§499 our second state 297
from the fact that if we are involved in civic life, we think about other peo-
ple in terms of their reputation, or of what we have picked up about them
when they were the subjects of conversation. However, we do not talk with
them the way we think about them, and even if the others are evil people,
we still behave courteously toward them. This is particularly noticeable
in pretenders and sycophants whose words and deeds are wholly at odds
with their thoughts and intentions, and in hypocrites who talk about God,
heaven, the salvation of souls, the truths of the church, the welfare of the
country, and their neighbor as though they were motivated by faith and
love when at heart they believe otherwise and love no one but themselves.
[ 2 ] We may gather from this that we have two thought processes,
one more outward and one more inward, and that we talk on the basis
of our more outward thinking and feel differently on the basis of our
more inward thinking. Further, these two thought processes have been
separated to prevent the inner from fl owing into the outer and becoming
somehow visible.
We have been so created that our inner thought may act in unison
with our outer by means of correspondence; and it does act as one when
we are involved in something constructive, since we do not think any-
thing that is not good, and what we say is good. But if we are involved
in something evil, our deeper thought does not act as one with our outer
thought, because we are thinking something evil and saying something
good. This means that the pattern is inverted, since the good is on the
outside for us and the evil lies within. As a result, the evil controls the
good and suppresses it like a slave, to make it serve as a means to securing
its own ends, the objects of its love. Since this kind of purpose is latent in
the good we say and do, we can see that now the good is not really good
but is infected with evil, no matter how good it may look in outward
form to people who are not aware of deeper matters. [ 3 ] It is different
for people who are involved in something good. For them, the pattern is
not inverted; rather, the good fl ows from their deeper thought into their
more outward thought and therefore into their words and deeds. This is
the pattern into which we were created. In this way, our deeper reaches
are in heaven and in the light there, and since heaven’s light is divine
truth emanating from the Lord and is in fact the Lord in heaven (see
§§ 126 – 140 ), the Lord is leading us.
I mention this to show that each of us has a more inward thought
and a more outward thought, and that these are distinguishable. When
I say “thought,” I mean volition as well, since thought comes from voli-
tion. No one can actually think without intent.