AC 7814 - 7816: Look Up!

AC 7814

People have been so created that we can look upward,
or above himself;
and can also look downward, or below himself.
To look above himself
is to look to his neighbor, to his country, to the church,
to heaven, especially to the Lord;
but to look below himself
is to look to the earth, to the world, and especially to himself.

AC 7815

That to look to his neighbor, to his country, and to the church,
is to look above himself,
is because this is to look to the Lord;
for the Lord is in charity,
and it is of charity to look
to the neighbor, to one's country, and to the church,
that is, to will well to them.
But they look below themselves
who turn themselves away from these,
and will well only to themselves.

AC 7816

To look above oneself is to be uplifted by the Lord;
for no one can look above himself,
unless he is uplifted by Him who is above.
But to look below himself is of a person,
because then he does not suffer himself to be uplifted.