§517 our third state 309
b. Everything good has its delight from constructive activities and in keeping with them; this is
also the source of its quality, so the nature of the activity determines that of the good: 3049 , 4984 ,
7038. Angelic life consists of the virtues of love and thoughtfulness, and therefore in constructive
actions: 453 [ 454 ]. For the Lord and therefore for angels, nothing matters in people except goals
that are useful activities: 1317 , 1645 , 5844 [ 5854 ]. The Lord’s kingdom is a kingdom of useful
activities: 453 [ 454 ], 696 , 1103 , 3645 , 4054 , 7038. Serving the Lord is living constructively: 7038.
Our character is determined by the uses we have: 1568 , 3570 , 4054 , 6571 , 6934 [ 6935 ], 6938 , 10284.
from heavenly doctrine only in that spiritual life is taught through a
moral life in accord with the good tenets of their own religion, which
was the basis of their life in the world.
Teaching in the heavens differs from teaching on earth in that [there] 517
information is not consigned to memory but to life, since spirits’ mem-
ory is in their life. They actually accept and absorb whatever agrees with
their life and do not accept, much less absorb, what does not agree. This
is because spirits are affections, and therefore have a human form that
resembles their affections.
[ 2 ] Since this is their nature, they are constantly breathing in a desire
to know what is true, so they can put it to use in their lives. The Lord in
fact sees to it that they love doing the useful things that suit their personal
gifts. That love is intensifi ed by their hope of becoming angels. Further-
more, all the activities of heaven focus on a common use, which is the wel-
fare of the Lord’s kingdom (which now is their country). Since all angels
there are useful in their own distinctive ways to the extent that the things
they do are focused directly and personally on that common usefulness,
all the countless distinctive and individual uses they fulfi ll are good and
heavenly. This means that for each of these spirits their affection for what
is true is so closely united to their affection for usefulness that the two
affections act as one. A true understanding of usefulness is sown in them
in this way, so that the truths they learn are truths about what is useful.
This is how angelic spirits are taught and prepared for heaven.
[ 3 ] There are various ways in which an affection for the truth suited
to usefulness is instilled, many of them unknown in the world, primarily
by depictions of useful activities. These can be presented in thousands of
ways in the spiritual world, with such grace and charm that they perme-
ate spirits all the way from the deeper levels of their minds to the outer
levels of their bodies and therefore affect the whole person. As a result,
spirits virtually become their constructive lives; so when they arrive in
the communities their instruction has prepared them for, they are in
their own life when they are engaged in their useful activities.b