And behold, there are last who shall be first, and
there are first who shall be last (13:29, 30).
For in the state in which that spirit was he could be imbued with all
things of faith and receive them with interior affection; there was
in him the mercy of love, and in his ignorance there was innocence;
and when these are present all things of faith are received as it
were spontaneously and with joy. He was afterwards received among
angels.
325. A choir at a distance was heard one morning, and from the
choir's representations I was permitted to know that they were
Chinese, for they exhibited a kind of woolly goat, then a cake of
millet, and an ebony spoon, also the idea of a floating city. They
desired to come nearer to me, and when they had joined me they said
that they wished to be alone with me, that they might disclose their
thoughts. But they were told that they were not alone, and that some
were displeased at their wishing to be alone, although they were
guests. When they perceived this displeasure they began to think
whether they had transgressed against the neighbor, and whether they
had claimed any thing to themselves that belonged to others.
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