brothers and sisters, they are liars. If they do not love their brothers and
sisters, whom they see, how can they love God whom they do not see?
This commandment we have from him: that people who love God also
love their brothers and sisters. ( 1 John 3 : 24 ; 4 : 20 , 21 )To these points I will add these memorable occurrences. 459
The first memorable occurrence.From far away I saw five halls. They
were surrounded with different kinds of light. The first hall was sur-
rounded with a fiery light, the second with a yellow light, the third with
a bright white light, the fourth with a light halfway between daylight and
twilight. The fifth hall was scarcely visible, because it was standing in the
shadow of evening.
On the roads I saw some people on horseback, some in carriages,
some walking, and some running and hurrying. The people in a hurry
were headed for the first hall, the one surrounded in fiery light. Upon my
seeing all this, a longing to go there and hear what they were discussing
took hold of me and urged me in that direction. I quickly got ready and
joined the people hurrying to the first hall. I went in with them.
Just picture the huge crowd inside. Some of them were heading to
the right and some to the left to sit on seats arranged along the walls.
Near the front I saw a low platform. The man who was the chairperson
for the event was standing on it with a staff in his hand, a hat on his
head, and a coat that was dyed the color of the hall’s fiery light.
[ 2 ] After people had gathered, he lifted up his voice and said,
“Friends, today we are discussing what goodwillis. As each of you may
know, goodwill is spiritual in essence and earthly in practice.”
Immediately someone in the first row on the left side (the row where
people with a reputation for being wise were seated) stood up and began
to speak.
He said, “My opinion is this. Goodwill is morality inspired by faith.”
He supported his opinion in the following way: “Surely everyone
knows that goodwill follows faith the way a female attendant follows her
lady. Everyone knows that people who have faith are so spontaneously
living the law, and therefore a life of goodwill, that they don’t realize that
the law and a life of goodwill are what they are living. If they realized
this and then did it and were thinking they would be saved as a result,
§459 goodwill & good actions 541