
while the loves of self and of the world
wish to take away from others what they have,
and take it to themselves . . .

HH 402
. . . uses are the goods of love and charity in which angels are;
therefore everyone has delights
that are in accord with his uses,
and in the degree of his affection for use.

HH 403
There were some spirits who believed
from an opinion adopted in the world
that heavenly happiness consists in an idle life
in which they would be served by others;
but they were told
that happiness never consists in abstaining from work
and getting satisfaction therefrom.
This would mean everyone's desiring the happiness of others for himself,
and what everyone wished for no one would have.
Such a life would be an idle not an active life,
and would stupefy all the powers of life . . .

HH 387 - goods in act

HH 387
. . . with all in the heavens
goods are goods in act,
which are uses.

HH 372 - one angel

HH 372
Good and truth conjoined in an angel or a person are not two but one,
since good is then good of truth
and truth is truth of good.
This conjunction may be likened to a person's thinking what he wills
and willing what he thinks,
when the thought and will make one,
that is, one mind;
for thought forms,
that is, presents in form
that which the will wills,
and the will gives delight to it;
and this is why a married pair in heaven
are not called two, but one angel.

HH 361 - the rich in heaven

HH 361
They have an abundance of all things for the uses of life,
but they do not in the least set their heart on these things,
but only on uses.
Uses are clearly seen as if they were in light,
but the gold and silver are seen obscurely,
and comparatively as if in shade.
This is because while they were in the world they loved uses,
and loved gold and silver only as means and instruments.
It is the uses that are thus resplendent in heaven,
the good of use like gold
and the truth of use like silver.
Therefore their wealth in heaven is such as their uses were in the world,
and such, too, are their delight and happiness.
Good uses
are providing oneself and one's own with the necessaries of life;
also desiring wealth for the sake of one's country
and for the sake of one's neighbor,
whom a rich person can in many ways benefit more than a poor person.
These are good uses
because one is able thereby to withdraw his mind
from an indolent life which is harmful,
since in such a life a person's thoughts run to evil
because of the evil inherent in him.
These uses are good to the extent that they have the Divine in them,
that is, to the extent that a person looks to the Divine and to heaven,
and finds his good in these,
and sees in wealth only a subservient good.

HH 359 - the Lord's yoke is easy

HH 359
Learn of Me,
for I am meek and lowly of heart,
and ye shall find rest to your souls;
for My yoke is easy
and My burden is light.
(Matthew 11:29, 30).

The Lord's yoke is easy and His burden light
because a person is led by the Lord
and not by self
just to the extent that he resists the evils
that flow forth from love of self and of the world;
and because the Lord
then resists these evils in a person
and removes them.

HH 356 - the scientific mind and eternal life

HH 356
. . . in respect to those
that have acquired intelligence and wisdom through knowledge and science,
who are such as have applied all things to the use of life,
and have also acknowledged the Divine,
loved the Word,
and lived a spiritual moral life,
to such the sciences have served as a means of becoming wise,
and also of corroborating the things pertaining to faith.
The interiors of the mind of such . . . were seen
as transparent from light of a glistening white, flamy, or blue color,
like that of translucent diamonds, rubies, and sapphires;
and this in accordance with confirmations
in favor of the Divine and Divine truths drawn from science.
Such is the appearance of true intelligence and wisdom
when they are presented to view in the spiritual world.
This appearance is derived from the light of heaven;
and that light is Divine truth going forth from the Lord,
which is the source of all intelligence and wisdom.

HH 347 & 348 - heavenly intelligence and wisdom

HH 347
Heavenly intelligence is interior intelligence,
arising from a love for truth,
not with any glory in the world
nor any glory in heaven as an end,
but with the truth itself as an end,
by which they are inmostly affected
and with which they are inmostly delighted.
Those who are affected by and delighted with the truth itself
are affected by and delighted with the light of heaven;
and those who are affected by and delighted with the light of heaven
are also affected by and delighted with Divine truth,
and indeed with the Lord Himself;
for the light of heaven is Divine truth,
and Divine truth is the Lord in heaven.
This light enters only into the interiors of the mind;
for the interiors of the mind are formed for the reception of that light,
and are affected by and delighted with that light as it enters;
for whatever flows in and is received from heaven
has in it what is delightful and pleasant.
From this comes a genuine affection for truth,
which is an affection for truth for truth's sake.
Those who are in this affection, or what is the same thing, in this love,
are in heavenly intelligence,
and "shine in heaven as with the brightness of the firmament."

HH 348
. . . in heaven those are called wise who are in good,
and those are in good that apply Divine truths at once to the life;
for as soon as Divine truth comes to be of the life
it becomes good . . ..

