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Arcana Coelestia #8478

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8478. 'Let no one leave any of it until the morning' means that they must not be anxious to acquire it of themselves. This is clear from the fact that the manna was given every morning and that worms bred in what was left over, meaning that the Lord provides people's requirements every day and that for this reason they ought not to be anxious to acquire them of themselves. The same thing is meant by daily bread in the Lord's Prayer and also by the Lord's words in Matthew,

Do not be anxious for your soul, what you are going to eat or what you are going to drink, nor for your body, what you are going to put on. Why be anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin. Do not therefore be anxious, so that you say, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For all these things the gentiles seek. Does not your heavenly Father know that you have need of all these things? Seek first the kingdom of God 1 and its righteousness, then all these things will be added to you. Do not therefore be anxious about the morrow; for the morrow will take care of the things that belong to it. Matthew 6:25-end.

Similar words occur in Luke 12:11-12, 22-31.

[2] The present verse and the one that follows refer in the internal sense to concern for the morrow, a concern which was not only forbidden but also condemned. The forbiddance of it is meant by their being told not to leave any of the manna till the morning, and the condemnation of it is meant by worms breeding in any they did leave and its becoming putrid. Anyone who does not view the matter from anywhere beyond the sense of the letter may think that all concern for the morrow is to be avoided, which being so, people should then await their requirements every day from heaven. But a person who views it from a position deeper than the literal meaning, that is, who views it from the internal sense, may recognize what concern for the morrow is used to mean - not concern to obtain food and clothing for oneself, and also resources for the future; for it is not contrary to order to make provision for oneself and one's dependents. But people are concerned about the morrow when they are not content with their lot, do not trust in God but in themselves, and have solely worldly and earthly things in view, not heavenly ones. These people are ruled completely by anxiety over the future, and by the desire to possess all things and exercise control over all other people. That desire is kindled and grows greater and greater, till at length it is beyond all measure. They grieve if they do not realize the objects of their desires, and they are distressed at the loss of them. Nor can they find consolation, for in times of loss they are angry with the Divine. They reject Him together with all belief, and curse themselves. This is what those concerned for the morrow are like.

[3] Those who trust in the Divine are altogether different. Though concerned about the morrow, yet are they unconcerned, in that they are not anxious, let alone worried, when they give thought to the morrow. They remain even-tempered whether or not they realize desires, and they do not grieve over loss; they are content with their lot. If they become wealthy they do not become infatuated with wealth; if they are promoted to important positions they do not consider themselves worthier than others. If they become poor they are not made miserable either; if lowly in status they do not feel downcast. They know that for those who trust in the Divine all things are moving towards an everlasting state of happiness, and that no matter what happens at any time to them, it contributes to that state.

[4] It should be recognized that Divine providence is overall, that is, it is present within the smallest details of all, and that people in the stream of providence are being carried along constantly towards happier things, whatever appearance the means may present. Those in the stream of providence are people who trust in the Divine and ascribe everything to Him. But those not in the stream of providence are people who trust in themselves alone and attribute everything to themselves; theirs is a contrary outlook, for they take providence away from the Divine and claim it as their own. It should be recognized also that to the extent that anyone is in the stream of providence he is in a state of peace; and to the extent that anyone is in a state of peace by virtue of the good of faith, he is in Divine providence. These alone know and believe that the Lord's Divine providence resides within every single thing, indeed within the smallest details of all, as has also been shown in 1919 (end), 4329, 5122 (end), 5894 (end), 6058, 6481-6486, 6490, 7004, 7007, as well as that Divine providence has what is eternal in view, 6491.

[5] Those with the contrary outlook are scarcely willing to allow any mention of providence. Instead they put every single thing down to prudence; and what they do not put down to prudence they put down to fortune or to chance. Some put it down to fate, which they do not ascribe to the Divine but to natural forces. They call those people simple who do not attribute all things to themselves or to natural forces. From all this one may again see what those people are like who are concerned for the morrow, and what those are like who are not concerned for the morrow.

Fotnoter:

1. The Latin means the heavens but the Greek means God, which Swedenborg has in most other places where he quotes this verse.

