35. Man has two inherent powers of will and understanding. When the understanding is governed by the will they then constitute one mind and so one life; for what a person in that case wills and does he also thinks and intends. But when the understanding is at variance with the will, as it is with people who claim to have faith and yet live otherwise, then a mind previously one is split in two. One half seeks to transport itself into heaven, while the other inclines towards hell. And because the will is what accomplishes everything, the whole man would rush straight into hell unless the Lord took pity on him.

6289. 'And he grasped his father's hand' means an influx into the power which his obscure discernment possessed. This is clear from the meaning of 'grasping the hand' as an influx into the power of discernment. For when the internal flows into the external, wishing to make it think and will something, it grasps hold of it so to speak. Here it takes hold of its power of discernment, meant by 'the hand'; for 'the hand' means power, see, 878, 3387, 4931-4937. The reason why that discernment is said to be obscure is that spiritual people, who are represented by 'Israel', dwell in obscurity compared with celestial ones, who are represented by 'Joseph'. For more about spiritual people and their dwelling in obscurity compared with celestial ones, see 2708, 2715, 2716, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3873, 4401.

[2] The fact that spiritual people dwell in obscurity is plainly evident from the consideration that prior to regeneration they are altogether in the dark about what is true and good, and that when they are being regenerated it is truth such as that contained in the teaching of their Church that they acknowledge and in which they put their trust, irrespective of whether it is true or not. Even so it is this truth that becomes good with them when it becomes part of what they will and consequently of their life. It is that good which is called the good of truth, also the good of faith, as well as spiritual good or the spiritual Church's good. Anyone who turns his mind to the matter can see what is the essential nature of this good deriving from such an origin. Nevertheless good derived from that kind of truth, even among gentiles, is acceptable to the Lord, when it has charity towards the neighbour as its chief concern and when that charity has innocence within it.