2125. The character of members of the Christian Church at the present day was demonstrated to me visually by means of representations. Enveloped by a dark cloud there appeared spirits so black that I shuddered. After that others not so terrifying made their appearance; and then it was indicated to me that I was about to witness something. First of all I saw children who were being combed by their mothers in so cruel a fashion that blood was running down. This represented the nature of young children's upbringing nowadays. Afterwards a tree appeared, which seemed to me to be the tree of knowledge. A large viper, the sort to strike terror, then seemed to climb up it. It appeared to extend up the whole length of the trunk. As the tree disappeared, along with the viper, a dog appeared, and at that point a door was opened into a room where there was a yellow light like that produced by coals burning. Two women were there. I perceived that it was a kitchen, but what I saw in it I am not allowed to mention. I was told that the tree which the viper climbed up represented the state of members of the Church as they are at the present time - that instead of love and charity they have deadly hatred that is hedged around by presences of honesty and by deceptions. They also have unmentionable thoughts about the things of faith. But what I saw in the kitchen represented that hatred and the nature of those thoughts in their further developments.

A company might have executives setting policy and strategy, engineers designing products, managers handling personnel and others handling various functions. They all do different things -- but if they're doing them with a shared underlying purpose, the company -- and the individuals in it -- will likely be successful. The Lord wants all human society to function in a similar way. We have different skills and individual loves, but if we all share a mutual love -- a love of serving others -- then society will function as one, will be a reflection of heaven and will be a good receptacle for the Lord's love. This can also happen within each of us, as we unify our talents and ideas around a central love. And in an abstract sense, it illustrates how a wide collection of varying ideas can be unified around a shared good intention. That is the kind of love pictured when “one” is used in the Bible, either as a specific number or in the sense of several people or objects “being one.” In more casual references -- when used to identify a specific person or object -- the meaning is relatively literal, and is connected to that person or object.