3095. 'And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough' means the separation of the affection for truth which was being introduced into Divine good. This is clear from the meaning of 'emptying the pitcher' as separating truth (for 'a pitcher', being a containing vessel, means not only factual knowledge that has truth in it but also truth that has good in it, see 3068, 3079. In this instance truth that was being introduced into Divine good is meant, since introduction is the subject. And because truth itself is never joined to good except by means of its own affection, 3024, 3066 - for within the affection there is the life which enables them to be joined together - it is the affection for truth that is meant here); and also from the meaning of 'a trough' or channel to accommodate water, as truth which rests in good, for 'the water' in the trough means truth, 739, 2702, while the trough itself is similar in meaning to wood, namely good, 2784, 2812. Truth which rests in good is that which is produced from good by means of truth, and is like offspring born from truth as mother and from good as father. All genuine good in the natural man originates in this way, that is, from the marriage of good and truth in the rational. This good is that which is called truth that rests in good and is meant in the Word by 'a bough' or channel to accommodate water.

The heart means love. A good heart means love to the Lord and to the neighbor, while a hard or stony heart means the love of self or the world -- riches and things. When the psalmist asks the Lord to search his heart, he wants the Lord to see what it is that he loves. And we are what we love. What we eat may form our earthly body, but it's only temporary, what we love forms our spiritual body, beautiful or ugly as we have chosen. It's interesting to note that the first multi-cellular motion of our embryo is the pulsating that starts in a twist of blood vessel that is to become our heart, and the last motion of our natural body is our heartbeat. It is there for all of our natural life. And of course there is a beating heart in our spiritual bodies when we come to put them on.