The Bible

 

Genesis 1:25

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25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Commentary

 

Bear (a baby, or a burden)

  
Photo by Jenny Stein

Child-bearing being what it is, the spiritual meaning of "bearing" in that context seems to be particularly important, and sheds some light on other uses. Children represent new spiritual ideas or new affections for spiritual things; the Writings say "bearing" a child means "acknowledging" that idea or affection "in action as well as in faith." So it's not just thinking about a new idea or feeling good about something, it's actually going out and doing something about it, to make it real.In a general sense, other uses of "bear" also indicate an active and supportive approach to spiritual things, with actual works being done in pursuit of spiritual issues of various sorts.Like many verbs, the spiritual meaning of "bearing" something depends greatly on context – what it is that's being borne, and why. It is further complicated by the fact that "bearing" in the literal sense can mean anything from putting up with an annoyance to the miracle of pregnancy and birth.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #7

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7. It Is the Lord's Divine Nature That Makes Heaven

While we call the total assemblage of angels heaven because they do make it up, what really makes heaven overall and in every specific instance is the divine nature that emanates from the Lord, flowing into angels and accepted by them. The divine nature that emanates from the Lord is the good intrinsic to love and the truth intrinsic to faith. The amount angels accept from the Lord of what is good and what is true determines the extent to which they are angels and are heaven.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.