Divine Love and Wisdom (Rogers) n. 408

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408. (10) Love or the will introduces wisdom or the intellect into all the constituents of its home. By the home of love or the will we mean the whole person in respect to all the constituents of his mind; and because these correspond to all the constituents of the body, as we showed above, by the home we mean the whole person also in respect to all the constituents of his body, called members, organs and viscera. The fact that the lungs are introduced into all the latter constituents in the same way that the intellect is into all the constituents of the mind can be seen from what we have shown above, as for instance, that love or the will prepares a home or bridal chamber for its future spouse, which is wisdom or the intellect (no. 402), and that love or the will prepares all else in its human form-or in its home-in order to be able to operate conjointly with wisdom or the intellect (no. 403). From what we said there it is apparent that through ligaments extending from the ribs, vertebrae, sternum, diaphragm, and peritoneum which is suspended from them, each and all constituents in the entire body are so connected that they are drawn and borne by the breathing of the lungs into similarly alternating movements. [2] The fact that the alternate motions of the lungs enter also into the very inmost recesses of the viscera can be seen from the study of anatomy; for the aforementioned ligaments are attached to the integuments enveloping the viscera, and these integuments enter through continuations of them even into the inmost elements of the viscera, as do the arteries and veins also through their ramifications. It can be seen from this that the respiration of the lungs enjoys a full conjunction with the heart in each and every constituent of the body. And in order for the conjunction to be complete, the heart is itself caught up in the motion of the lungs; for it lies in the cavity of the lungs, and is connected with them through the atria [and right ventricle],* and it rests on the diaphragm, so that its arteries also partake of the pulmonary motion. Furthermore, the stomach has a similar connection with the lungs through the connection of its esophagus with the trachea. We have cited these anatomical facts in order that the reader may see the nature of the conjunction of love or the will with wisdom or the intellect, and of the two together with all the constituents of the mind. For the conjunction is similar. * In the mature heart, blood from the veins enters from the right atrium into the right ventricle, is pumped to the lungs, and returning from there to the left atrium, enters the left ventricle and is pumped through the aorta into the body. In the fetal heart, the venous blood passes from the right atrium through an opening called the foramen ovale into the left atrium and so into the left ventricle, bypassing the right ventricle.


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