E vërteta, ose ajo që është e vërtetë, është një mënyrë për të përshkruar atë që është në fund të fundit reale. Në një nivel natyror, e vërteta mund të mendohet thjesht si ajo që është e saktë, ndërkohë që në zhvillimin tonë shpirtëror jeton, e vërteta mund të jetë mësimi i mësimeve të bazuara në shpirtërore ose, më mirë, pranueshmëria jonë ndaj tyre si të vërteta hyjnore. Por Swedenborg shkon edhe më tej në shpjegimin e tij të së vërtetës, duke mësuar se e vërteta është forma e dashurisë, ose si shprehet dashuria.

Në një farë kuptimi, e vërteta është një sistem shpërndarjeje për dashurinë dhe për shkak se ndarja e dashurisë është vetë qëllimi i realitetit, kjo e bën të vërtetën jashtëzakonisht të rëndësishme. Dhe ndërsa e vërteta mund të vijë në formën e rregullave dhe fakteve të thata dhe të ftohta, ajo është në maksimum një gjë e bukurisë së papërshkrueshme, diçka që na lëviz brenda.

Natyra e së vërtetës buron nga ideja se Zoti në thelbin e Tij është vetë dashuria, e përsosur dhe e pafundme, dhe se Ai na do përtej aftësisë sonë për të imagjinuar. Dhe ashtu siç duam që njerëzit që duam të na duan, po ashtu edhe Zoti ka dëshirën më të thellë që ne ta duam Atë; Dashuria e tij dëshiron të arrijë tek ne dhe të frymëzojë dashurinë nga ana tjetër.

Dashuria, megjithatë, nuk mund të veprojë më vete; ka nevojë për një medium për të punuar. Mendoni për këtë në këtë mënyrë: për të shprehur dashurinë për dikë, keni nevojë për një fytyrë me të cilën të buzëqeshni, një zë me të cilin të flisni, krahë për t'u përqafuar ose mjete të ndryshme që mund t'i përdorni për të bërë mirë, me dashuri. gjëra për njerëzit që doni. Pa këto gjëra është thjesht një ndjenjë, e ngecur brenda dhe mjaft e padobishme. Në njëfarë kuptimi, nëse nuk mund të shprehet, ekzistenca e tij nuk është me të vërtetë mjaft e plotë.

"E vërteta", atëherë, mund të përkufizohet si "shprehje e dashurisë" ose ndoshta si "dashuri e shprehur". Kjo mund të jetë mjaft e thellë dhe e bukur: shprehja në fytyrën e një nëne të re, duke parë fëmijën e saj për herë të parë - kjo është e vërteta, në një nivel përtej fjalëve. Ndjenja tek ajo shprehet, dhe ne e marrim atë dhe ndjejmë vetë një valë emocioni. Në një nivel akoma më të lartë, ne mund të përpiqemi të përfytyrojmë shprehjen në fytyrën e Zotit kur ai na shikon, dashurinë që derdhet prej tij; kjo është e vërteta në thellësinë e saj.

Por e vërteta vjen edhe në nivele më të ulëta. Mendoni për mënyrat se si i duam fëmijët tanë - nganjëherë kjo do të thotë të vendosim disa rregulla të rrepta bardh e zi. "Mbaji duart për vete" dhe "duhet të më bindesh" nuk tingëllojnë shumë të dashura, dhe ta bësh një fëmijë të nxjerrë plehrat nuk ngjall saktësisht ndjenja të ngrohta dhe mendime poetike. Por ne në fakt po i duam kur u japim mësime që do t'i ndihmojnë ata të jenë njerëz të mirë, edhe nëse kjo dashuri nuk shkëlqen nga sipërfaqja e asaj që po themi. Zoti duhet të na trajtojë në të njëjtën mënyrë ndonjëherë, veçanërisht në fazat e hershme të rritjes sonë shpirtërore. "Ti nuk do të vrasësh" nuk tingëllon aq i dashur, dhe urdhri për të mos lakmuar mund të duket jorealist dhe i padrejtë në kufi. Megjithatë, nëse i shikojmë nga afër, mund të shohim se ata janë të dashur dhe po na bëjnë të jemi njerëz të dashur.

