Conjugial Love (Chadwick) n. 50

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50. (vi) In this case a man is given a suitable wife, and the woman likewise a husband.

This is because only those couples who have been or can be inwardly united to make one can be accepted into heaven to stay there. For in heaven a couple are not called two, but one angel. This is what is meant by the Lord's words, that they are no longer two, but one flesh. The reason why no other couples are accepted into heaven is that no other people can there live together, that is, in one house sharing a room and a bed. For it is the affinity and closeness of their love which determines everyone's associations in the heavens, and equally where they live. The spiritual world does not have space, but the appearance of space, and this appearance depends upon the way in which people live, which in turn depends upon the way they love. No one therefore can stay anywhere but in his own house, which is provided for him and allocated depending on the nature of his love. If he lives elsewhere, his chest feels tight and he has difficulty in breathing.

Two people cannot live together in the same house unless they are exactly alike; nor consequently can married couples, unless they have the same feelings towards each other. If the feelings are only outward and not at the same time inward, the house or the location itself parts them, rejecting them and driving them away. This is why those who are after preparation admitted to heaven have a marriage provided for them with a partner, whose soul is so strongly attracted to union with the other's, that they do not wish to have two lives, but one. It is for this reason that after parting a man is given a suitable wife and a woman likewise a suitable husband.


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