The ultimates of the Word are the truths and goods of its literal sense. That this is the origin of precious stones in heaven is difficult to be believed by any one in our world, because he does not know that all the things which exist in the spiritual world are correspondences, and that from thence all the things which exist in the natural world derive their spiritual origin. That this is the origin of precious stones in heaven has been permitted me to know from discourse with angels, and also to see it with my eyes, but the formation of them is from the Lord alone. (Emanuel Swedenborg)
The most valuable things on Earth are precious stones such as diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires.
But the most valuable thing in Heaven is the Word of God.
This is because the Word of God contains the Truths of Heaven and the Lord.
The Word of God is changeless and transparent like precious stones. It lets the Truths of Heaven shine through.
In the Old Testament, we can read a prophecy by the prophet Isaiah about the Lord's coming and how he was to judge those on the Earth: ...he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth...
This means that we should not judge by means of appearances because appearances are false and deceiving. We should judge by means of faith and righteousness.
Even in our darkest hour, the Lord is present with us, although it may be difficult to believe at the time.
Our body and our life are part of the world of appearances; these appearances are constantly growing, decaying, changing and fluctuating. Old forms are continually being destroyed and new forms are being created in the spiritual substance.
The state of our present body and life is such a form.
Whatever the form of our body and life may be now, it can be altered to reflect the beautiful form of Heaven.
This can only be accomplished if our mind is in Heaven.
A mind that is in Heaven understands that all Good originates from the Lord. It trusts in the Providence of God because it obeys the Laws of Heaven.
The Laws of Heaven are synonymous with Divine Truth or the Word of God.
A mind that is in Heaven derives all its joy from being useful and loving to others and the Lord.
To enter and remain in Heaven, we must freely and willingly choose Love and Wisdom and reject selfishness, perversion and abuse.
All those who are present in Heaven have freely chosen to be there because they have experienced the suffering and dire consequences of being egotistical, inconsiderate, malicious, greedy, mindless or cruel.
Human beings are destined to be in Heaven but they must willingly choose and realize their destiny.
To be in the Light of Heaven, we must stop lying to ourselves and acknowledge what we truly love and believe.
Then we must freely choose to live in accordance with the Laws of Heaven.
In the beginning, doubts will arise and our mind will wish to return to its old and useless ways.
However, with time and perseverance, the doubts will disappear and our mind will remain in the Truth of Heaven.
The only reason gems have healing power is because they correspond to the literal sense of the Word of God. Their beautiful color and transparency correspond to the qualities of the Word. Each gem vibrates in correspondence with a particular quality of the Word. This is why there are so many colors and levels of transparency and clarity. For example, a red gem like ruby corresponds to the Divine Love that we can share with the Lord through our understanding and love of his Word. This miraculous love can dissolve all discordant vibrations within our own being and we can become whole and healthy again.
Any beauty that we experience on Earth, including gemstones, must have its origins in Heaven. Even the human form has its source in the form or order of Heaven. The delicate and graceful form of a human being corresponds to the spiritual sense of the Word or Divine Truth itself. This is why angels are also in the form or order of a human being. If we expect to be healthy, every cell in our body should be in correspondence with Heaven. The human form, the Word of God, Divine Truth and Divine Order are synonymous. Divine Love and Wisdom have the power to realign our biological cells with the Divine Order of Heaven.
We can temporarily relieve symptoms and mask the effects associated with certain diseases by means of molecular medicines. However, if we want to eternally dissolve and eliminate a disease, we must address its real cause. All purposes and causes originate in the eternal substance of the spiritual world. Nothing can come into existence without a seed in spiritual substance. These seeds are intentions and ideas. Our subconscious mind is like the soil of a garden. Whatever seed or idea that falls into it, whether intentional or not, begins to grow. This includes the hereditary beliefs and false ideas of our parents and ancestors.
It takes courage, sincerity, willpower, energy, effort and perseverance to eradicate the bad seeds or false beliefs and senseless habits that have been past on to us by our ancestors. But it can be done and many people have already done it. We are not condemned to the fate of our DNA. Our DNA is in fact at the level of spiritual substance and our spiritual substance can be transformed by changing the program of beliefs and loves that lies deep within our subconscious mind. But we should not expect to heal if we stubbornly choose to retain our egotistical loves and their associated lies or false beliefs. On the other hand, it would be impossible to love, believe and practice Goodness and Truth and continue to be ill.
