Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
When Fear is Taken Away, Hope is Present
That they who are being reformed are reduced into ignorance of truth, or desolation, even to grief and despair, and that they then for the first time have comfort and help from the Lord, is unknown at this day, for the reason that few are reformed. They who are such that they can be reformed are brought into this state, if not in the life of the body, nevertheless in the other life, where this state is well known, and is called vastation or desolation —Those who have fully confirmed themselves in false principles are reduced to complete ignorance, and then they are in obscurity and confusion, so that when they merely think of the things in which they have confirmed themselves, they have inward pain. But after some time has passed, they are as it were created anew, and are imbued with the truths of faith.
(Arcana Coelestia 1109)
They who are in such vastation or desolation are reduced even to despair; and when they are in this state they then receive comfort and help from the Lord, and are at length taken away into heaven, where they are instructed among the angels as it were anew in the goods and truths of faith. The reason of this vastation and desolation is chiefly that the persuasive which they have conceived from what is their own may be broken —To be desolated as to truth and good even to despair, is manifest in Job:Alone in want and famine; they flee to the drought, yesternight desolation and wasteness; they pluck mallows upon the shrub; to dwell in the cleft of the valleys, in holes of the dust and of the rocks; among the shrubs they were groaning, under the thistle they were joined together (Job 30:3-4, 6-7)where the desolation of truth is treated of, which is described by forms of expression in common use in the Ancient Church (for the book of Job is a book of the Ancient Church), such as to be alone, in want and in famine, to flee to the drought, yesternight desolation and wasteness; to dwell in the clefts of the valleys and of the rocks; also to pluck mallows upon the shrub, and to groan among the shrubs.
So too in Isaiah:They shall come and shall rest all of them in the rivers of desolations, in the clefts of the rocks, and in all shrubs, and in all water courses (Isa. 7:19)where also desolation is treated of, which is described by similar forms of expression, that is to say, by resting in the rivers of desolations, in the clefts of the rocks, and in the shrubs.
In this verse the second state of those who are being reformed is treated of, which is that they are reduced to ignorance till they know nothing of truth, and this even to despair. The cause of their being reduced to such ignorance is that persuasive light may be extinguished, which is of such a nature as to illuminate falsities equally as well as truths, and to induce a belief in falsity by means of truths, and a belief in truth by means of falsities, and at the same time trust in themselves; also that they may be led by experience itself to a knowledge of the fact that nothing of good and nothing of truth is of self or of man's own, but from the Lord.
They who are being reformed are reduced into ignorance even to despair, and then they have comfort and enlightenment, as is evident from what follows; for the light of truth from the Lord cannot flow into the persuasive which is from man's own; for this is of such a nature as to extinguish that light. In the other life that which is persuasive appears like the light of winter; but at the approach of the light of heaven, instead of that light there comes darkness, in which there is ignorance of all truth. With those who are being reformed this state is called the state of desolation of truth, and this also is much treated of in the internal sense of the Word.
But of this state few have any knowledge, because few at this day are being regenerated.
To those who are not being regenerated it makes no difference whether they know the truth, or do not; nor whether what they do know be truth or not, provided they can palm a thing off for truth.
But they who are being regenerated think much about doctrine and life, because they think much about eternal salvation; and therefore if truth be deficient with them, as it is the subject of their thought and affection, they grieve at heart. The state of the one and of the other may be seen from this: -
While a man is in the body he is living as to his spirit in heaven, and as to his body in the world; for he is born into both, and has been so created that as to his spirit he can be actually with the angels, and at the same time with men by means of what is of the body.
But as there are few who believe that they have a spirit which is to live after death, there are few who are being regenerated. To those who believe it, the other life is the whole of their thought and affection, and the world is nothing in comparison; but to those who do not believe it, the world is the whole of their thought and affection, and the other life is in comparison nothing. The former are they who can be regenerated, but the latter are they who cannot.
(from Arcana Coelestia 2682)
and that they may also receive the perception of good and truth, which they cannot receive until the persuasive which is from their own has been as it were softened.This is effected by the state of anxiety and grief even to despair. What is good, nay, what is blessed and happy, no one can perceive with an exquisite sense unless he has been in a state of what is not good, not blessed, and not happy. From this he acquires a sphere of perception, and this in the degree in which he has been in the opposite state. The sphere of perception and the extension of its limits arise from the realizing of contrasts. These are causes of vastation or desolation, besides many others.
But take examples for illustration —
If to those who ascribe all things to their own prudence and little or nothing to Divine Providence, it be proved by thousands of reasons that the Divine Providence is universal, and this because it is in the most minute particulars; and that not even a hair falls from the head (that is, nothing happens however small) which is not foreseen and provided accordingly, nevertheless their state of thought about their own prudence is not changed by it, except at the very moment when they find themselves convinced by the reasons. Nay, if the same thing were attested to them by living experiences; just at the moment when they see the experiences, or are in them, they may confess that it is so; but after the lapse of a few moments they return to their former state of opinion. Such things have some momentary effect upon the thought, but not upon the affection; and unless the affection is broken, the thought remains in its own state; for the thought has its belief and its life from the affection. But when anxiety and grief are induced upon them by the fact of their own helplessness, and this even to despair, their persuasive is broken, and their state is changed; and then they can be led into the belief that they can do nothing of themselves, but that all power, prudence, intelligence, and wisdom are from the Lord. The case is similar with those who believe that faith is from themselves, and that good is from themselves.
Take another example for illustration —
If to those who have conceived the persuasion that when justified there is no longer any evil in them, but it is completely wiped away and blotted out, and thus they are pure - if to these it be made clear by thousands of reasons that nothing is wiped away or blotted out, but that they are kept back from evil and held in good by the Lord (that is to say those who are of such a character that from the life of good in which they had been in the world this is possible to them); and if moreover they be convinced by experience that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and indeed are most impure heaps of evils - after all they will not recede from the belief of their opinion. But when they are reduced to such a state that they perceive hell in themselves, and this to such a degree as to despair of ever being able to be saved, then for the first time that persuasive is broken, and with it their pride, and their contempt of others in comparison with themselves, and also the arrogance that they are the only ones who are saved; and they can be led into the true confession of faith, not only that all good is from the Lord, but also that all things are of His mercy; and at length into humiliation of heart before the Lord, which is not possible without the acknowledgment of the true character of self. Hence now it is manifest why they who are being reformed, or are becoming spiritual, are reduced into the state of vastation or desolation treated of in the verses which precede; and that when they are in that state even to despair, they then for the first time receive comfort and help from the Lord.
(from Arcana Coelestia 2694)