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616. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book.- That this signifies the power of perceiving from the Lord the quality of the Word, is evident from the signification of going to the angel and saying, Give me the book, as denoting, in the proximate sense, obedience to the command, because he was commanded to go and take it; but, in a more remote sense, which is also the interior sense, those words mean the power of perceiving from the Lord the quality of the Word. The Lord gives to every man [the faculty] of perceiving this, yet no one does perceive, unless he desire as it were of himself to perceive it. This reciprocal action is necessary on man's part in order that he may receive the power of perceiving the Word, and unless a man desire and set himself to do this as of himself, no power is appropriated to him. For an active and reactive are necessary in order that there may be appropriation. The active is from the Lord, and also the reactive, but the latter appears to be from man; for the Lord Himself imparts this power of reaction, and therefore it is from the Lord and not from man. But because man does not know otherwise than that he lives from himself, consequently that he thinks and wills from himself, therefore he ought to make use of this [reactive power] as though it were from what is proper to his own life, and when he so uses it, then first it is implanted in him, and conjoined and appropriated to him.
[2] He who believes that Divine truths and goodnesses (bonitates) inflow, without such a reactive or reciprocal [power], is much deceived, for this would be to hang down the hands, and wait for immediate influx, as those think who altogether separate faith from charity, and say that the goods of charity, which are the goods of life, inflow without any co-operation on the part of man's will, although the Lord teaches that He continually stands at the door and knocks, and that man must open the door, and that He enters in to him who opens (Apoc. 3:20).
In a word, action and reaction are the cause of all conjunction, while action and mere passiveness do not produce any conjunction; for an agent or active power, when it inflows into what is merely passive, passes through and is dissipated, for the passive yields and recedes. But when an agent or active power flows into a passive which is also a reactive, then there is application and both remain conjoined. Thus it is with the influx of Divine Good and Divine Truth into the will or into the love of man. When therefore the Divine flows into the understanding alone, it then passes through and is dissipated, but when it flows into the will, where the proprium of man resides, it then remains conjoined. From these things it is clear what interior fact is involved in its being said first, "Go, take the little book, which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth," and then in its being said that he "went unto the angel, and said, Give me the little book," and that upon this the angel said unto him, "Take it, and eat it up," for this is a description of the reactive and reciprocal power. For this reason those words signify the power of receiving and perceiving from the Lord the quality of the Word. The reception of the Divine influx is also described in like manner in other passages of the Word.
616. Verse 9. And I went unto the angel, saying, Give me the little book, signifies the faculty to perceive from the Lord of what quality the Word is. This is evident from the signification of "going to the angel and saying, Give me the little book," as being in the nearest sense to obey the command, because he was told to go and take it; but in a more remote sense, which also is the interior sense, these words mean the faculty to perceive from the Lord of what quality the Word is. It is granted by the Lord to every man to perceive this, but yet no one does perceive it unless he wishes as of himself to perceive it. This ability to reciprocate, man must have in order to receive the faculty to perceive the Word; unless a man wishes and does this as of himself no such faculty can be appropriated to him; since, in order that appropriation may be effected, there must be an active and a reactive; the active is from the Lord, so is the reactive, but the latter appears to be from man; for the Lord Himself gives this reactive, and thence it is from the Lord and not from man; but as man does not know otherwise than that he lives from himself, and consequently that he thinks and wills from himself, so he must needs do this as if it were from what is proper to his own life; and when he so acts, it is then first implanted in him, and conjoined and appropriated to him.
[2] He who believes that Divine verities and goodnesses flow into man apart from such an ability to react or reciprocate, is much deceived, for this would be to let the hands hang down, and to wait for immediate influx; as those think who wholly separate faith from charity, and who say that the goods of charity, which are the goods of life, flow in without any cooperation of man's will, when yet the Lord teaches that He continually stands at the door and knocks, and that man must open the door, and that He enters in to him who opens (Revelation 3:20). In brief, action and reaction constitute all conjunction, and in action and mere passiveness there is no conjunction; for when the agent or active flows into the mere patient or passive, it passes through and is dissipated, for the passive yields and retires; but when the agent or active flows into a passive that is also a reactive, then they join together and the two remain conjoined. Thus it is with the influx of Divine good and Divine truth into man's will or love; for this reason when the Divine flows into the understanding alone it passes through and is dissipated, but when it flows into the will, where what is man's own (proprium) resides, it remains conjoined. From this it can be seen what is involved in its being said, first, "Go, take the little book that is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth," and then that he "went unto the angel, saying, Give me the little book," and the angel then said, "Take and eat it up," thus the ability to react or reciprocate is described. And from this then it is that these words signify the faculty to receive and perceive from the Lord of what quality the Word is. The reception of the Divine influx is described in like manner elsewhere in the Word.
616. [Vers. 9.] "Et abivi ad angelum, dicens, Da mihi libellum." - Quod significet facultatem percipiendi a Domino quale est Verbum, constat ex significatione "abire ad angelum, et dicere, Da mihi libellum", quod in sensu proximo sit obedire mandato, quia dictum est illi quod abiret et acciperet illum; in sensu autem remotiori, qui etiam est sensus interior, per illa verba intelligitur facultas percipiendi a Domino quale est Verbum. Dominus dat cuivis homini percipere illud; sed usque nemo percipit, nisi velit quasi ex se percipere illud: hoc reciprocum erit ab homine ut recipiat facultatem percipiendi Verbum; hoc nisi homo velit et faciat sicut ex se, non appropriatur ei aliqua facultas: erit enim activum et reactivum, ut fiat appropriatio; activum est a Domino, etiam reactivum, Sed hoc apparet sicut ab homine; nam Ipse Dominus dat hoc reactivum, et inde est a Domino et non ab homine; sed quia homo non aliter scit quam quod vivat ex se, proinde quod cogitet et velit ex se, inde sicut ex proprio vitae suae id agere debet; et cum id agit, tunc primum ei inditur, conjungitur et appropriatur.
[2] Qui credit quod Divinae veritates et bonitates influant absque tali reactivo seu reciproco, multum fallitur; hoc enim foret remittere manus, ac immediatum exspectare influxum, sicut putant illi qui fidern prorsus separant a charitate, et dicunt bona charitatis, quae sunt bona vitae, absque ulla cooperatione voluntatis hominis influere; cum tamen Dominus docet quod Ipse jugiter stet ad ostium et pulset, et quod homo aperiturus sit, et quod Dominus ad illum qui aperit intret (Apocalypsis 3:20). In summa, actio et reactio facit omnem conjunctionem, et actio et mera passio nullam; agens enim seu activum, dum influit in mere patiens seu passivum, transit et dissipatur, nam passivum cedit et fugit; at cum agens seu activum influit in tale passivum quod etiam est reactivum, tunc applicantur, et utraque manent conjuncta: ita est cum influxu Divini Boni et Divini Veri in voluntatem seu in amorem hominis; quapropter cum Divinum influit in intellectum solum, tunc transit et dissipatur, at cum in voluntatem, ubi est hominis proprium, tunc manet conjunctum. Ex his conStare potest quid involvit, quod hic primum dicatur, "Abi, accipe libellum apertum in manu angeli stantis super mari et terra", et tunc quod "abiverit ad angelum, dicens, Da mihi libellum", quod tunc angelus dixerit, "Accipe et devora"; ita describitur reactivum seu reciprocum: inde nunc est quod per illa verba significetur facultas recipiendi et percipiendi a Domino quale est Verbum. Receptio Divini influxus etiam alibi in Verbo similiter describitur.