215. (v) Those who enjoy truly conjugial love continually want to be a single person, but those who do not, want to be two people.

Conjugial love is in essence nothing but two people wishing to be one, that is, wishing their two lives to be one. That wish is the permanent effort of that love, from which all its results follow. Effort is the essence of movement, and a wish is a lively effort on a person's part; this has been established by the investigations of philosophers and is obvious to those who study the matter with discernment. Hence it follows that those who enjoy truly conjugial love are continually making this effort, that is, wishing to be a single person. Those who do not enjoy truly conjugial love know full well themselves that the reverse is true of them. The disunion of their souls and minds makes them continually think of themselves as two. That too is why they do not understand the meaning of the Lord's words, that they are no longer two, but one flesh (Matt. 19:6).