Pra, e vërteta vjen në shumë nivele dhe në shumë forma, e formësuar dhe e përshtatur në mënyra të ndryshme që ne mund të udhëhiqemi të jemi të mirë dhe të dashur. Kjo është arsyeja pse kaq shumë gjëra të ndryshme në Bibël - gurët, uji, vera, bimët, shpatat dhe shumë të tjera - të gjitha përfaqësojnë të vërtetën; të gjithë kanë nuanca kuptimi që pasqyrojnë shumë lloje të së vërtetës që Zoti përdor për të na udhëhequr.

Megjithatë, në zemër, e gjithë e vërteta është një mënyrë për të ndarë dashurinë. Nëse e shikojmë këtë, do ta vlerësojmë siç duhet.

(Referencat: Apokalipsi i shpjeguar 434; Sekretet Qiellore 1904 [3], 3077, 3207 [1-3], 3295, 3509 [2], 4247, 5912, 6880, 7270 [2-3], 8301 [2], 8456, 9407, Arcana Coelestia 9407 [13], 9806, 10026; Urtësia Hyjnore 9; Providenca Hyjnore 10, 36; Apokalipsi i shpjeguar 627 [5-6]; Doktrina e Jetës për Jeruzalemin e Ri 36; Jeruzalemi i Ri dhe Mësimet e Tij Qiellore 24; Feja e vërtetë e krishterë 209 [2-4], 224 [1-2], 379, 398)

23. 3. People who live lives based on truth and use that truth to focus on and move toward what is good; and also the nature of truths that lead to what is good. We intend whatever we love, and whatever we love or intend we think about and justify by various means. Whatever we love or intend we call good, and whatever thoughts and various justifications we have we call true: 4070. That is why truth turns into goodness when it becomes a matter of our love and will, or when we love and will it: 5526, 7835, 10367. And since our love or our will is the core of our existence, no truth comes to life for us as long as we only know about it and think about it-[it comes to life] only when we love and will to do it and we do it as a result of our love and our will: ¹ 5595, 9282. That is how truths receive their life-from what is good: 2434, 3111, 3607, 6077. So truths get their life from what is good, and truths have no life apart from what is good: 1589, 1950, 1997, 2572, 3180, 4070, 4096, 4097, 4736, 4757, 4884, 5147, 5928, 9154, 9667, 9841, 10729. Illustrated [by a comparison]: 9154. When truths can be said to have come to life: 1928. When truth is joined to what is good it becomes part of us because it becomes a matter of our life: 3108, 3161. In order for a truth to be joined to some goodness, our will needs to agree with our understanding; not until our will agrees does the joining take place: 3157, 3158, 3161.

[2] As we are being regenerated, truths become a part of us, along with a feeling of pleasure because we love to do them; and later those truths come back to us with that same feeling again, because the truths and the feeling are joined together: 2480, 2487, 3040, 3066, 3074, 3336, 4018, 5893, 7967. Some feeling related to what we love always attaches itself to any truths we learn, depending on the use we make of those truths in our lives. If those truths come to mind, the feelings come with them: or if those feelings recur, then the truths come with them: 3336, 3824, 3849, 4205, 5893, 7967. Goodness does not recognize anything as true unless it is in harmony with the inclinations of its love: 3161. Truths gain entrance to us by means of things that are pleasurable and delightful [to our earthly self]: 3502, 3512. All genuine love of truth comes from and is shaped by goodness: 4373, 8349, 8356. There is a subtle entry and inflow of goodness into truths, and there is a joining together of goodness and truth (4301); and that is how truths come to life (7967).

[3] Because some feeling of love always attaches itself to any truths we learn, depending on the use we make of those truths in our lives, a given type of goodness recognizes the truth that is its own, and a given type of truth recognizes the goodness that is its own: 2429, 3101, 3102, 3161, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9637. The result is a joining together of what is true and what is good: 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9258, 10555. Truths recognize each other as well and gather together: 9079. This happens because of an inflow from heaven: 9079.

