4. [9.] IV. THIS FORM IS THE FORM OF USES IN THEIR TOTAL COMPASS
This is because the form of love is a form of uses, the "subjects" 1 of love being uses: for love wishes to do goods, and goods are nothing else than uses; and since the Divine Love infinitely surpasses all other loves, its form is the form of uses in their total compass.
That the Lord is actually Himself present with angels in the heavens and with men on earth, and that He is in those with whom He is conjoined by love, and further, that He is in them notwithstanding His being infinite and uncreated, whereas angels and men are created and finite - this is beyond the comprehension of the natural man, so long as he cannot, through enlightenment from the Lord, be withdrawn from the natural idea in regard to space and thereby be [brought] into light in regard to spiritual essence. This, regarded in itself, is the Divine Itself proceeding forth, accommodated to every angel, whether in the highest heaven or the lowest, and also to every man, whether wise or simple. For the Divine that proceeds forth from the Lord, is Divine from first things to ultimates. Ultimate things are what are called flesh and bone. That these also were made Divine by the Lord, He taught His disciples,
That He had flesh and bones, which a spirit did not have (Luke 24:39):
Moreover, He entered through closed doors, and also became invisible, a clear proof that in Him the things that are man's ultimates had also been made Divine, and that consequently there is correspondence between the Divine and man's ultimates.
[2] [10.] But how the Divine proceeding forth, which is the One only Life Itself, can be in created and finite beings, will now be described. This Life does not apply itself to man, but only to the uses in him; the uses themselves, regarded in themselves, are spiritual, while their forms - the members, organs and viscera - are natural; but throughout, these are each a series of uses, so that in none of the members, organs or viscera, is there any part or smallest part of a part that is not a use in form. The Divine Life applies Itself to the uses themselves in the whole series, and thereby gives life to each form. It is from this that man has the life that is called his soul.
With men this truth certainly appears to be above their comprehension, but not with angels; all the same it is not so far above the human Understanding that it cannot be seen as through a lattice by those who wish to see it. It is not above my Understanding which is an enlightened rational one.
Fußnoten:
1. The Latin word "Subjectum" is used by Swedenborg in a philosophic sense, as that in and by which another thing has actuality. Thus, the eye is the "Subject" in which and by means of which the mind's seeing of external things has effective existence.
