[ 3 ] These facts make it clear that nothing stands in the way of our
being able to draw from the Lord everything good that relates to goodwill
and everything true that relates to faith, since he is omnipresent. An exam-
ple showing that nothing stands in the way is the love and the wisdom that
heaven’s angels have from the Lord. The angels’ love and wisdom are
beyond words and incomprehensible to our earthly self; they are also capa-
ble of increasing to eternity.
The fact that there are infinite things in the heat and light that
emanate from the Lord, although they are perceived as simple heat and
light, can be illustrated by various phenomena on earth. For example,
we hear the tone of someone’s voice in speech as a noncomposite sound,
yet when angels hear it they perceive in it all that person’s feelings, and
can list and describe each one. We too can sense to some extent that
there are qualities that lie within a voice when we listen to people talking
to us. We can tell if there is contempt, ridicule, or hatred, or else good-
will, benevolence, cheerfulness, or other feelings behind what they say.
Similar things lie hidden in the visual impression we receive when we
look at someone.
[ 4 ] This phenomenon can also be illustrated by the fragrances in an
ample garden or in a vast field full of flowers. The sweet smell given off
by those plants consists of thousands and even tens of thousands of dif-
ferent elements; yet they are sensed as one impression. It is similar with
many other things that appear on the outside as something uniform but
are inwardly complex.
The source of human attraction and repulsion is feelings that
emanate from people’s minds. These feelings attract others who have
similar feelings and repel others who do not. Although these emanations
are countless and are not picked up by any physical sensation, they are
perceived by the sensation of our soul as a single thing. In the spiritual
world, all connections and associations are formed on the basis of them.
I have mentioned these things to illustrate what I said before about the
spiritual light that emanates from the Lord. It contains all things related to
wisdom and all things related to faith. It is this light that enables our intel-
lect to see and perceive the objects of reason in an analytical way, just as our
eye sees and perceives earthly objects in a proportional way.
(c) The qualities that flow in from the Lord are received by us according 366
to our form.“Form” here means our state in regard to love and wisdom.
Therefore it includes the state of our desires to do good out of goodwill
and the state of our insights about the truths of faith.
§366 faith 435