1383. GENESIS – TWAALFDE HOOFDSTUK

De innerlijke gewaarwording van geesten en engelen, en de sferen in het andere leven. Onder de wonderen in het andere leven behoren de innerlijke gewaarwordingen; hiervan bestaan twee soorten: de ene, die de engelen eigen is, bestaat hierin, dat zij innerlijk gewaarworden, wat waar en goed is, en wat van de Heer komt, wat van henzelf, en verder, wanneer dat wat zij denken, spreken en doen, van henzelf komt, vanwaar het is en van welke aard. De andere soort, die allen met elkaar gemeen hebben, en welke de engelen in de hoogste volmaaktheid bezitten en de geesten overeenkomstig hun hoedanigheid, bestaat hierin, dat zij bij de eerste nadering van de ander weten, van welke aard hij is

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When I think of a person who is "perceptive" it is a person who is very good at reading between the lines and reading a situation when the information is not obvious. However, "perception" also refers to our ability to take in information from our five senses, and when it comes to angels, they do take in information via their five senses that is obscure and difficult to see if we can see at all.

(Referenties: Arcana Coelestia 1383, 1384, 1391, 1394, 1395, Genesis 18:1-8)

1316. 'See, they are one people, and they all have one lip' means that all had the truth of faith and held to the same doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'people' as the truth of faith, and from the meaning of 'lip' as doctrine. That 'people' means the truth of faith, that is, those who possess the truth of faith, has been shown already in 1259, and that 'lip' means the doctrine of faith has been shown above at verse 1. The people are called 'one' and their 'lip' one when all have as their end in view the common good of society, the common good of the Church, and the Lord's kingdom. For in that case the end includes within itself the Lord, from whom all people are one. The Lord cannot possibly be present with someone whose end in view is his own good. That which is man's own excludes the Lord; for in so doing it diverts and directs towards itself the common good of society, that of the Church, and indeed the Lord's kingdom, even to making these exist so to speak for its own sake. Thus it takes away from the Lord that which is His and substitutes itself. And when this is the prevailing attitude with a person the same is the case in each one of his thoughts, and indeed in the smallest details of his thoughts. This is the nature of a person's prevailing attitude.

[2] This is not so apparent during a person's lifetime as it is in the next life. His prevailing attitude reveals itself as a certain sphere which is felt by everyone around him, and it is the fact that it emanates from every single thing within him that makes that sphere such as it is. The sphere of someone who in every respect regards himself takes to itself - or as is said in the next life, absorbs - everything which gratifies it, thus takes to itself all the delight of the spirits surrounding him. It also destroys all the freedom they have It is inevitable therefore that such a person should be banished from their company. When however 'the people are one and the lip one', that is, when they have in view the common good of all, one person never takes to himself the joy of another or destroys the freedom of another, but as far as he can he furthers and increases it. This is why heavenly communities are as one, a oneness that is achieved solely by means of mutual love from the Lord. And the same applies to the Church.