For he that is wholly in
the delight of the body or of the flesh, or what is the same, in the
love of self and of the world, has no sense of delight except in
honor, in gain, and in the pleasures of the body and the senses; and
these so extinguish and suffocate the interior delights that belong
to heaven as to destroy all belief in them; consequently he would be
greatly astonished if he were told that when the delights of honor
and of gain are set aside other delights are given, and still more if
he were told that the delights of heaven that take the place of these
are innumerable, and are such as cannot be compared with the delights
of the body and the flesh, which are chiefly the delights of honor
and of gain. All this makes clear why it is not known what heavenly
joy is.
399. One can see how great the delight of heaven must be from the
fact that it is the delight of everyone in heaven to share his
delights and blessings with others; and as such is the character of
all that are in the heavens it is clear how immeasurable is the
delight of heaven. It has been shown above (n. 268), that in the
heavens there is a sharing of all with each and of each with all.
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