GOOD, FROM CREATION

At the end of the first chapter of the Lord's Word, we see this concluding sentence:

And God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:31).

We live in a beautiful world. It is a world made by God – by goodness itself! There are indeed some noxious things in the world – creatures, plants, soil conditions that are harmful and offensive, things that have sprung forth from the spiritual world through the twisted inspiration of hell. But these noxious things pale next to those that are good and useful. In fact, even the noxious things were brought forth in the context of the Lord’s creation. As a result, they bear within them, in spite of themselves, the beauty of the Lord’s order and wisdom (so much so that it is sometimes difficult to believe that a harmful creature or plant is really bad). Even evil things are compelled in many ways to contribute usefully to the ecology of the Lord’s world. They too are compelled to serve His goodness.

How many of us believe that we are good? How many of us believe that from creation the Lord made us to be a form of His goodness? This is a more complicated question. Genesis chapter three, shortly after the creation story, tells us about the fall of Adam and Eve. We know that evil is a reality in the human mind. We know that our heredity nudges us toward selfishness and world-centeredness, the sources of evil. Yet it is important to think clearly about who we are in the Lord’s sight. It’s important to know just wherein evil lies, and wherein good lies. How else can we be truly free to choose and affirm the good and reject the evil?

The testimony of the Heavenly Doctrine for the New Church is that we are created as multi-level beings. There are degrees or levels to our minds. This idea helps us think clearly. In general, our inner mind is created into the form of heaven. It is created to receive heaven and live in its sphere. Our outer mind is created into the form of the world. It is created to function here.

Swedenborg offers a good description of this in his work, Arcana Coelestia:

"[A human being’s] inner self is formed according to the image of heaven, and the outer self according to the image of the world - insomuch that the inner self is a heaven in its smallest form, and the outer self is a world in its smallest form, thus is a microcosm.

That the outer self is an image of the world, may be seen from the … bodily senses. For the ear is formed according to the whole nature of the modification of the air; the lungs according to the whole nature of the air pressure, as also is the general surface of the body, which is held in its form by the surrounding pressure of the air; the eye is formed according to the whole nature of ether and of light; [and so forth]. … From all this it is evident that the whole of nature was brought together to conform to the outer part of a human being; and hence it is that the ancients called a human being a microcosm.

And just as the outer self has been formed according to the image of all things of the world, so has the inner self been formed according to the image of all things of heaven, that is, according to the image of the heavenly and spiritual things which proceed from the Lord and from which and in which is heaven. The heavenly things there are all those which are a matter of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and the spiritual things there are all those of faith, which in themselves are so many and of such a nature that the tongue cannot possibly utter one millionth part of them. That the inner self has been formed according to the image of all these things, is strikingly shown in the angels. When they appear before the inner sight (as they have appeared before mine), by their mere presence they affect the most interior parts [of others]. For love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor pour out of them and penetrate, and the qualities of faith that result from love and charity shine forth from them and affect [others]. By this and other proofs it has been made plain to me that as the inner self has been created to be an angel, it is a heaven in its smallest form." (Arcana Coelestia 6057).

So our inner mind is a heavenly mind. From that mind we have a loving, well-meaning nature. From it we take delight in truth for its own sake and in being wise. This part of us is kept by the Lord in its integrity so that we might be human and become more and more so (Divine Love and Wisdom 270).

We cannot harm our inner self; we can only shut out its influence. The outer mind, by contrast is the seat of our troubles. Not because it is inherently bad, but because it can be twisted to act against our heavenly mind. This becomes clearer when we consider what loves drive these different levels of our mind.

Our inner mind consists of two basic loves: love for the Lord and love for our neighbor. (You’ll recognize the Two Great Commandments here.) All good loves are related to these two basic ones.

Our outer mind consists of two basic loves: love of the world and love of self. All of these loves are good from creation. The natural loves were meant to serve the spiritual loves. When they do they are good loves. As we read in our third lesson, when rightly subordinated these loves all contribute to our perfection, but when not rightly subordinated, they pervert and invert us (True Christian Religion 403).

