363. However, so that this article of faith - that the Lord, charity and faith make one, just as in a person life, will and understanding do, and if they are divided, each of them is destroyed, like a pearl collapsing into dust - may be seen and recognised as truth, it needs to be discussed in the following sequence.

(i) The Lord flows into every human being with all His Divine love, all His Divine wisdom, and so with all His Divine life.

(ii) He does this likewise with the whole essence of faith and charity.

(iii) But how these are received by the person depends upon his form.

(iv) The person, however, who separates the Lord, charity and faith is not a form which can receive them, but rather one which destroys them.

Water generally represents “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas, then, it follows that a sea represents a huge agglomeration of such natural truths -- usually all of the natural truth a person has, or all the natural truth a church has. Water in the sea mixes freely, and is easily stirred up by winds and currents. This is also true of the concepts we hold about natural things -- they are not all related to each other, and when relationships do exist they usually can change without damaging the concepts themselves. Many of the concepts are easily disputed, and arguments can arise like waves on the ocean -- generally with little effect other than a mixing of waters. But the sea also offers great bounty. We draw fish from it (spiritual food), float ships (doctrinal systems) on it, bathe in it (using true concepts to purify ourselves), and the water that evaporates from it and falls as rain (purer forms of truth that can attach to desires for good) makes life possible.