[2] Continuation.- Something shall now be said concerning the uses, by means of which men and angels have wisdom. To love uses is the same thing as to love the neighbour, use in the spiritual sense being the neighbour (proximus). This may be seen from the fact that every man loves another, not for his face and person, but for his will and understanding, for he loves him who wills well and understands well, and does not love him who wills well and understands ill, nor him who understands well and wills ill. And because man is loved or not loved from these faculties, it follows that the neighbour is that quality, from which every one is a man, and this is his spiritual nature. Place ten men before you, in order to select one of them to be your colleague in any office or business; will you not first examine them, and select him who comes nearest to your wishes with regard to the use which is to be performed? He therefore would be your neighbour in preference to the rest, and would be the object of your love. Or, again, approach ten maidens, for the purpose of choosing one of them for your wife, would you not first examine the qualities of each, and, if she consented, betroth the one who became the object of your love? She, therefore, would he your neighbour in preference to the rest. Were you to say to yourself, "Every man is my neighbour, and is therefore to be loved without distinction," in this case a devil incarnate might be loved as much as an angel in human form, and a harlot as much as a virgin.

The reason why use is the neighbour is, that every man is valued and loved, not for his will and understanding alone, but for the uses which he performs, or is able to perform, from them. A man of use is therefore a man according to use, and a man not of use is a man who is not really a man; for of the latter it is said that he is not useful for any thing. Although such a one is tolerated in a community in the world, while he lives from his own principle, still after death, when he becomes a spirit, he is cast out into a wilderness.

[3] Man therefore is of the same quality as his use. Uses are, however, manifold; they are, in general, heavenly and infernal. Heavenly uses are those which serve the church, one's country, society, and one's fellow-citizen, and which do this more or less, and more nearly or more remotely for the sake of such objects as ends. Infernal uses, on the contrary, are those which minister only to one's self and to those with whom one is connected; and when they do promote the welfare of the church, of one's country, of society, or of a fellow-citizen, it is not for the sake of these as ends, but for the sake of self as an end. It is nevertheless the duty of every one, from love, though not from self-love, to provide the necessaries and requisites of life for himself and those dependent on him.

[4] When man loves uses in the first place by doing them, and loves the world and himself in the second place, then the former is his spiritual and the latter is his natural [principle]; in this case the spiritual rules, and the natural serves. It is therefore evident what the spiritual, and what the natural are. This is what is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew:

"Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens, and its justice, and all things shall be added unto you" (vi. 33).

The kingdom of the heavens is the Lord and His church, and justice is spiritual, moral, and civil good; and every good which is done from the love of these is use. The reason why all things shall then be added is that when use is in the first place, then the Lord, from whom all good comes, is in the first place, and rules, imparting whatever conduces to eternal life and happiness; for, as was observed, all things relating to the Divine Providence of the Lord with man regard what is eternal. All the things that shall he added are here spoken of with reference to food and clothing; because food also means every thing internal that nourishes the soul, while clothing means every thing external that clothes it as the body. Every thing internal has reference to love and wisdom, and every thing external to opulence and eminence. From these observations it is now evident, what is meant by loving uses for the sake of uses, and what the uses are from which man derives wisdom-that wisdom from which and according to which, every one has eminence and opulence in heaven.