68. VI. INTO THIS LOVE ARE COLLECTED ALL JOYS AND DELIGHTS FROM FIRST TO
LAST. All delights whatever, of which a man (_homo_) has any perception,
are delights of his love; the love manifesting itself, yea, existing and
living thereby. It is well known that the delights are exalted in
proportion as the love is exalted, and also in proportion as the
incident affections touch the ruling love more nearly. Now as conjugial
love is the foundation love of all good loves, and as it is inscribed on
all the parts and principles of man, even the most particular, as was
shewn above, it follows that its delights exceed the delights of all
other loves, and also that it gives delight to the other loves,
according to its presence and conjunction with them; for it expands the
inmost principles of the mind, and at the same time the inmost
principles of the body, as the delicious current of its fountain flows
through and opens them. The reason why all delights from first to last
are collected into this love, is on account of the superior excellence
of its use, which is the propagation of the human race, and thence of
the angelic heaven; and as this use was the chief end of creation, it
follows that all the beatitudes, satisfactions, delights,
pleasantnesses, and pleasures, which the Lord the Creator could possibly
confer upon man, are collected into this his love.
Pages:
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152