3627. It is a general principle that nothing can come into being and be kept in being from itself but from, or rather through, something other than itself, and that nothing can be held together within a form except from, or rather through, something other, as is clear from every single thing in the natural system. The human body is held together in form by the surrounding atmospheres from without, as is well known; and if it were not also held together by some active or living force from within it would instantly fall apart. Anything unconnected to something prior to itself, and through things that are prior is not connected to that which is First, perishes in an instant. The Grand Man, or influx from it, is that prior something through which the human being - every single part of him - is connected to that which is First, that is, to the Lord, as will be evident from what follows below.