[4] Goodness is the reality underlying life and truth is how life becomes manifest from that goodness. ² So goodness finds the manifestation of its life in truth, and truth finds the underlying reality of its life in goodness: 3049, 3180, 4574, 5002, 9144. Thus everything good has its own truth and everything true has its own goodness, because goodness apart from truth has no manifestation and truth apart from goodness has no reality: 9637. Further, goodness gets its form and character from truths, and correspondingly truth is the form and character of goodness (3049, 4574, 6916, 9154); and so truth and goodness need to be joined together in order to be anything at all (10555). So goodness is constantly engaged in the longing and effort to join truths to itself: 9206, 9495. Some illustrations of this: 9207. Correspondingly, truths also strive to join themselves to some goodness: 9206. The joining is reciprocal-goodness with truth and truth with goodness: 5365, 8516. Goodness acts and truth reacts, though it does this as an effect of goodness: 3155, 4380, 4757, 5928, 10729. Truths focus on the good they can do as their origin and aim: 4353.

[5] The joining of truth with goodness parallels the successive phases of our lives beginning in infancy. We gather truths first as information, and then as the basis for rational thinking; ultimately we put them to use in deciding how to live our lives: 3203, 3665, 3690. It is also like a child: it is conceived, lives in the womb, is born, matures, and eventually gains wisdom: 3298, 3299, 3308, 3665, 3690. It is also like seeds and soil (3671) and like the relationship of water to bread (4976). Our first feeling of love for truth is not genuine, but as we are perfected it is purified: 3040, 3089. Still, forms of goodness and truth that are not genuine serve to lead us to forms of goodness and truth that are, at which point we abandon the earlier forms: 3665, 3690, 3974, 3982, 3986, 4145.

[6] Further, we are led to what is good by means of truths, and not in their absence: 10124, 10367. If we do not learn or accept truths, goodness cannot flow into us, so we cannot become spiritual: 3387. The joining of goodness and truth progresses as our knowledge grows: 3141. For all of us, our acceptance of truths depends on our rational capacity: 3385, [ 3387].

[7] The truths of our earthly self are in the form of information: 3293, 3309, 3310. The information and concepts we have are like containers: 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077. Truths are containers of goodness because they are receptive to it: 1469, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3318, 3365.

[8] Goodness flows in through an inner way for us, or through the soul, while what is true flows in from the outside through our hearing and sight; and they are joined together within us by the Lord: 3030, 3098. Truths are lifted up from the earthly self and sown in what is good in the spiritual self, and this is how truths become spiritual: 3085, 3086. Then they flow back into the earthly self; goodness in the spiritual self flows directly into goodness in the earthly self but flows indirectly into the truth in the earthly self: 3314, 3573, 4563. Some illustrations of this: 3314, 3616, 3576, 3969, 3995. In brief, how amply and well truths are joined to what is good in us depends on how amply and well we focus on what is good in the way we lead our lives: 3834, 3843. The joining takes place in one way for heavenly people and in another way for spiritual people: 10124. More on the joining together of goodness and truth and on how it takes place (3090, 3203, 3308, 4096, 4097, 4345, 4353, 5365, 7623-7627); and also on how what is good on the spiritual level is given form through truths (3470, 3570).

Fusnotat:

106. From Secrets of Heaven

HEAVEN is divided into two kingdoms, one of which is called the heavenly kingdom, the other the spiritual kingdom. The love that characterizes the heavenly kingdom is love for the Lord and is called "heavenly love," while the love that characterizes the spiritual kingdom is love for one's neighbor or caring, and is called "spiritual love": 3325, 3653, 7257, 9002, 9835, 9961. On the division of heaven into these two kingdoms, see Heaven and Hell 20-28; and on the Lord's divine presence in the heavens taking the form of love for him and caring about one's neighbor, see §§13-19 of the same work.

[2] People cannot know what is good and what is true unless they know what love for the Lord and love for one's neighbor are, since all goodness comes from love and all truth comes from goodness: 7255, 7366. Caring is a result of knowing things that are true, being willing to do what they teach, and being moved by them for their own sakes-that is, because they are true: 3876, 3877. Caring consists of an inner desire to do what truth teaches and not an outer desire apart from an inner desire: 2439, 2442, 3776, 4899, 4956, 8033. So caring consists of doing useful things because they are useful things to do: 7038, 8253. Caring is a spiritual way of life for us: 7081. The whole Word is a body of teaching focused on love and caring: 6632, 7262. No one these days knows what caring is: 2417, 3398, 4776, 6632. Nevertheless the light of our reason could tell us that love and caring are what make us human (3957, 6273) and that what is good and what is true are in harmony, each belonging to the other, so the same goes for love and faith (7627).

