The Divine of the Lord in heaven is love, for the reason that

In the age when reason bowed before mystery, there lived a sage and mystic named Emanuel Swedenborg, who spoke of the hidden realms where spirit and light intertwine. Among his many revelations, one truth gleamed brighter than the rest: “The Divine of the Lord in heaven is love, for the reason that love is receptive of all things of heaven, such as peace, intelligence, wisdom, and happiness.” In these words lies a teaching as deep as eternity — that love is not merely one virtue among many, but the very vessel through which all divine gifts flow.

Swedenborg, seeker of both science and spirit, gazed upon the heavens not with idle wonder but with vision awakened. He saw that the essence of the Divine was not power nor judgment, but love — pure, radiant, and infinite. For love, he said, is the soil from which all celestial fruits grow: peace, which quiets the soul; intelligence, which discerns the truth; wisdom, which knows how to use that truth; and happiness, which blossoms when the heart and the divine are one. Without love, these virtues cannot endure; they are as stars without light, or a river cut off from its source.

Consider, then, the life of Francis of Assisi, who renounced wealth and privilege to live among the poor and the humble. He spoke with animals and embraced lepers, not for glory nor doctrine, but from a heart overflowing with divine compassion. In his love, he found peace — for he feared no man; intelligence — for he saw the unity of all life; wisdom — for he knew that joy is found in giving; and happiness — for his soul rested in harmony with heaven. Truly, as Swedenborg declared, love is receptive of all things divine, because it opens the gates of the spirit wider than any intellect or law ever could.

The ancients, too, knew this secret. In the Vedas it is written that the Atman — the soul — is a spark of the eternal flame that is Brahman, the infinite source of love and consciousness. In the teachings of Christ, love is named as the greatest commandment, for “God is love.” And in the heart of the Buddha, compassion is the crown of enlightenment. Across all ages, wisdom has bowed to this one truth: that love is not a sentiment, but a cosmic force, the essence of the divine itself moving through creation.

Yet how easily the modern soul forgets. In pursuit of knowledge, it loses understanding; in chasing power, it forfeits peace. We dissect the heavens but forget their music. We analyze the heart but forget how to feel. Swedenborg’s words call us home — to remember that intelligence without love becomes arrogance, wisdom without love becomes cold, and happiness without love becomes hollow. Only love binds the scattered fragments of the human spirit into wholeness.

If you would be truly wise, then love. If you would find peace, then love. If you would taste divine joy, then let love guide your every thought and deed. For love is not passive — it is the great receiver, the chalice into which heaven pours itself. When your heart is open, even in sorrow, the light of the divine finds room to dwell. To love is to be brave enough to let the universe touch you, to allow the sacred to flow through your imperfections and make them radiant.

So let this be the teaching carried to generations unborn: Love is the gateway to heaven — not the heaven of clouds and stars, but the heaven that dwells within. Seek not the divine in distant temples or glittering theories, but in the warmth you offer another soul, in forgiveness when it costs you, in kindness that expects no reward. Cultivate love as a garden of eternity, and you shall find that all things of heaven — peace, intelligence, wisdom, and happiness — will bloom in your heart, as surely as the sun rises to meet the morning sky.