Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
To remember and to be mindful of the Lord is from no other source than faith
This may be illustrated by various things with man.
He who is in any love, whatever it may be, is continually thinking about whatever belongs to that love; and this although he is engaged in thought, in speech, or in action relative to other things.In the other life this is very evident from the spiritual spheres about everyone; for simply from these spheres it is known in what faith and in what love are all who are there, and this even though they are thinking and speaking of something entirely different; for that which reigns universally in anyone produces a sphere of the same, and displays his life before others. From this may be seen what is meant when it is said that we must be constantly thinking about the Lord, salvation, and the life after death.
All who are in faith from charity do this, and therefore they do not think ill of the neighbor, and they have justice and equity in everything of their thought, speech, and action; for that which reigns universally flows into particulars and guides and governs them, because the Lord keeps the mind in such things as are of charity and the derivative faith and thus disposes everything in conformity therewith.
The sphere of faith from charity is the sphere which reigns in heaven; for the Lord flows in with love, and through love with charity, consequently with the truths which are of faith; and from this they who are in heaven are said to be in the Lord.
The Rebirth of the Sensuous
The sensuous, like the rational, is born again by means of faith, but by the faith into which charity flows. Unless charity flows into faith and gives it life, faith cannot reign universally; for what a man loves reigns, and not what he merely knows and holds in his memory. (from no 5130)Correspondence of Exterior Natural and Interior Natural
When it is well with thee. That this signifies when there is correspondence, is evident from the signification of its "being well with thee," when the rebirth or regeneration of the exterior natural or sensuous is treated of, as being correspondence; for it is not well with it until it corresponds.What correspondence is
There is a correspondence of sensuous with natural things, a correspondence of natural with spiritual things, a correspondence of spiritual with celestial things, and finally a correspondence of celestial things with the Divine of the Lord; thus there is a succession of correspondences from the Divine down to the ultimate natural.But as an idea of the nature of correspondences can with difficulty be formed by those who have never thought about them before, it may be well to say a few words on the subject.
End, Cause, Effect
It is known from philosophy that the end is the first of the cause, and that the cause is the first of the effect. That the end, the cause, and the effect may follow in order, and act as a one, it is needful that the effect should correspond to the cause, and the cause to the end. But still the end does not appear as the cause, nor the cause as the effect; for in order that the end may produce the cause, it must take to itself administrant means from the region where the cause is, by which means the end may produce the cause; and in order that the cause may produce the effect, it also must take to itself administrant means from the region where the effect is, by which means the cause may produce the effect. These administrant means are what correspond; and because they correspond, the end can be in the cause and can actuate the cause, and the cause can be in the effect and can actuate the effect; consequently the end through the cause can actuate the effect. It is otherwise when there is no correspondence; for then the end has no cause in which it may be, still less an effect in which it may be, but is changed and varied in the cause, and finally in the effect, according to the form made by the administrant means.All things in general and in particular in man, nay, all things in general and in particular in nature, succeed one another as end, cause, and effect; and when they thus correspond to one another, they act as a one; for then the end is the all in all things of the cause, and through the cause is the all in all things of the effect. As for example, when heavenly love is the end, the will the cause, and action the effect, if there is correspondence, then heavenly love flows into the will, and the will into the action, and they so act as a one that by means of the correspondence the action is as it were the love; or as when the faith of charity is the end, thought the cause, and speech the effect, then if there is correspondence, faith from charity flows into the thought, and this into the speech, and they so act as a one, that by means of the correspondence the speech is as it were the end. In order however that the end, which is love and faith, may produce the cause, which is will and thought, it must take to itself administrant means in the rational mind that will correspond; for without administrant means that correspond, the end, which is love or faith, cannot be received, however much it may flow in from the Lord through heaven. From this it is plain that the interiors and the exteriors of man, that is, what is rational, natural, and sensuous in him must be brought into correspondence, in order that he may receive the Divine influx, and consequently that he may be born again; and that it is not well with him till then. This is the reason why here by "when it is well with thee" is signified correspondence. (from no. 5131)
The Reception of Charity
Faith and charity will make a one in the sensuous when this is being reborn. That "mercy" signifies charity is because all who are in charity are in mercy, or in other words all who love the neighbor are merciful to him; and therefore acts of charity are described in the Word by works of mercy; as in Matthew:I was hungry and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye gathered Me; naked and ye clothed Me; I was sick and ye visited Me; I was in prison and ye came unto Me (Matt. 25:35-36)and in other places by benefiting the poor, the afflicted, the widows, and the fatherless.
The Mercy of Charity — The Mercy of Friendship
In its essence charity is to will well to the neighbor, to be affected with good, and to acknowledge good as the neighbor, consequently those who are in good, with a difference according to the degree of their good; and hence charity, because it is affected with good, is affected with mercy toward those who are in miseries. The good of charity has this within it because it descends from the Lord's love toward the whole human race, which love is mercy because all the human race is settled in miseries.Mercy sometimes shows itself in the evil, who are in no charity; but this is grief on account of what they themselves suffer, for it is shown toward their friends who make one with them, and when their friends suffer, they suffer. This mercy is not the mercy of charity, but is the mercy of friendship for the sake of self, which regarded in itself is unmercifulness; for it despises or hates all others besides itself, thus besides the friends who make one with it. (from no. 5132)
Communication with the Interior Natural
By "communication with the interior natural" is meant conjunction by correspondence. The interior natural is that which receives ideas of truth and good from the rational, and stores them up for use, consequently which communicates immediately with the rational; but the exterior natural is that which receives images and thence ideas of things from the world through the senses.The Fallacies of the Senses
These ideas, unless enlightened by those which are in the interior natural, present fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses. When man is in these fallacies, he believes nothing but what agrees with them, and what they confirm, as is the case if there is no correspondence; and there is no correspondence unless the man is imbued with charity, for charity is the uniting means, because in the good of it there is life from the Lord, which disposes truth into order, so that the form of charity, or charity in an image, may come into existence. This form appears visibly in the other life, and is the angelic form itself. Hence all the angels are forms of charity, the beauty of which is from the truths which are of faith, and the life of this beauty is from the good which is of charity. (from no. 5133)Deliverance of Good from evils
When faith is received in the exterior natural (which is here treated of above no. 5130), correspondence is effected (no. 5131), and charity is received (no. 5132), and thus communication is effected with the interior natural (no. 5133), which is then delivered from the evils whereby the celestial was alienated.Moreover, when the natural is being regenerated by means of charity and faith, it is delivered from evils; for evils are then separated, and are cast out from the center where they were before, to the circumferences, whither the light of truth from good does not reach. In this way are evils separated in man, and yet are retained, for they cannot be entirely destroyed.
But with the Lord, who made the natural in Himself Divine, evils and falsities were utterly cast out and destroyed; for the Divine can have nothing in common with evils and falsities, nor be terminated in them, as is the case with man; for the Divine is the very being of good and of truth, which is infinitely removed from what is evil and false.
(Selections from Arcana Coelestia 5130 - 5134)