In its letter the Word is like a case that has precious stones, pearls, and 238
gems laid out in a pattern inside. When we regard the Word as holy and
read it in order to have a useful life, our minds have thoughts like a jewel
case that someone takes hold of and sends up to heaven. As the jewel case
rises, it opens, making the precious things inside accessible to the angels,
who are profoundly delighted to see them and to hold them up to the
light. The angels’ pleasure is shared with us; this process brings angels
into association with us and allows them to share with us not only that
pleasure but also their perceptions.
The Holy Supper was established to allow us this kind of association
with angels as well as a connection to the Lord. During the Holy Supper,
in heaven the bread becomes divine goodness and the winebecomes
divine truth, both of which are from the Lord. Ever since creation this
correspondence has existed for two reasons: so the angelic heaven and
the church on earth, or more generally the spiritual world and the physi-
cal world, could be one; and so the Lord could be connected to both of
them at once.
Association with angels comes about through the Word’s earthly or 239
literal meaning because three levels of life have been built into every
one of us from creation: a heavenly level, a spiritual level, and an
earthly level. As long as we are alive in the world we are conscious of
the earthly level; during this time we are conscious of the spiritual
angelic level only to the extent that we have genuine truths, and we are
conscious of the heavenly level only to the extent that we live our lives
by those truths. Even in that case, we do not come into full conscious-
ness of what is spiritual or heavenly until after death, because what is
spiritual or heavenly is locked and hidden inside our earthly ideas.
When our earthly level passes away through death, the spiritual and
heavenly levels remain and form the basis of the ideas in our thinking.
It stands to reason, then, that only the Word has spirit and life. As
the Lord says,
The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life. (John 6 : 63 )
The water that I will give you will become a fountain of water spring-
ing up to eternal life. (John 4 : 14 )
People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from
the mouth of God. (Matthew 4 : 4 )
Work for the food that remains for eternal life, which the Son of
Humankind will give you. (John 6 : 27 )§239 sacred scripture 309