2698. 'And strengthen your hand in him' means support received from this. This is clear from the meaning of 'being strengthened' as being given support, and from the meaning of 'hand' as power, dealt with in 878, which is the source of support. 'In him', that is, in the boy, means from it, that is to say, from the spiritual as regards truth. Those who experience internal grief and experience despair because truth is taken away from them are uplifted and supported solely by truth, for it is for that same truth that they suffer grief and despair. In the case of those governed by an affection for good, the good with them desires good, as a person hungers for bread; but in the case of those governed by an affection for truth the good with them desires truth as a person thirsts for water. What 'strengthening your hand in him' means here will not be understood by anyone except from the internal sense.

154. Nothing evil or false can possibly exist that is not the proprium or derived from the proprium. For man's proprium is evil itself, which means that man is nothing but evil and falsity. This has become clear to me from the fact that when the contents of the proprium are presented to view in the world of spirits they look so ugly that nobody can paint any uglier picture. (Those contents vary however according to the nature of the proprium.) As a result when anyone is offered a glimpse of the contents of his proprium he is horrified at himself and wishes to run as though from the devil. On the other hand contents of the proprium which have been given life by the Lord look beautiful and attractive, varying according to the life to which a celestial quality that is the Lord's can be added. Indeed people who have received charity, that is, been made alive by it, look like boys and girls with very attractive faces. And people who have received innocence look like naked small children adorned in different ways with garlands of flowers twined around their breasts, and precious stones in their hair, living and playing in brightest light, with a sense of happiness stemming from the depths of their being.