We have noted that the
proprium of man is not a reality, but only an appearance. Also, we
have pointed out that this appearance is not evil, but that, on the
contrary, it is the very image of God in man that makes him human.
It is the Lord's will that man should appear to have life in
himself, and this appearance is what is called the "proprium."
Without this appearance man would have no free choice, no power of
judgment, and thus no responsibility. Without it he could have no
sense of accomplishment, no delight of use. Lacking these, no one
could ever know the joys of heaven. This proprium becomes evil only
when the appearance of self-life is mistaken for the reality, and is
confirmed—to the denial of the truth that all life inflows
perpetually from God. However, no one can deny what he does not
know; and the truth that life inflows from God can be learned only
from the Lord. Sense experience will never reveal this truth, but
constantly reinforces the appearance that man lives from himself.
Yet from the Word man can learn the truth, can afterward confirm it
by a thousand reasons, and can acknowledge it in spite of the
appearance to the contrary.
A newborn infant
cannot possibly know that his life inflows from God; yet because he
is completely unselfconscious, totally unaware of himself, he can
have no appearance of self-life. An infant enjoys sensations.
Indeed, his conscious life is made up of nothing but a series of
sensations, but as he does not reflect on these sensations, he has
no idea of himself as the one who feels them. Until an infant
becomes aware of himself he can have no self-love; yet it is the
love of self alone into which the hells inflow. This explains why
the hells cannot attack a newborn infant. There is nothing they can
lay hold of to tempt him, to incite him to evil or to instill the
delights of evil, all of which have their origin in the love of
self. Because of this, the tendency to evil, which is present with
all infants by hereditary transmission from parents and ancestors,
is at first completely tacit, quiescent, inactive, and covered over,
as it were, by a blanket of innocence. Concerning this we read:
"Infants have no prudence from proprium, no purpose or deliberation,
thus no end that looks to evil; neither have they any proprium
acquired from the loves of self and the world." (HH 277)
What is it, then, that
first awakens the proprium, the appearance of self-life, and invites
the influx of evil spirits? It is when an infant discovers for the
first time that he cannot have everything he wants. When mother
says, "no", and means it, the infant learns that there is a will
other than his own, and then for the first time he becomes aware of
self-will. To the infant, the mother stands in the place of the
Lord. Her will bears the same relation to the infant that the Lord's
will bears to an adult. In fact, the idea of a "will" other than
one's own—a "will" that ought to be obeyed—is one with the idea of
God. Out of this concept grows the whole idea of religion.
When the infant
asserts his own will as opposed to the will of his mother, he
discovers the difference between two opposite kinds of delight. He
has enjoyed the delight of sensations that were approved and
together with them a sense of confidence, of peace, of security. But
now he discovers a delight that is accompanied by disapproval,
punishment, unhappiness and lack of security. He does not foreknow
that these results will follow. He imagines that his life is his own
to do with as he pleases, and he resents any interference with his
own will. Only by experience does he learn the difference between
the innocent delights that inflow from heaven, and the delight of
self-will that is inspired by the hells. The struggle between these
two delights is the very essence of all temptation. The delight of
the mother’s approval, and the fear of losing it, is the beginning d
conscience, and this is the seed from which springs the heavenly
proprium. On the other hand, the assertion of self-will in defiance
of the mother is the source and origin of the evil proprium.
That the evil proprium
consists in the rebellion of self-will against the will of the Lord,
or in the case of an infant, against the will of the mother, is
clear from the following teaching:
"What man's proprium is may be stated
in this way. Man's proprium is all the evil and falsity that spring
from the love of self and the world, and from not believing in the
Lord or the Word, but in self, and from supposing that what cannot
be apprehended sensuously and by means of scientifics is nothing. In
this way men become mere evil and falsity, and therefore regard all
things pervertedly. . . Such, then, is the proprium of man, which
in itself is accursed and infernal." (AC 210)
From this it is
evident how vital is this first lesson in obedience, and what
tremendously important consequences flow from it. It is a wonderful
provision of the Lord's mercy that every infant is under the
influence of celestial angels, and is thus introduced into the
enjoyment of heavenly affections and delights before hereditary
evils can possibly affect him. He dwells in a Garden of Eden,
corresponding to that state of innocence into which the race was
first introduced by the Divine Creator. Because the latent tendency
to evil is present as the serpent in the garden, it may be said that
everyone is born into evils of every kind. But until the infant
becomes conscious of himself, there is no appearance of self-life,
and therefore no proprium, either good or evil. There is only a
state of pristine innocence, which the hells cannot penetrate.
