162. When the spirit who had been a church leader and preacher was with the kind of people that wore clothes, a woman appeared who had a very pretty face, dressed in a simple garment with an outer layer draped becomingly across her back and over her arms. She had a beautiful head covering in the form of a garland of flowers. The spirit was entranced at seeing this young woman, and spoke to her and even took hold of her hand; but since she noticed that he was a spirit and not someone from her own planet, she abruptly pulled herself away from him.
After that he saw several other women to his right who were shepherding sheep and lambs. They were leading them to a watering trough that was supplied with water through a small channel from a lake. They were similarly dressed and had in their hands shepherds’ crooks, with which they were leading the sheep and lambs to drink. They said that the sheep will go wherever they point with their crooks. The sheep we saw were large, with broad, long, woolly tails. We saw the women’s faces nearer at hand; they had beautiful features.
We also saw some men. Their faces were the same color as the skin of people [in Europe] on our planet, but with the difference that the lower part of their faces was black rather than bearded and their noses were more snow-white than flesh-toned.
[2] The spirit-who, as already noted, had been a preacher in the world-was then taken to the next location, but unwillingly, because he was still thinking intently about the woman he had found so delightful. This was obvious because there was still a kind of visible shadow of him in the place where he had been.
He was brought next to the kind of people who were naked. He saw them walking in pairs, husband and wife, wearing loincloths and a kind of covering on their heads. Once the spirit reached them he was brought into the state he had experienced in the world when he felt the urge to preach. He said that he wanted to preach the Lord crucified to them. 1 They, though, said that they did not want to hear anything like that, because they do not know what that means, but they do know that the Lord is alive. So then he said that he wanted to preach the living Lord to them, but this offer too they rejected, saying that they perceived something in his speech that was not heavenly, because he was motivated to do so mainly for his own sake and for the sake of his status and reputation; and they could tell from the tone of his voice whether he was speaking from the heart or not. Since he was that kind of person, they said, he could not teach them anything; so he kept silent. During his life in the world he had been an emotionally powerful preacher, so much so that he could move his listeners to a deep state of holiness. This effectiveness was acquired by artistry, though, and therefore came from himself and the world, not from heaven.
Footnotes:
1. This is an allusion to 1 Corinthians 1:22-24: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (New Revised Standard Version). See also 1 Corinthians 2:2: “For I have decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (New Revised Standard Version). [LSW]
