Love for the world or for wealth comes in many forms, however. It
gets worse the closer it approaches to miserliness. At the point of miserli-
ness the love for heaven becomes dark. This love also gets worse the
closer it approaches to arrogance and a sense of superiority over others
based on love for oneself. It is not as detrimental when it tends toward
wasteful indulgence. It is even less damaging if its goal is to have the
finest things the world has to offer, like a mansion, fine furniture, fash-
ionable clothing, servants, horses and carriages in grand style, and things
like that. With any love, its quality depends on the goal that it focuses on
and intends to reach.
Love for the world and for wealth is like a dark crystal that suffocates
light and breaks it only into colors that are dull and faded. It is like fog or
cloudiness that blocks the rays of the sun. It is also like wine in its first
stages—the liquid tastes sweet, but it upsets your stomach.
From heaven’s point of view, people like this look hunchbacked, walk-
ing with their head bent down looking at the ground. When they lift their
head toward the sky, they strain their muscles and quickly go back to look-
ing downward. The ancient people who were part of the church called
people of this kind “Mammons.” The Greeks called them “Plutos.”
If, however, love for ourselves or love of power constitutes the head, 405
then love for heaven goes down the body to the lower legs. The more this
love grows, the more love for heaven moves through the ankles into the
feet. If love for ourselves grows even more, love for heaven passes through
the shoes and is trampled.
There is a love for power that comes from loving our neighbor and a
love for power that comes from loving ourselves. People who have a love
for power that comes from loving their neighbor are ambitious for power
for the purpose of benefiting both the general public and individual citi-
zens. In the heavens, in fact, power is entrusted to people like this. [ 2 ] If
emperors, monarchs, and generals who were born and raised to be lead-
ers humble themselves before God, they sometimes have less self-love
than people who come from a lowly family and whose pride makes them
long for superior status over others.
On the other hand, people who have a love for power that comes from
loving themselves use love for heaven as their footstool. They put their feet
on it in view of the crowd. If there is no crowd in sight, they either toss it
in the corner or throw it out the door. Why? Because they love only them-
selves. As a result, they plunge the willing and thinking of their minds
into self-absorption. Self-absorption is in fact a hereditary evil; it is the
polar opposite of love for heaven.
§405 goodwill & good actions 501