A Personal View On Swedenborg's Divine Love and Wisdom
ALTITUDE OF THE SUN
The sun of the spiritual world appears at forty-five degrees in altitude at all times, and also appears far away just as the natural sun appears far away. The spiritual sun appears at this middle altitude because if it were any higher, it would give off more heat, and if lower it would give off more light. At this middle altitude, the sun creates a "perpetual spring in all the angelic heavens, whereby the angels are in a state of peace." 105 Finally, this altitude allows the angels to continuously face the Lord and "behold Him with their eyes." 105 All this would not be possible if the spiritual sun were like the natural sun. 104- 105
INMOST NOT MOST HIGH
Humans learn of the Lord on earth and when they die most take with them an idea that the Lord is above them because in the Word, "God is called the 'Most High'." 103 They (humans) need to understand that what is meant by the "Most High" is that the Lord is at the "inmost" of us all. As shown in the corresponding circles before, the Divine or Spiritual World is at the center or inmost. Most humans "raise their eyes and hands upwards" 103 when worshipping the Lord, when the Lord is really within each of them. 103 I have noticed that in my church the people all raise their hands up in worship like they are reaching up to the Lord but they need to understand and remember that the Lord is within each of us.
ANGEL IS A PERSON
A human is the same as an angel in heaven, meaning angels are people and there reception of love and wisdom from God depends on their acceptance of Him. As stated in the writings, there is no space or time in the spiritual world, only an appearance of space and time. So the distance, meaning the sun being close or far, depends on the angel's acceptance of the Lord. 109 Angels must be people because what a people who go to heaven? They must be angels.
LEVELS IN HEAVEN
The amount of heat and light, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, angels receive is in accordance with their state. "The Lord... is received by angels in a degree of heat and light corresponding to their love and wisdom " 110 These degrees are what make the three levels of heaven. The highest heaven or the third, "appears above the second, and the second above the first. " 11 0 Remember, this separation is only an appearance because there is no space in the spiritual world. The third heaven is able to look down upon the lower heavens, but the lower heavens cannot see into the higher heavens. If an angel were to go into the higher heavens the angel would not know it was there because of the angel's reception of the Lord is still the same of the lower heaven. So, the angel would not receive greater love and wisdom because it is not receptive of the greater love and wisdom. This separation is not of the Lord but of the angel' s reception. 110
These levels in heaven are very interesting but a little hard to imagine. I can understand this but it is just hard to imagine.
GOD GIVES US WHAT WE OWN
All that makes an angel is love and wisdom that is from the Lord, but all that is of the angel themselves and not love and wisdom, "is altogether like what is man's own, which is evil." 114 All angels have this own, meaning of themselves, because they were once people and at birth all people had and still have this sense of own. But in heaven an angel must put it (own) aside in order to receive the love and wisdom, or the Lord. 114 If angels believe that all that they have is their own, then they are not angelic, therefore they have no conjunction meaning they are not in the Lord and the Lord is not in them. Truth is in love and wisdom, and claiming truth to be yours is denying the Lord, because as shown above, His love and wisdom are in all angels. But if that love and wisdom are not reciprocated, one is selfish and evil. If you do not accept the Lord then you accept evil. 115-116
All that we have is from the Lord and nothing is of our own because we are not alive without the Lord's love.
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD OF SPIRITS
WORLD OF SPIRITS
In the spiritual world there are angels and there are spirits. When a human dies that person first comes into what is called the world of spirits. This world is between heaven and hell. Here a person is called a spirit, and this is where this person becomes prepared for heaven or hell according to the life that person lived. "He who is preparing for heaven is called an angelic spirit; and he who is preparing for hell, an infernal spirit." 140 Once this individual is raised out of the world of spirits and into heaven that person is now called an angel, but if that person goes to hell, Satan or a devil is what that person is called. The minds of the spirits in the world of spirits are similar to the interiors of the human mind because they are between heaven and hell as well. 140
So, the spirit's mind and the humans' minds are adjoined. This means that those in the world of spirits are able to remember and retain some of the natural world. Once they are in heaven or hell they are no longer able to remember or retain anything of the natural world. It is put aside similar to our (human) subconscious.
SOClETlES
Because there are different degrees of love to the Lord, as stated earlier, there are societies in heaven, hell, and the world of spirits that are separated according to this love or lack of. There are two loves that are heads of all the other loves and these are the love of the Lord and love of self. These two are direct opposites, they oppose each other. Love to the Lord is the highest degree in heaven, and love of self is the lowest in hell. Then the societies in heaven and hell are divided according to how strong their love is. In the world of spirits it is arranged in a similar fashion but the societies are arranged according to their loves. The more love for the Lord a society has the closer to heaven (to God) that society is, and vice versa. 141
This is understandable after knowing that God is love and if you love God, the closer you will be to Him.
PATHWAY TO YOUR SOCIETY
In the spiritual world there are pathways that lead to heaven or to hell, but a spirit can only see that pathway that leads to their society that is in accordance with their love. So, as spirits are preparing for heaven or hell, they are guided by their ruling love and follow the path to the society with similar loves. 145
This is interesting because we (individually) can only see our path and not any other. We each have our own path, and hopefully it leads to heaven.
CONCLUSION
The Love and Wisdom being constant in heaven is something that makes me feel good because if I feel good that the Lord loves me while I am in this natural world, I cannot imagine what it feels like in the spiritual world. But now it seems like a place to really look forward to.