SD 856 - beneathe the crusty exterior

SD 856
There is in a person something like a plane,
which is portrayed as a soft substance
lying beneath the outward, callus-like part of a person
produced by bodily and worldly elements.
This underlying plane or substance
becomes visible when the superinduced exterior is removed.
. . . when it has been cast aside,
something like a round, soft body or brain is portrayed,
and that the person subsequently,
when living from this body,
now acts in accordance with his or her inward character,
by which they govern their outward elements.
But because the outward elements
are heaps of the individual's personal [qualities of life],
they cannot be governed by the gentle inward body
in such a way that it shines forth,
except by a constant reflection upon one's actions and life,
these being the criteria
from which the wise will usually judge a human character.
That beneath this there is again a similar substance,
still softer, I cannot doubt,
because inside are the Remains
that are preserved by the Lord,
and which the Lord Alone knows of.
(February 18, 1748)