December8

Experience the Joy of Others as Joy in Yourself

And◦ Mary stood··up in those days, and went with haste into the hill-country, into a city of Judah, and entered into the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elizabeth. And it came to pass, that when◦ Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb◦; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a great voice and said◦, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb◦! And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold◦, as soon as the voice of thy greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb◦ for gladness. And happy is she who has believed that there shall be a performance of those things which were spoken to her from▵ the Lord. (Luke 1:39-45)

Love consists in this, that its own should be another’s; to feel the joy of another as joy in oneself, that is loving. (Divine Love and Wisdom 47)

It is the delight of everyone in heaven to share his delights and blessings with others. (Heaven and Hell 399)

The life of charity consists in thinking kindly of another, and in wishing him well; and in perceiving joy in oneself from the fact that others also are saved. (Arcana Coelestia 2284.5)

The state of the Divine when good is done to heaven and the angels there, and also to the church and the man there, is expressed in the Word by “joy,” but the quality of this joy is beyond comprehension, because it belongs to the Infinite. That there is also infinite joy on account of the reception of good by those who are in heaven and the church, can be seen from the Divine love, which is infinite toward the human race. (Arcana Coelestia 8672)

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