10. 1148. The Messiah works directly into the human soul - this is an unchanging truth. For the soul is the soil into which Divine light streams. Relative to the soul, this is higher than heavenly light. But into their minds, He works indirectly through spirits. In the children of His Church, however, such as Abraham, He works through love, which likewise streams in through the soul; but in others He works only through higher than heavenly light, enabling the mind to be spiritual and to contemplate heaven, and to lift itself up toward heaven. So the Messiah guides the rest of his children by means of light alone. What the difference is may be seen from the corresponding effects of light and of heat in the world. But the reason why angels and spirits are instruments, and therefore mediating forces, is that the powers in them are not bound up by blood vessels and their ramifications as they are in people on earth. In man, the vessels themselves pass from the innermost to the outermost parts, and from the outermost to the inner-most, and bind together all things, even to the very least. This is not the case in spirits, who do not consist of flesh and bones, that is, of blood vessels, muscles and similar hard substances.* Such also will humans on earth be after their passing, when that bond with flesh and bone, or with blood vessels, withdraws from their inward powers and abilities. They, too, will become forces like spirits are, but more perfect, because in them the sequence from the innermost elements to the outermost, or from the higher than heavenly to the earthly, has been established, and so, their mind is developed by the interactions between them. mHeavenly spirits are minds, whose own body-like structures interact with our earthly minds whenever they enjoy the use of those body-like structures, as we are calling them. So after the life of the body, they resemble people on earth. In another respect they are minds that govern human minds indirectly, and so, through the person's will, govern his or her actions. In this respect they are mediating forces, and then do not have use of a body-like structure, which is a substance midway between a spiritual and an earthly one.n mThe speaking of spirits among themselves is really quite like the activity of the higher human mind devoted to understanding; but when human minds are not kept aloof from the earthly mind, the person does not hear that speech, for it contains innumerably more [elements] than can be expressed by words. So, in fact, does human thought, but because this is not separated from the earthly mind, the person does not grasp the true nature of that speech. For this reason, when Spirits spoke among themselves, I clearly noticed, but did not grasp the countless thoughts they uttered within a few moments. However, when the Messiah sees fit, it is understood by a different method.n * In the original, there is a marginal notation beside this paragraph that reads, "See above, 'Obs. Obs.'" [WE 1144].