What is Perpetual in the Thought

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)

Remember. That this signifies what is perpetual in the thought, is evident from the signification of "remembering," when said of such a thing as must not in any wise be forgotten, as being what is perpetual in the thought.

That is perpetual in the thought which universally reigns there; and that universally reigns with man which is perpetually in his thought, even when he is meditating on other things, or is engaged in business affairs. The thought of man involves many things together, for it is the form of many things which have entered successively. Those things which come to manifest perception are at the time in the midst, and thus in the light of the internal sight, while all other things are then at the sides round about. Those which are in the circuits are in obscurity, and are not manifested except when such objects occur as they are associated with. But the things which are still more remote, and are not on the same plane, but tend downward, are such as the man has rejected and holds in aversion. Such things are evils and falsities with the good, and goods and truths with the evil.

In the very thought of man are those things which are perpetually there, that is, which universally reign there, which are his inmost things. From these man regards those things which are not perpetually there (that is, those things which do not yet universally reign) as being outside of himself, and also as beneath himself, and as not yet being akin to him; from which he can then choose and adjoin to himself those things which agree with the inmost things, and from the adjunction and final consociation of which, the inmost things, that is, those which universally reign, are strengthened. This is effected by means of new truths with the good, and by means of new falsities, or by wrong applications of truths, with the evil.

Be it known further that that which universally reigns is that which has been insinuated into the will itself, for the will itself is the inmost of man, because it has been formed from his love. For whatever man loves, this he wills, and that which he loves above all things, this he inmostly wills. But the understanding serves to make manifest before others the things which the man wills, that is, which he loves; and serves also to bend the wills of others by ideas variously formed for accommodation thereto. When this is the case, love or affection flows from the will into the intellectual ideas also, and by a certain kind of inspiration vivifies and moves them.

With the good these intellectual ideas make a one with the affections which are of the will; but it is otherwise with the evil, for with these the thought and the will do indeed inmostly agree, because the evil which the will wills, the understanding thinks, as falsity that is in agreement with this evil; but this agreement does not appear before men in the world, because from their infancy the evil learn to speak differently from what they think, and to act differently from what they will; in a word, they learn to separate their interior man from their exterior, and in this latter to form another will and also another thought besides that which is in their interior man, and thus by the exterior man to counterfeit good that is quite contrary to the interior man, which at the same instant wills evil and also imperceptibly thinks it. But in the other life the quality of the interior will and thought is manifest as in clear light, for in that life external things are removed, and internal things are laid bare.

(from Arcana Coelestia 8885)

Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged upon the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. (Deut. 20:12)

That this signifies love for good and truth, in the supreme sense for the Lord and for His kingdom, is evident from the signification of "honoring," as being to love, for in the spiritual sense "to honor" denotes to love, for the reason that in heaven one loves another, and when he loves he also honors, for in honor there is love. Honor without love is refused in heaven, nay, is rejected, because it is devoid of life from good.

• From the signification of "father," as being good, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine good; that the Lord in the supreme sense is the "father," is because He gives new life to man, and thereby man becomes a son and heir of His kingdom.

• From the signification of "mother," as being truth, and in the supreme sense the Lord as to Divine truth, thus His kingdom, because the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord makes heaven. That the Divine truth of the Lord makes heaven, is because the Lord as to Divine good is in the other life the Sun, and as to the Divine truth is the light. This Divine light from the Lord as the Sun is what illumines angelic minds, and fills them with intelligence and wisdom, and makes them to be angels of light. Divine good is within Divine truth, as heat from the sun is within the light in the time of spring and summer in the world.

Be it known that the commandments of the Decalogue are rules of life both for those who are in the world and for those who are in heaven - the sense of the letter or the external sense being for those who are in the world, and the spiritual or internal sense for those who are in heaven - and consequently both senses, external as well as internal, are for those who while they are in the world are also in heaven, that is, for those who are in the good of life according to the truths of doctrine.

That the commandments of the Decalogue are also for those who are in heaven, is plain from the internal sense of all things in the Word, and clearly from the fact that the things which Jehovah God (that is, the Lord) Himself speaks, are not only for men, or for the world; but are also for angels, nay, for the whole heaven, because the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord flows through heaven and passes through down unto man. This is the case with these ten commandments, which the Lord Himself spoke from Mount Sinai.

Inasmuch as these commandments were spoken not only for those who are in the world, but also for those who are in heaven, therefore they could not be perceived in the same way by both - as for instance this commandment, that they should honor father and mother in order that their days might be prolonged upon the land which Jehovah God would give them; for in heaven parents and children do not come together the same as on earth; and therefore for "father" there they have the Lord, and for "mother" His kingdom. Nor can it be said of those in heaven that their days would be prolonged, because they live there to eternity; nor can "land" be understood there as in this commandment to mean the land of Canaan, but instead the heavenly Canaan or heaven.

As by "father and mother" are meant the Lord and His kingdom, therefore this commandment is the fourth in order, and surpasses in holiness those which follow.

The commandment concerning the worship of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is first and second, because the most holy one.

Next comes the commandment concerning the Sabbath, because by this in the supreme sense is signified the union of the Divine Itself and the Divine Human in the Lord.

After this follows the commandment concerning honoring parents, because by this is signified the love of the Lord and the consequent love of good and truth which are from the Lord.

As these things are signified by this commandment, therefore contempt for parents is enumerated among the crimes which are signified by "shedding blood" (Ezek. 22:6, 7) and for this reason disobedient and rebellious sons were stoned (Deut. 21:18-21)

In the Word by "mother" is meant the church, which also on this account is at one time called "the bride," and at another "the wife," of the Lord; and as the kingdom of the Lord is the same as the church, with only this difference, that the kingdom of the Lord on the earth is called "the church," therefore this also is signified by "mother." For this reason the sons born of this mother are truths, and are called "the sons of the kingdom" (Matt. 13:38). Moreover to all those who are therein the Lord's kingdom is their country, and one's country is "mother" in a natural sense, as the church is "mother" in the spiritual sense.

(from Arcana Coelestia 8896-8900)

The Word — The Lord Himself Presented to View

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5;14)

In the supreme sense (all things in the Word in both general and particular) have relation to the Lord.  The Lord is doctrine itself, that is, the Word, not only as to the supreme sense therein, but also as to the internal sense, and even as to the literal sense — for this sense is representative and significative of the internal sense, and the internal sense is representative and significative of the supreme sense — that which in the Word is representative and significative is in its essence that which is represented and signified, thus it is the Divine of the Lord — for a representative is nothing but an image of him who is represented, and is in an image the Lord Himself presented to view.

This may be seen from man's speech, and also from his gesture, these being merely images of the things which come forth within the man, in his thought and will, so that the speech and gesture are the thought and will in form — for if you take away from them the thought and will, that which is left is a mere inanimate affair, thus nothing human. This shows how the case is with the Word, even in the letter, namely, that it is Divine.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3393)