HH 341 - genuine innocence is wisdom

HH 341
Genuine innocence is wisdom,
since so far as any one is wise
he loves to be led by the Lord;
or what is the same,
so far as any one is led by the Lord
he is wise.

HH 329, 332, 340 - little children in heaven

HH 329
It is a belief of some
that only such children as are born within the church
go to heaven,
and that those born out of the church do not,
and for the reason
that the children within the church are baptized
and by baptism are initiated into faith of the church.
Such are not aware that no one receives heaven
or faith through baptism;
for baptism is merely for a sign and memorial
that a person should be regenerated,
and that those born within the church can be regenerated
because the Word is there,
and in the Word are the Divine truths
by means of which regeneration is effected,
and there the Lord, who regenerates, is known.
Let them know therefore that every child,
wherever he is born,
whether within the church or outside of it,
whether of pious parents or impious,
is received when he dies by the Lord
and trained up in heaven,
and taught in accordance with Divine order,
and imbued with affections for what is good,
and through these with knowledges of what is true;
and afterwards
as he is perfected in intelligence and wisdom
is introduced into heaven and becomes an angel.
Everyone who thinks from reason can be sure
that all are born for heaven and no one for hell,
and if a person comes into hell he himself is culpable;
but little children cannot be held culpable.

HH 332
As soon as little children are resuscitated,
which takes place immediately after death,
they are taken into heaven
and confided to angel women
who in the life of the body tenderly loved little children
and at the same time loved God.
Because these during their life in the world
loved all children with a kind of motherly tenderness,
they receive them as their own . . ..

HH 340
Many may suppose that in heaven little children remain little children,
and continue as such among the angels.
Those who do not know what an angel is
may have had this opinion confirmed by paintings and images in churches,
in which angels are represented as children.
But it is wholly otherwise.
Intelligence and wisdom are what constitute an angel,
and as long as children do not possess these they are not angels,
although they are with the angels;
but as soon as they become intelligent and wise they become angels;
and what is wonderful, they do not then appear as children, but as adults,
for they are no longer of an infantile genius,
but of a more mature angelic genius.
Intelligence and wisdom produce this effect.

HH 318 & HH 319

HH 318
Any one who thinks from any enlightened reason can see
that no person is born for hell,
for the Lord is love itself
and His love is to will the salvation of all.

HH 319
. . . he who lives a moral life out of regard to the Divine
is led by the Divine;
while he who leads a moral life out of regard to men in the world
is led by himself.
[2] But this may be illustrated by an example.
He that refrains from doing evil to his neighbor
because it is antagonistic to religion,
that is, antagonistic to the Divine,
refrains from doing evil from a spiritual motive;
but he that refrains from doing evil to another merely from fear of the law,
or the loss of reputation, of honor, or gain,
that is, from regard to self and the world,
refrains from doing evil from a natural motive,
and is led by himself.

HH 312-313 - the darkness of this day

HH 312
. . . external things which are things, relating to the world and the body,
had so occupied and filled their minds
that they could not be raised into the light of heaven
and look into the things of the church beyond its doctrinals;
for when matters relating to the body and the world are loved,
as they are at the present day,
nothing but darkness flows into the mind . . ..

HH 313
For to the extent that a person's interiors are opened
he looks towards heaven,
but to the extent that his interiors are closed and his exteriors opened
he looks towards hell,
because the interiors of a person are formed
for the reception of all things of heaven,
but the exteriors for the reception of all things of the world;
and those who receive the world, and not heaven also, receive hell.

HH 304, 306-307 - the Word conjoins

HH 304
Mankind is so created
as to have a conjunction and connection with the Lord,
but with the angels of heaven only an affiliation.
Mankind has affiliation with the angels,
but not conjunction,
because in respect to the interiors of his mind
a person is by creation like an angel,
having a like will and a like understanding.
Consequently if a person has lived in accordance with the Divine order
he becomes after death an angel, with the same wisdom as an angel.
Therefore when the conjunction of a person with heaven is spoken of
his conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with the angels is meant;
for heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine,
and not from what is strictly the angels' own [proprium].

HH 306
. . . when man had separated himself from heaven
and had severed the bond
the Lord provided a medium of conjunction of heaven with man
by means of the Word.

HH 307
. . . the angels that are with a person understand
these things in a wholly different way,
that is,
everything that a person understands naturally
they understand spiritually.

And yet the thoughts of angels make one with the thoughts of a person,
because they correspond;
they make one almost the same as the words of a speaker
make one with the understanding of them by a hearer
who attends solely to the meaning and not to the words.
All this shows how heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word.

(All of HH 307 is posted in today's comments on the blog.)

HH 292-293 , 297 - conjunction with the spiritual world

HH 292
With every individual there are good spirits and evil spirits.
Through good spirits a person has conjunction with heaven,
and through evil spirits with hell.
These spirits are in the world of spirits,
which lies midway between heaven and hell.

