§407 joy 233
heaven—and the universe, for whoever rules the one rules the other as
well. This means that the kingdom where they now fi nd themselves
belongs to the Lord and that the laws of this kingdom are eternal truths
all based on the law that they should love the Lord above all and their
neighbor as themselves. Not only that, but if they wanted to be like
angels, they needed to love their neighbor more than themselves.
When they heard this last point they were unable to respond, because
they had heard something like this during their physical lives but had not
believed it. They wondered whether there was that kind of love in heaven,
whether it was possible for anyone to love her or his neighbor more than
herself or himself. They were told, though, that in the other life everything
good increases immensely. Life in a physical body cannot by nature prog-
ress beyond loving one’s neighbor as the self, because it is immersed in
physical concerns. Once these are removed, though, the love becomes purer
and ultimately angelic, which is loving one’s neighbor more than oneself.
This is because in the heavens doing good for someone else is a delight and
doing good for oneself is not unless it is to give to another and therefore for
the sake of the other. This is loving one’s neighbor more than oneself.
As for the possibility of this love, it was said that in this world it might
be gathered from the marriage love some people have for each other, peo-
ple who would rather die than allow their spouse to be hurt. Or they
might consider the love of parents for their children, the mother who
would rather starve than see her children go hungry; or the true friendship
that leads people to face peril for the sake of their friends. They might
even consider the simulated friendship of formal courtesy, in which peo-
ple try to imitate the real thing by offering the better portions to people
they claim to want to help and then make noise about it, though it is not
from their hearts. Lastly, they might consider the nature of love, whose
nature is to fi nd joy in serving others for their sake and not for its own.
However, the ones who loved themselves more than others could not
grasp this, nor could the ones who had been keen on profi t taking during
their physical lives; and least of all, misers.
There was one man who had been particularly powerful during his 407
physical life, and who in the other life still had his desire to be in control.
He was told that he was in another kingdom now, an eternal one, and
that his own dominion was in the land of the dead. Here no one was
valued for anything but their virtue and truth, and for the Lord’s mercy
they had enjoyed through their earthly lives. He was also told that this
kingdom was like earthly ones where people were valued for their wealth
and their standing with the leadership. Here wealth was virtue and truth,
and standing with the leadership was the mercy the individual had