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

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Arcana Coelestia #4330

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4330. Inasmuch as the three heavens together constitute the Grand Man and, as has been stated above, all the members, viscera, and organs of the body correspond to it according to the functions and uses they serve, not only things which are external and outwardly visible correspond to it but also those which are internal and not outwardly visible. Consequently things of the external man correspond to it, and so do those of the internal man. The communities of spirits and angels to which things of the external man correspond come to a considerable extent from this planet, whereas the communities to which things of the internal man correspond come for the most part from elsewhere. These communities in the heavens act as one in the way that the external man and the internal man do with someone who is regenerate. But at the present day few from this planet are entering the next life with whom the external man acts in unison with the internal, for the majority are sensory-minded, so much so that there are few who believe anything other than that man's external constitutes the whole person and that when this departs, as happens when the person dies, scarcely anything is left which has life. Still less do they believe that there is an internal which has life within the external, and that when the external departs the internal especially has life.

[2] I was shown by an actual experience how these persons are opposed to the internal man. Very many spirits from this planet were present who had been like them when they lived in the world. Before their eyes there came other spirits who related to the internal sensory man, at which point they began instantly to annoy these other spirits, almost in the way irrational persons annoy rational ones by speaking and reasoning all the time from the misconceptions of the senses and from illusions resulting from such misconceptions and wholly groundless assumptions, and as they do so believing nothing except that which could be proved by external sensory evidence. And in addition to this those spirits subjected the internal man to insults.

[3] But those who related to the internal sensory man were not troubled at all by such things, being amazed not only at the madness of those spirits from this planet but also at their stupidity. And wonder that it was, when the external, sensory-minded spirits drew near the internal sensory ones and came virtually into the sphere of their thoughts the external, sensory-minded spirits began to find it difficult to breathe (for spirits and angels breathe no less than men, though their breathing in contrast to men's is internal, 3884, 3885 and following paragraphs, 3893) and so were almost choked, on account of which they drew back. And the further away they moved from the internal sensory-minded spirits the more tranquil and quiet it became among them because they found it easier to breathe, and again the nearer they came to them the more intranquil and unquiet it became.

[4] The reason for this was that when with external sensory-minded spirits their own misconceptions, delusions and groundless assumptions, and consequently falsities, are pre-eminent they feel tranquil but when conversely such things are removed from them, as happens when the internal man flows in with the light of truth, they feel intranquil. For thoughts and affections create spheres around themselves in the next life and these are communicated mutually from one party to another insofar as they become present with and draw near one another, 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1512, 1695, 2401, 2489. The conflict described lasted for several hours, and in that way I was shown how at the present day members of this planet are opposed to the internal man and that with them external sensory awareness constitutes almost the whole in them.

  
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Arcana Coelestia #4325

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4325. The activity of the senses in general, or general sensory activity, is divided into voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary sensory activity belongs properly to the cerebrum, but involuntary to the cerebellum. These two forms of general sensory activity are combined in the human being; yet they are distinct and separate. The fibres which issue from the cerebrum establish voluntary sensory activity in general, and the fibres which do so from the cerebellum establish involuntary. The fibres from these two sources combine together in the two appendages called the medulla oblongata and the medulla spinalis, and through these pass into the body and there shape its members, viscera, and organs. The parts which envelop the body, such as muscles and skin, and also the sensory organs, for the most part receive fibres from the cerebrum, and through these a person has sensory awareness and also movement controlled by his conscious will. But the parts which are contained within that outer envelopment or enclosure and which are called the viscera of the body receive fibres from the cerebellum, and therefore a person does not experience any feeling in these, and they are not subject to his conscious will. This shows something of what sensory activity in general is, that is, what general sensory activity is, both voluntary and involuntary. In addition it should be recognized that the general whole must exist first before any individual part can do so; that no individual part can possibly come into being and be kept in being without the general whole, and indeed that it is kept in being within this; and that every individual part is conditioned by the nature and state of the general whole. The same applies to sensory activity in the human being, and also to movements.

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