These spirits have no knowledge whatever that they are with a person . . ..
The Lord exercises the greatest care
that spirits may not know that they are with a person;
for if they knew it they would talk with him,
and in that case evil spirits would destroy him;
for evil spirits, being joined with hell,
desire nothing so much as to destroy a person,
not alone his soul, that is, his faith and love, but also his body.

HH 293
. . . so far as a person's life is from what he inherits, and thus from self,
if he were not permitted to be in evil he would have no life;
also if he were not in freedom he would have no life;
also that he cannot be forced to what is good,
and that what is forced does not abide;
also that the good that a person receives in freedom
is implanted in his will and becomes as it were his own.
These are the reasons why a person has communication with hell
and communication with heaven.

HH 297
As to what further concerns the conjunction of heaven with the human race,
let it be noted that the Lord Himself flows into each person,
in accord with the order of heaven,
both into his inmosts and into his outmosts,
and arranges him for receiving heaven,
and governs his outmosts from his inmosts,
and at the same time his inmosts from his outmosts,
thus holding in connection each thing and all things in a person.
This influx of the Lord is called direct influx;
while the other influx that is effected through spirits is called mediate influx.
The latter is maintained by means of the former.
Direct influx, which is that of the Lord Himself,
is from His Divine Human,
and is into a person's will
and through his will
into his understanding,
and thus into his good
and through his good
into his truth,
or what is the same thing,
into his love
and through his love
into his faith;
and not the reverse,
still less is it into faith apart from love
or into truth apart from good
or into understanding that is not from will.
This Divine influx is unceasing,
and in the good is received in good,
but not in the evil;
for in them it is either rejected or suffocated or perverted;
and in consequence they have an evil life
which in a spiritual sense is death.

HH 286 - Divine peace

HH 286
Divine peace is in the Lord;
it springs from the union of the Divine Itself
and the Divine Human in Him.
The Divine of peace in heaven is from the Lord,
springing from His conjunction with the angels of heaven,
and in particular
from the conjunction of good and truth in each angel.
These are the origins of peace.
From this it can be seen
that peace in the heavens is the Divine
inmostly affecting
with blessedness
everything good therefrom,
and from this is every joy of heaven;
also that it is in its essence
the Divine joy of the Lord's Divine love,
resulting from His conjunction with heaven
and with everyone there.
This joy,
felt by the Lord in angels
and by angels from the Lord,
is peace.
By derivation from this
the angels have everything
that is blessed, delightful, and happy,
or that which is called heavenly joy.

HH 271 & 278 - wisdom & innocence

HH 271
Such are the angels of the third heaven because they are in love to the Lord,
and that love opens the interiors of the mind to the third degree,
and is a receptacle of all things of wisdom.
It must be understood also
that the angels of the inmost heaven
are still being continually perfected in wisdom,
and this differently from the angels of the outmost heaven.
The angels of the inmost heaven do not store up Divine truths in the memory
and thus make out of them a kind of science;
but as soon as they hear them they perceive them and apply them to the life.
For this reason Divine truths are as permanent with them
as if they were inscribed on them,
for what is committed in such a way to the life is contained in it.

HH 278
The innocence of wisdom is genuine innocence,
because it is internal, for it belongs to the mind itself,
that is, to the will itself and from that to the understanding.
And when there is innocence in these there is also wisdom,
for wisdom belongs to the will and understanding.
This is why it is said in heaven that innocence has its abode in wisdom,
and that an angel has just so much of innocence as he has of wisdom.
This is confirmed by the fact
that those who are in a state of innocence attribute nothing of good to themselves,
but regard all things as received and ascribe them to the Lord;
that they wish to be led by Him and not by themselves;
that they love everything that is good
and find delight in everything that is true,
because they know and perceive that loving what is good,
that is, willing and doing it, is loving the Lord,
and loving truth is loving the neighbor;
that they live contented with their own,
whether it be little or much,
because they know that they receive just as much as is good for them
-those receiving little for whom a little is useful,
and those receiving much for whom much is useful;
also that they do not themselves know what is good for them,
the Lord alone knowing this,
who looks in all things that He provides to what is eternal.

HH 268 - such is His Divine love

HH 268
. . . in the heavens there is a communication of all things;
intelligence and wisdom are communicated from one to another,
and heaven is a common sharing of all goods;
and this for the reason that heavenly love is such
that it wishes what is its own to be another's;
consequently no one in heaven perceives his own good in himself to be good
unless it is also in another;
and this is the source of the happiness of heaven.
This the angels derive from the Lord, for such is His Divine love.

