December7

A Spirit of Co-Operation

And◦ Mary said, Behold◦, the maidservant of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy saying. And the angel departed◦ from her. (Luke 1:38)

The Lord does indeed demand humility, adoration, thanksgivings, and many other things from man, which appear like repayings, and thus not gratuitous; but the Lord does not demand these things for His own sake, for the Divine has no glory from man’s humility, adoration, and thanksgiving. In the Divine, anything of the love of self is utterly inconceivable—that such things should be done for His own sake; but they are for the sake of the man himself; for when a man is in humility he can receive good from the Lord, because he has then been separated from the love of self and its evils, which are the obstacle; and therefore the Lord wills a state of humility in man for his own sake; because when he is in this state the Lord can flow in with heavenly good. (Arcana Coelestia 5957)

I have talked much with angels about innocence, and have been told that innocence is the being [esse] of all good, and that good is therefore so far good as it has innocence in it, consequently that wisdom is so far wisdom as it partakes of innocence; and the same is true of love, charity, and faith... Innocence is a willingness to be led by the Lord. (Heaven and Hell 281)

A new birth or creation can only be brought about by the Lord through charity and faith as the two means with the person’s co-operation. (True Christian Religion 576)

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