§351 the wise & the simple 193
abundant light, while the simple in heaven are in less light, all according
to their level of love of what is good and true.
To love what is true and good for the sake of what is true and good is
to intend and to do them, for the people who intend and act are the ones
who love, not the ones who do not intend and act. The former are the
ones who love the Lord and are loved by the Lord, because what is good
and what is true are from the Lord; and since they are from the Lord, the
Lord is within them (within what is good and what is true, that is); so he
is also with people who accept what is good and what is true into their
lives by intending and doing them.
Seen in our own right, we are nothing but our good and our truth,
because the good is the substance of our volition and the true is the sub-
stance of our understanding, and the quality of our volition and under-
standing determines our own quality as persons. We can see from this
that we are loved by the Lord to the extent that our volition is formed
from what is good and our understanding is formed from what is true.
To be loved by the Lord is to love the Lord as well, because love is
reciprocal. The Lord enables the beloved to love.
In this world, it is believed that people who are full of information— 351
whether concerning the doctrines of the church and the Word or the arts
and sciences—see truths more deeply and sharply than others, and are
therefore more intelligent and wiser. These people believe the same about
themselves. We need to explain below, though, what true intelligence
and wisdom are, and what the counterfeit and false versions are.
[ 2 ] True intelligence and wisdom are seeing and grasping what is true
and good; on that basis seeing what is false and evil, and distinguishing
accurately between them; and doing this from insight and an inner per-
ception. There are deeper and more external levels to every individual,
the deeper comprising what belongs to the inner or spiritual person and
the outer what belongs to the outer or natural person. The way the
deeper levels are formed and unite with the outer ones determines the
way we see and perceive. Our deeper levels can be formed only in heaven,
while the outer ones are formed in this world. When the inner levels
have been formed in heaven, then whatever occurs there fl ows into the
outer levels that are derived from this world and forms them to be
responsive—that is, to act as one with the inner levels. Once this has
been accomplished, we see and perceive from within.
The only way these inner levels can be formed is by our focusing on
the Deity and on heaven, for as already noted, the deeper levels are
formed in heaven. We focus on the Deity when we believe the Deity and