DLW 330
Since the final end in creation
is an angelic heaven from the human race,
and so also the human race itself,
therefore its intermediate ends are
all other phenomena that have been created.
And because these have relation to mankind,
they have regard to these three constituents of a person,
namely, his body, his rational faculty, and his spiritual character,
for the sake of his conjunction with the Lord.
For a person cannot be conjoined with the Lord
unless he is spiritual,
and he cannot be spiritual
without being rational,
and he cannot be rational
without having a body in sound condition.
These three are like a house.
The body is like the foundation.
The person's rational faculty
is like the superstructure of the house.
His spiritual character is like the furnishings in the house.
And conjunction with the Lord is like his inhabiting of it.
DLW 333 - 334
DLW 333 - 334
Forms of use for receiving a spiritual character from the Lord
are all matters having to do with religion and so with worship,
thus which teach an acknowledgment and knowledge of God,
and a knowledge and acknowledgment of goodness and truth,
and consequently eternal life.
These are similarly learned like other disciplines
from parents, teachers, sermons and books,
and especially through efforts
to pursue a life in accordance with them.
In the Christian world they are learned
through doctrines and sermons drawn from the Word,
and through the Word from the Lord.
These forms of use can be described
in their range and scope
in the same terms as forms of use to the body,
as for example, in terms of nourishment,
clothing, lodging, recreation and enjoyment,
protection, and the preservation of condition,
provided one applies them to the soul -
its nourishment to goods of love,
its clothing to truths of wisdom,
its lodging to heaven,
its recreation and enjoyment to felicity of life and heavenly joy,
its protection to evils assailing,
and the preservation of its condition to eternal life.
All of these boons are bestowed by the Lord
according to a person's acknowledgment
that the same boons which are matters of the body
are also all from the Lord,
and that a person is only as a servant or steward
set over the goods of his Lord.
These gifts have been given to mankind to use and enjoy,
and they are free gifts,
as is clearly apparent from the state of angels in heaven,
who likewise have a body, rational faculty,
and spiritual character, as people do on earth.
They are nourished without cost,
for they are daily given their food.
They are clothed without cost,
because they are given their clothing.
They have their lodging without cost,
because they are given their houses.
Nor do they worry about any of these things.
Moreover, to the extent that they are spiritually rational,
they experience enjoyment, protection,
and the preservation of their condition.
The difference is that angels see
that these are gifts from the Lord,
because things there are created in accordance
with the state of their love and wisdom . . .
DLW 335
Even though we call these forms of use,
because they have relation
through mankind to the Lord,
still it cannot be said that they are forms of use
originating from mankind
for the sake of the Lord.
Rather they forms of use
originating from the Lord
for the sake of mankind,
because all useful ends are infinitely one in the Lord,
and do not originate in mankind
except from the Lord.
For a person cannot do good of himself
but only from the Lord.
Good is what we are calling a useful end.
The essence of spiritual love is to do good to others,
not for one's own sake,
but for their sake.
Infinitely more is it the essence of Divine love.
The case is the same
as with the love of parents for their children,
who do good to them out of love,
not for their own sake but for the children's sake.
This is clearly seen in a mother's love for her little children.
[2] Because the Lord is to be adored, worshiped and glorified,
people believe that He loves adoration, worship and glory
for His own sake.
But in fact He loves these for mankind's sake,
since a person comes thereby into a state
such that the Divine can flow in and be perceived,
because the person thereby sets aside his native character
which inhibits the influx and reception.
For his native character,
which is love of self,
hardens the heart and closes it up.
He sets this character aside by acknowledging
that of himself he does nothing but evil,
and from the Lord only good,
thus occasioning a softening and humbling of the heart
from which springs adoration and worship.
It follows from this
that the uses the Lord performs
for Himself through mankind
exist to the end that He may do good to people out of love,
and because this is His love,
their reception of it is His love's delight.
Let no one suppose, therefore,
that the Lord dwells in those who merely adore Him,
but that He dwells in those who do His commandments,
thus who do things of use.
It is in such people that He has His abode, and not the first.
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