HH 266 - angels have supereminent wisdom

HH 266
What the wisdom of the angels is
can be inferred from the fact that they are in the light of heaven,
and the light of heaven
in its essence is Divine truth or Divine wisdom . . ..
The angels are also in heavenly heat,
which in its essence is Divine good or Divine love,
and from that they have an affection and longing to become wise.
That the angels are in wisdom,
even to the extent that they may be called wisdoms,
follows from the fact that their thoughts and affections
all flow in accordance with the heavenly form,
and this form is the form of Divine wisdom;
also that their interiors,
which are recipients of wisdom,
are arranged in that form.

[2] That the angels have supereminent wisdom
is shown also by the fact that their speech is the speech of wisdom,
for it flows directly and spontaneously from thought,
and their thought from their affection,
thus their speech is thought from affection in outward form . . ..
That the angels have such wisdom
is in accord with the fact that all things
that they behold with their eyes and perceive by their senses
agree with their wisdom,
since they are correspondences of it,
and thus the objects perceived
are representative forms of the things that constitute their wisdom.

super·emi·nent (so̵̅o̅′pər em′ə nənt), adj.
eminent beyond others in rank, dignity, etc.;
supremely remarkable, distinguished, etc.
(from Websters)

HH 263 - written thoughts in heaven

HH 263
I have also seen writings from heaven made up of mere numbers
set down in order and in a series,
just as in writings made up of letters and words;
and I have been taught that this writing is from the inmost heaven . . ..
For all numbers correspond, and have a meaning,
the same as words do, in accordance with the correspondence;
yet with the difference
that in numbers generals are involved,
and in words particulars;
and as one general involves innumerable particulars,
so more arcana are involved in numerical writing than in literal writing.

"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.

Matthew 15:1-20 - The Clean and Unclean

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law
came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,
"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

Jesus replied,
"And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
For God said, 'Honor your father and mother'
and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'
But you say that if a man says to his father or mother,
'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me
is a gift devoted to God,'
he is not to 'honor his father' with it.
Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.
What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,'
but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "

Then the disciples came to him and asked,
"Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"

He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides.
If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."

"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.
"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth
goes into the stomach and then out of the body?
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,
and these make a man 'unclean.'
For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
These are what make a man 'unclean';
but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "

HH 238 - the speech of angels

HH 238
As the speech of angels corresponds to their affection,
and their affection belongs to their love,
and as the love of heaven is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor,
it is evident how choice and delightful their talk must be,
. . . for it [is] love speaking.

HH 221-2 - worship of the Divine in heaven

HH 221-2
Divine worship in the heavens
is not unlike in externals Divine worship on the earth,
but in internals it is different.

. . . they have also church edifices, in which there is preaching.
Such things exist in heaven,
because the angels are being perfected continually in wisdom and love.
For they possess, as people do, understanding and will;
and both their understanding and their will
are capable of being continually perfected,
the understanding by means of truths of intelligence,
and the will by means of the goods of love.

. . . essential Divine worship in the heavens does not consist
in going to church and hearing preaching,
but in a life of love, charity, and faith, in accordance with doctrine . . ..

HH 223-226 has some interesting information about how churches are structured in the celestial and spiritual heavens, inward & outward holiness, and the preachers there. These numbers are quoted in today's comments.

HH 214, 215, 219 - government in the celestial heavens, spiritual heavens, and homes of the spiritual heavens

HH 214
Government in the Lord's celestial kingdom is called righteousness
because all in that kingdom are in the good of love to the Lord from the Lord,
and whatever is from that good is called righteous.
Government there belongs to the Lord alone.
He leads them and teaches them in the affairs of life.
The truths that are called truths of judgment are written on their hearts;
everyone knows them, perceives them, and sees them;
and in consequence matters of judgment there never come into question,
but only matters of righteousness, which belong to the life.
About these matters the less wise consult the more wise,
and these consult the Lord and receive answers.
Their heaven, that is, their inmost joy, is to live rightly from the Lord.

HH 215
In the Lord's spiritual kingdom the government is called judgment;
because those in that kingdom are in spiritual good,
which is the good of charity towards the neighbor,
and that good in its essence is truth;
and truth pertains to judgment,
as good pertains to righteousness.
These, too, are led by the Lord, but mediately;
and in consequence they have governors,
few or many according to the need of the society in which they are.
They also have laws according to which they live together.
The governors administer all things in accordance with the laws,
which they understand because they are wise,
and in doubtful matters they are enlightened by the Lord.

HH 219
Also in each house there is a like government in a lesser form.
In every house there is a master and there are servants;
the master loves the servants and the servants love the master,
consequently they serve each other from love.
The master teaches how they ought to live, and tells what is to be done;
the servants obey and perform their duties.
To perform use is the delight of everyone's life.
This shows that the Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses.