Divine Love and Wisdom (Rogers) n. 414

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414. (14) Love or the will can be similarly elevated and admit from heaven such matters as are matters of warmth if it loves its partner in the same degree. We have already shown in the preceding discussion and here and there above that the intellect can be elevated into the light of heaven and draw from it wisdom. Moreover, we have also shown here and there that love or the will can be equally elevated, if it loves such matters as are matters of the light of heaven, or matters of wisdom. However, love or the will cannot be elevated by any measure of honor, glory or material gain as its end, but by a love of useful service, not so much for its own sake, but for the sake of the neighbor. And because this love is bestowed only from heaven by the Lord, and is bestowed by the Lord when a person refrains from evils as being sins, therefore it is by these means that love or the will can be elevated also, and apart from these means it cannot be. The will's love, however, is elevated into the warmth of heaven, whereas the intellect is elevated into the light of heaven, and if both are elevated, a marriage of the two takes place there, which we call the heavenly marriage, because it is a marriage of heavenly love and wisdom. That is why we say that love is elevated also if it loves its partner wisdom in the same degree. Love for the neighbor from the Lord is the love proper to wisdom, or the genuine love proper to the human intellect. The case is the same as with light and warmth in the world. Light is possible without warmth, and possible in conjunction with warmth. It is without warmth in wintertime, and accompanied by warmth in summertime; and when warmth exists in conjunction with light, then all things flourish. The light in a person corresponding to the light of winter is wisdom without its love, while the light in a person corresponding to the light of summer is wisdom accompanied by its love.


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