The first awakening of
proprial life is remarkably illustrated in the Word by the story of
how Lot was separated from Abram. It will be recalled that Abram's
brother Haran died, leaving his infant son Lot, whom Abram adopted
and brought up as his own. When the boy became an adult he acquired
riches of his own—flocks and herds in such numbers that there was no
longer sufficient water and pasture for them and for the cattle of
Abram as well. By mutual agreement, therefore, they parted. Lot left
to seek new land, journeyed to the plains of Jordan, and pitched his
tent toward Sodom. The Arcana Coelestia reveals that what is
specifically treated of here is the Lord as an infant, during His
life on earth. (AC 1428, 1434)
Abram represents the
Lord's internal man, His soul or Spirit of Divine love, with its
celestial perceptions, (AC 1596) while Lot represents the delights
and pleasures of the senses. (AC 1563)
At first there was no
distinction between the internal man and the pleasures of the
senses. Lot dwelt with Abram as his son. The delights of sensation
and the celestial affections of love were perceived together,
without distinction; but a time came when Lot had to be separated
from Abram, that is, when sensations that were out of harmony with
the affections of love and charity had to be distinguished and set
apart. (AC 1568)
Just as there are
things which an infant must learn not to touch because they are
harmful, or because he would unwittingly destroy them, so there are
external delights that are injurious to the spirit of love and
charity. These are represented by Lot's flocks and herds that could
not find pasture together with those of Abram. The discovery of
these sensual delights—which are not of order, but which,
nevertheless, are desired because of the pleasure they give—is what
invites influx from the hells: this because it rouses self-will in
rebellion against the Lord's will.
This urge to assert
one's own will tends to grow apace, and if not checked leads to
evils of every kind—to cunning and deceit, to enmity and hatred, to
greed and lust of power, and to revenge and cruelty. Therefore it is
said that Lot "pitched his tent toward Sodom," and that "the men of
Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly."
Now it is to be noted
that this separation of Lot from Abram makes the infant aware not
only of the evil proprium, but also of the heavenly proprium. Every
mother might wish to perpetuate the innocence of infancy. The
outbursts of self-will are far from pleasant. They are difficult to
contend with, and one cannot help thinking how nice it would be if
children were always amenable and willing to obey cheerfully,
without resistance. But it must be realized that before an infant
becomes aware of self-will, he is equally unaware of the Lord's
will. He feels heavenly affections but does not reflect upon them,
and therefore does not perceive their quality. He has, indeed, no
evil proprium, but neither does he have any heavenly proprium. In
order that he may receive heavenly delights as if they were his own,
he must choose them in preference to the opposite delights of hell.
It is not the Lord's will to create infants who merely receive His
life without realizing it; with no power to respond to it. This is
the case with animals. Compared with the conscious reception of life
from the Lord such as is possible only when one is self-conscious,
the first states of infancy are like sleep. This every mother
spontaneously acknowledges, and she would not wish her son to remain
always an infant. She wants him to know the far greater joy of
conquest and possession, of free choice and judgment. These
blessings cannot be enjoyed apart from the appearance of self-life;
that is, apart from proprium.
It
is of the Divine providence, therefore, that the innocence of
infancy should wane and the conflict of temptation should begin, not
that man may suffer the torments of evil, but that he may know in
ever-increasing fullness the joys of heaven, which can be given only
as the guerdon of victory. It was therefore the Lord's will that Lot
should be separated from Abram, and only after this had taken place
could Abram himself be blessed as never before. "And the Lord
said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now
thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and
southward, and eastward and westward; for all the land which thou
seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever."
(Genesis 13: 14, 15) An unlimited opportunity opens up before a
child who has discovered the delights of remains, which are the
delights of heaven. He can seek these delights, cherish them,
increase them, and learn to appreciate and love them more and more
to all eternity. It is for the sake of this opportunity that the
Lord in His providence causes the infant to become aware of himself,
to perceive the love of self, and at the same time to reflect upon
how precious are those delights that can be received only when
mother approves. It is the Lord's will that the infant should become
aware of his hereditary proprium, for otherwise he could never
become aware of the heavenly proprium which it is the Divine purpose
to give him.
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