363. Now to the current point about faith - namely, that the Lord, goodwill, and faith form a unity in the same way our life, our will, and our intellect form a unity; and if we separate them, each one crumbles like a pearl that is crushed to powder. To see and acknowledge the truth of this, it is important to consider it in the following order:

a. The Lord flows into everyone with all his divine love, all his divine wisdom, and all his divine life.

b. Therefore the Lord flows into everyone with the entire essence of faith and goodwill.

c. These qualities are received by us according to our form.

d. If we separate the Lord, goodwill, and faith, however, instead of being a form that accepts these qualities we are a form that destroys them.

Like most numbers in the Bible, "six" can have various meanings depending on context, but has a couple that are primary. When used in relation to time -- six days, six hours, six years, etc. -- six generally represents a state of labor, struggle and conflict, especially the conflict involved with spiritual growth. The six days of creation, for instance, represent the stages we go through in our lives, working toward the peaceful seventh day, in which our evil desires are removed from us and we can rest. In most other references, six represents all desires for good and all the true ideas that come from those desires for good -- or in the contrary sense, all evil and all the resulting false thinking.