December
6

Confidence, Tranquility, Peace, & Joy

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary. And the angel coming in to her said, Hail, thou who art graced! The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. (Luke 1:26-28)

That “God blessed” signifies the presence and grace of the Lord, is evident from the signification of “to bless.” “To bless” in the Word, in the external sense signifies to enrich with every earthly and corporeal good, according to the explanation of the Word given by those who abide in the external sense—as the ancient and modern Jews, and also Christians, especially at the present day—wherefore they have made the Divine blessing to consist in riches, in an abundance of all things, and in selfglory. But in the internal sense, “to bless” is to enrich with all spiritual and celestial good, which blessing is and never can be given except by the Lord, and on this account it signifies His presence and grace, which necessarily bring with them such spiritual and celestial good. It is said presence, because the Lord is present solely in charity, and the subject treated of here is the regenerate spiritual man, who acts from charity. (AC 981:1)

The varying states in the other … are according to the perception of good and truth with those who are there, thus according to their perception of the Lord’s presence. According to this perception they have tranquillity; for they who are in the perception of the Lord’s presence are in the perception that each and all things which befall them tend to their good, and that evils do not reach them; hence they are in tranquillity. Without such faith or confidence in the Lord no one can possibly come to the tranquillity of peace, thus neither to the bliss in joy, because this bliss dwells in the tranquillity of peace. (AC 5963)

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