Earlier I asked “How many of us believe that we are good? How many of is believe that from creation the Lord made us to be a form of His goodness?” If we are thinking from these teachings, we might say that we are indeed created forms of the Lord’s goodness. The inner part of us is in the form of heaven, and the outer part of us is in the form of the world, which was created to serve heaven. What an important affirmation this is! Not only is this a beautiful world we live in, but we can be a beautiful part of it. We can actually love the world and love our self as well as love spiritual things. We can enjoy the world’s pleasures without guilt. True Christian Religion elaborates a bit on what we mean by love of the world and love of self:

"The love of the world is not merely a love of wealth and possessions, but is also a love of all that the world affords, and of all that delights the bodily senses, as beauty delights the eye, harmony the ear, fragrance the nostrils, delicacies the tongue, softness the skin; it is also a love of fine clothes, convenient houses, and gathering with people, thus all the enjoyments arising from these and many other objects. The love of self is not merely the love of [personal] honor, glory, fame, and recognition, but also the love of meriting and seeking positions, and so of being in charge over others." (True Christian Religion 394).

It is OK to love these things. They are good and orderly provided they are controlled from above or within by heavenly loves.

The creation story symbolically describes the order we are discussing here. The Lord made the world and all things of it and gave them to the man whom He had created in His image and likeness. This man, symbolically, represents the inner part of us, the heavenly part. This is the part of us that is the Lord’s aim in creating. This is the part of us from which we are human and in the Lord’s image and likeness. It is to this part of us that the Lord gives everything else. He says to the heavenly part of us:

“Be fruitful and multiply; and fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28).

The Lord wants our love for Him and for our neighbor to multiply and have dominion in our lives. He wants these things to become stronger and stronger in us. He wants these loves to control all of our lower loves. These lower loves are pictured by the animals in the creation story – the fish, birds, and land creatures. In fact, whenever an animal is mentioned in the Word it generally stands for some natural affection, passion, drive. For example, an ox stands for a natural affection for being of service (cf. Arcana Coelestia 2781 [4]; Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 23). Our spiritual love for serving works by means of various natural drives, such as the simple drive to accomplish a task. This drive is natural because it works simply for the satisfaction of accomplishment, with little concern for the end in view. This drive is good but must be handled with care, just like an ox. We must not turn our back on it or let it run free. It must be tethered and yoked by a higher sense of service and discretion, otherwise our affection for accomplishing tasks can easily become a blind, misplaced loyalty or turn into a misguided, misdirected energy. Adam was told to subdue and have dominion over these beasts. He was told to tend and keep them. He was also given to “name” them – which, symbolically, is to know and distinguish their different qualities (Apocalypse Explained 513.10; 650.19). We need to know and reflect on the different feelings, enjoyments, and drives in us, in order to be able to rightly guide them.

Earlier we acknowledged that it is difficult to think of ourselves as having been created as “very good” in the Lord’s sight. We are painfully aware of how often we have strayed from loving the Lord and our neighbor. We are aware of how often we have indulged worldly pleasures without any regard for anything higher than our self. We know that there are times when we must deny ourselves things that are good, because we cannot handle them appropriately. We must take severe measures with ourselves, following the Lord’s words:

"If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire." (Matthew 18:7-9).Yes, the things and pleasures of the world are good; they are a part of our life that we are intended to enjoy and use – like a hand or foot! But when we’ve abused them badly, we must shun the evil before we can enjoy them rightly. The answer is not, in the final analysis, to shun the world and its pleasures. The answer is not to renounce the love of self and the love of the world per se (although we often speak according to this appearance). The answer is to renounce the abuse of these loves, and to invite the Lord into our lives to restore the true order and its well-being.

As we begin a new fall, and get back to routines after summer interruptions, a new opportunity lies before us. Often we experience a new energy for recommitting ourselves to the Lord and to healthy patterns of living. May we take this opportunity and direct this new energy to strengthening our priorities, keeping in mind that our inner self dwells in the light and warmth of heaven. May we remember with optimism that…

"God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." (Genesis 1:31).

And finally may we remember the Lord’s words:

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33).