[3] In the highest sense, the Lord is our neighbor, because he is to be loved above all else. So everything that comes from him and has him within it is our neighbor-in other words, everything good and true: 2425, 3419, 6706, 6819, 6823, 8124. The type of neighbor someone is can be identified by the nature of the good that he or she does, and therefore by the Lord's presence in him or her: 6707, 6708, 6709, 6710. Every individual and every community, also our country and the church, and in the most universal sense the Lord's kingdom, are our neighbor; and loving our neighbors is doing them good out of a love of what is good, according to the nature of their state; so our "neighbor" is the well-being of others, for which we are to be concerned: 6818-6824, 8123. Our "neighbor" includes civic goodness, too, which is whatever is fair; and moral goodness, which is what is good for our life together in community and is called honesty: 2915, 4730, 8120, 8121, 8122. Loving our neighbors is not loving the personality they project in public but loving what motivates them from within, therefore the goodness and truth they have: 5028, 10336. If we base our love on their public personality and not on what motivates them from within, we will have as much love for evil people as for good people (3820) and we will support both the evil and the good, even though supporting evil people is harming good people, which is not loving our neighbor (3820, 6703, 8120). Judges who punish the evil in order to correct them and to protect the good from them are loving their neighbor: 3820, 8120, 8121.

[4] Loving one's neighbor is doing what is good, fair, and right in every task and in every function: 8120, 8121, 8122. So caring about our neighbor extends to every least thing that we think, intend, and do: 8124. Doing what is good and what is true is loving our neighbor: 10310, 10336. People who do this are loving the Lord, who is our neighbor in the highest sense: 9210. The life of caring is a life in accord with the Lord's commandments; therefore to live by divine truths is to love the Lord: 10143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645.

[5] Genuine caring is not something in which we engage in order to get something in return (2371, 2380, 2400, 3887, 6388-6393), because it comes from an inner desire to do what is good and therefore from a living joy in doing it (2371, 2380, 3887, 6388-6393). If we separate faith from caring, then in the other life we want credit for our faith and for any outwardly good deeds that we have done: 2371. People who lead evil lives because they love themselves and the world above all do not know what it is to do good without seeking a reward, so they do not know what it is to extend caring to someone without claiming credit: 8037.

[6] The teachings of the ancient church were teachings about how to live our lives, that is, teachings focused on caring: 2385, 2417, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628. These teachings were the source of their intelligence and wisdom: 2417, 6629, 7259-7262. The intelligence and wisdom of people who have led caring lives in this world increase immensely in the other life: 1941, 5859. The Lord flows with divine truth into caring because he flows into our very life: 2363. We are like gardens when caring and faith are joined to each other within us and like deserts when they are not: 7626. The less we care, the less wise we are [6630]; if we are not engaged in caring we are ignorant of divine truths, no matter how wise we may think we are (2417, 2435). An angelic life consists of doing good deeds of caring, which are acts of service: 454. Spiritual angels, ¹ the angels whose lives are devoted to caring, are embodiments of caring: 553, 3804, 4735.

[7] All spiritual truths focus on caring as their fundamental principle and their aim: 4353. The teachings of the church are pointless unless they have caring as their goal: 2049, 2116.

[8] The Lord's presence with us and with angels depends on our state of love and caring: 904, 981. Caring is the image of God: 1013. Although we do not realize it, love for the Lord, and therefore the Lord himself, lies deep within caring: 2227, 5066, 5067. When we live caring lives we are welcomed as citizens anywhere in this world and in heaven: 1121. We must do no harm to any good thing that arises out of caring: 2359.

[9] If we have not devoted our lives to caring we are incapable of acknowledging and worshiping the Lord except hypocritically: 2132, 4424, 10177. Forms of hatred and forms of caring cannot coexist: 1860.

Fusnotat: