8911. The things that have been stated so far show what the situation is with a person and his life. That is to say, they show that a person is such as his will is, and that he remains such after death since death is not the end to life but the continuation of it. Since therefore a person is such as his will is - because, as has been stated above, the will is the real person - being judged according to one's deeds means being judged according to one's will, since there is no disparity between will and deed. Though external restraints exist - fear of the law, and fear of the loss of position, gain, reputation, or life - to inhibit the deed, the deed is all along in the will, and the will all along in the deed. It is like endeavour and motion. Motion is nothing other than an extension of the endeavour; for as endeavour comes to an end, so does motion. Therefore there is nothing essential within motion apart from endeavour. Learned people know this, for it is a recognized and well-established idea. In the human being endeavour is the will and motion is action; and they are called such in the human being because in him endeavour and motion are living. Being judged according to one's will is the same as being judged according to one's love; it is also the same as being judged according to the ends one has in view in life, as well as being judged according to the way one lives. For a person's will is his love, it is the end he has in view in life, and it is the very life itself within him. The truth of this is clear from the Lord's words which have already been quoted - One who looks at a woman ¹ in such a way that he lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28. It is clear also from His saying that killing someone is not only performing that deed but also the desire to perform it, which is meant by being angry and reviling him with insults, Matthew 5:21-22. Furthermore a person is indeed judged according to his deeds; yet no further questions are asked than these - How far did those deeds spring from his will? and What nature did his will give them?

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7255. EXODUS CHAPTER 7.

TEACHINGS ABOUT CHARITY

Since good constitutes heaven with a person, while evil constitutes hell, one needs to be thoroughly acquainted with what good is and what evil is. It has been stated already that good consists in what love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour desire, and that evil consists in what self-love and love of the world desire, from which it follows that one cannot know except from those kinds of love what good is or what evil is.

6292. 'Place your right hand on his head' means that good should accordingly occupy the first place. This is clear from the meaning of 'placing the right hand on a head' as considering to occupy the first place, as above in 6269, 6287. The placing of his hand by one on the head of another when he was going to bless belonged to a custom received from the ancients. For the head is where a person's actual powers of understanding and will reside, whereas the body is where actions in response and in obedience to them are located. Thus 'placing a hand on the head' was a representative act, denoting that a blessing should be imparted to a person's understanding and will, thus to his real self. That same custom originating in those ancient times remains even to this day and is followed at ordinations as well as in blessings.