3796. 'And so it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' means an acknowledgement of the affection for that truth as to its origin. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' here as acknowledging, as is evident from the train of thought, and from the representation of 'Rachel' as the affection for interior truth, dealt with above in 3793. The expression 'the daughter of Laban his mother's brother' embodies the origin of that affection; that is to say, it came from a parallel good which had been joined in a brotherly relationship to rational truth represented by 'Rebekah, Jacob's mother'.

[2] As regards affections for truth and good, genuine affections for truth and good which are perceived by a person all have a Divine origin since they come from the Lord. But as they come down they branch off into various and different streams where they form new origins for themselves. For as they flow into affections which are not genuine but spurious, and into affections for evil and falsity present with a person, so they become varied. Affections which often have a similar outward appearance to genuine ones present themselves, but these are nevertheless not genuine inwardly. The only way to establish their true identity is to discover the end they have in view. If that end is selfish or worldly those affections are not genuine. But if the end is the good of the neighbour, the good of the community, the good of the country, and more still if it is the good of the Church and the good of the Lord's kingdom, they are genuine, for in that case the Lord is their end, since the Lord is within those varieties of good.

[3] But it is the mark of someone wise to be aware of which ends are present in himself. Sometimes it does seem as though his ends are selfish when in fact they are not, for the human being is such that in everything he considers how it affects himself. This he does regularly and habitually. But if anyone wishes to know the ends he himself has in view he has merely to take note of his feeling of delight - whether it is on account of his receiving praise and glory, or whether it is on account of his performing some unselfish service. If it is the latter delight which he feels, genuine affection is present in him. He ought also to take note of the varying states he passes through, for those states cause his feelings to vary considerably. A person is able to find these things out in himself, but not in others, for the ends in view to anyone's affection are known to the Lord alone. This is why the Lord said,

Do not judge, lest you are judged; do not condemn, lest you are condemned. Luke 6:37.

For a thousand people may apparently share the same affection for truth and goodness, and yet the affection in each of them may have a different origin, that is, each may have a different end in view.

[4] The reason the end makes the affection what it is - that is to say, genuine, spurious, or false - is that the end is the person's actual life. Indeed a person has as his end in view that which constitutes his life, or what amounts to the same, his love. When the good of the neighbour, the common good, the good of the Church and of the Lord's kingdom is the end in view, a person's soul is in the Lord's kingdom and so abides with the Lord. For the Lord's kingdom is nothing else than a kingdom of ends and purposes directed towards the good of the human race, 3645. Angels themselves present with a person are nowhere else than within his ends in view. To the extent that someone's end in view is such as that which exists in the Lord's kingdom, angels take delight in him and join themselves to him as a brother. But to the extent a person's end is himself, angels depart and evil spirits from hell draw near, for in hell no other end in view reigns. From these considerations one may see how important it is to find out and to know where one's affections originate; these can be known from nothing else than one's end in view.

5130. 'But remember me' means the reception of faith. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph', who says this about himself, as the Lord as regards the celestial within the natural, dealt with in 5086, 5087, 5106; and from the meaning of 'remember me' as the reception of faith, for remembering and being mindful of the Lord do not flow from anything other than faith. Consequently 'remember me' implies a desire to receive faith. As regards faith, anyone who receives and possesses faith is constantly mindful of the Lord. This is so even when he is thinking or talking about something other than Him, or else when he is carrying out his public, private, or family duties, though he is not directly conscious of his mindfulness of the Lord while he is carrying them out. Indeed that mindfulness of the Lord present in those who possess faith governs their whole being, but that which governs their whole being is not noticed by them except when they turn their thought specifically to that matter.

[2] This may be illustrated by many aspects of human character. One who is governed by some love, whatever this may be, is thinking constantly about things connected with that love. This is so even when other matters occupy his mind, conversation, or action. This is quite evident in the next life from the spiritual spheres which surround everyone individually. From those spheres alone one can detect what the faith is and what the love is that are present in all who are there, even though they may be thinking or talking about something completely different, 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1520, 2489, 4464. For that which governs a person's whole being produces the sphere surrounding him and reveals to others what his life is. From this one may see what is meant by the statement that one ought to be thinking constantly about the Lord, salvation, and life after death. All who possess faith that is grounded in charity do so, as a consequence of which they do not entertain evil thoughts regarding their neighbour, and that which is just and fair is present in every aspect of their thought, speech, and action; for that which governs the person's whole being enters every particular aspect of it, both leading it and controlling it. Indeed the Lord holds the mind to those concerns that are charitable and are therefore matters of faith, and in so doing He fits every single thing in the mind into its proper place. The sphere of faith grounded in charity is the sphere which reigns in heaven, for the Lord flows in with love, and by means of love with charity, and as a consequence with truths which are the truths of faith. This explains why those in heaven are said to be in the Lord. The subject in what follows next is the rebirth of the sensory power subject to the understanding part represented by 'the cupbearer'; and as the rebirth of this is the subject, so also is the reception of faith. Indeed sensory awareness, like the rational, is born again by means of faith, but by faith into which charity is flowing. Unless charity flows into faith and imparts life to it, faith cannot possibly exist throughout a person's whole being, for it is what a person loves that reigns in him, not what he merely knows and retains in his memory.