AC 6110 - Desolation

AC 6110 [1, 3, 6]

With regard to desolation,
be it known that truths and goods
and the knowledges thereof
make the spiritual life of those who are in heaven,
for these are the celestial and spiritual foods
with which they are nourished.
These foods are given them daily by the Lord.
When it is morning with them, goods are supplied;
when it is noon, truths are supplied;
but when it is evening, goods and truths are lacking,
and this even unto twilight and the return of morning.
The angels are then kept in a state of appetite,
which is of such a nature
that they long for these things
more than those who are hungry on earth long for food.

Wherefore in the other life
those who are in desolation
are soon afterward refreshed,
and attain their desires.
By means of such alternations are all made perfect.
It is worthy of note
that the alternations of the day in the natural world --
morning, midday, evening, night, and again morning --
perfectly represent the alternations in the spiritual world,
with only this difference:
that the alternations of the spiritual world
flow into the understanding and the will,
and sustain those things which are of the life;
while the alternations in the natural world
flow into those things which are of the body,
and sustain them.

Yet be it known that in heaven there is no night,
but only evening,
which is succeeded by the twilight
that precedes the morning.
But in hell there is night.