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.

245. Everyone with whom the church exists, is saved; but everyone in whom it is not, is condemned.

3628. Much experience has taught me about these matters. Indeed it has taught me that not only things of the human mind, namely those belonging to its thought and affection, correspond to spiritual and celestial things which heaven has from the Lord, but also that the whole of a person in general, and whatever exists in him in particular, corresponds, so much so that neither the smallest part, nor even the smallest fraction of a part, fails to correspond. Such experience has also taught me that it is from this correspondence that man comes into being, and is constantly kept in being; and also that but for such correspondence of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord - and so with what is prior to himself, and with what is First through things that are prior - he would not continue in being for one instant but would dissolve into nothingness.

[2] There are always two forces which, as stated above, serve to hold everything together in its own proper connection and proper form. That is to say, there is a force acting from without and a force acting from within, and in the midst of these is the object itself which is being held together by them. The same is also true of the human being as regards every individual part of him, even the tiniest part. It is well known that the surrounding atmospheres hold the whole body in a state of cohesion by their constant pressure or bearing down on it from without, and therefore by their acting as a force upon it. It is also well known that the atmosphere, entering as air into the lungs, keeps these in a state of cohesion, as it also does its own particular organ, the ear, together with its forms which are designed for the changes that take place in it. It is well known too that the subtler etherical atmosphere in a similar way holds interior things in connection, for it flows in freely through all the pores of the skin, and by means of an almost identical pressure, bearing down, and therefore force acting upon them, keeps intact each of the internal organs of the whole body. This finer atmosphere too has its own particular organ, the eye, together with its forms which are equipped for changes that take place in this atmosphere. Unless these had internal forces corresponding to them which reacted against those external forces and in so doing held together and placed in equilibrium those intermediate forms, the latter would not remain in being for a single moment. From this it is evident that two forces have to be at work if anything is to come into being and be kept in being.

[3] The forces flowing and acting from within originate in heaven, and in the Lord by way of heaven; and they have life within them. This is evident quite clearly from the organ of hearing. Except for interior changes, which are those of life, and to which exterior changes correspond, which are those of the air, hearing would never become a reality. It is likewise evident from the organ of sight. Except for interior light, which is that of life and to which exterior light, which is that of the sun, corresponds, sight would never become a reality. The same is so with all the other organs and limbs in the human body. There are forces at work outwardly, which are natural and in themselves do not possess any life, and forces at work inwardly which do in themselves have life. These forces hold everything together and cause them to have life, doing so in accordance with the nature of the form conferred on them for the purpose they serve.