§325 non-christians 179
listened intently to what happened to Micah and was deeply pained
because of the idol that the Danites stole. His distress overcame him and
moved him so deeply that he scarcely knew what he was thinking because
of the depth of his pain. I sensed his pain and at the same time the inno-
cence within his particular affections. There were some Christian spirits
present who were surprised that this idolater was moved by such mercy
and such an affection of innocence.
Later some good spirits talked with him and told him that he should
not revere idols and that he could understand this because he himself was
a human being. Rather, his thought should reach beyond the idol to the
God who was creator and ruler of the whole heaven and the whole earth,
and who was the Lord. When he was told this, I could sense his deep
feeling of reverence. It was communicated to me as something much
holier than what could be found among Christians. I could gather from
this that non-Christians come into heaven more readily than Christians
nowadays, in keeping with the Lord’s words in Luke:
Then they will come from the east and the west and the north and the
south and will recline in the kingdom of God; and indeed there will be
many of the last who will be fi rst, and of the fi rst who will be last.
(Luke 13 : 29 – 30 )Because of the state he was in, that is, he could absorb all matters of faith
and could accept them with a deep inner affection. There was a loving
mercy about him and in his ignorance an innocence; and when these are
present, all matters of faith are accepted spontaneously, so to speak, and
with joy. After this, the non-Christian spirit was accepted among the
angels.
One morning I heard a far off chorus. I could tell from images of the 325
chorus that they were Chinese, since they presented to view a kind of
woolly goat and a cake of millet and an ebony spoon, as well as an image
of a fl oating city. They were eager to come closer to me, and when we
were together they said that they wanted to be alone with me in order to
disclose their thoughts. They were told, however, that we were not alone,
and that the others were offended that they wanted to be alone, since
they were guests. When they perceived this feeling of offense in their
thoughts, their mood changed, since they had transgressed against a
neighbor, and since they had claimed as their own something that
belonged to others (in the other life, all our thoughts are shared). I was
enabled to perceive their distress of mind. It involved a recognition that
they might have injured them, and a sense of shame on that account,