Heaven
Centred.
…The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!
for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
~ Luke 17:20-21 ~
Serenity.
All who receive love and faith from the Lord,
both angels and men,
have heaven residing in them.
People therefore who have heaven within themselves
while they are living in the world
enter heaven after death.
~ Arcana Caelestia 10717 ~
Home.
To acknowledge God
and to refrain from doing evil because it is against God
are the two things which make religion to be religion…
It has been provided by the Lord…
that everyone who acknowledges God
and refrains from doing evil because it is against God
should have a place in heaven.
~ Divine Providence 326 ~
Selfless.
…heaven consists in a heartfelt desire
that things shall be better for others than for oneself
and a desire to serve others and further their happiness,
doing so with no selfish intention
but out of love.
~ Arcana Caelestia 452 ~
Purpose.
…a life of charity is a life of uses.
Such is the life of the whole heaven;
for the kingdom of the Lord, because it is a kingdom of mutual love,
is a kingdom of uses…
…the angels have happiness from the Lord
according to the essence and quality of their use.
~ Arcana Caelestia 997 ~
Joy!
In the heavens every form of good is shared with others.
The peace, intelligence, wisdom, and happiness of all
are shared with every individual inhabitant,
and those of every individual inhabitant are shared with all…
From this it is evident how great
the peace, intelligence, wisdom, and happiness in heaven are.
~ Arcana Caelestia 10723 ~
Apart.
Anyone who thinks rationally
can realize that no one is born for hell ~
everyone is born for heaven.
We ourselves are to blame if we arrive in hell,
but children are not yet liable for any blame.
~ Heaven and Hell 329 ~
Comfort.
I have been given to know with certainty
that all little children in the wide world who die,
are raised again by the Lord and are taken up into heaven,
and there are brought up and instructed
among angels who have the care of them,
and that they also grow up in proportion
to their advance in intelligence and wisdom.
From this we can see how immense is the Lord’s heaven
from little children alone;
for they are all instructed in the truths of faith
and in the goods of mutual love,
and become angels.
~ Arcana Caelestia 2289 ~
Innocence.
…Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not:
for of such is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you,
Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
~ Mark 10:14-16 ~
Willing.
…all who are in heaven are in innocence;
for all who are there
love to be led by the Lord…
~ Heaven and Hell 280 ~
Welcome.
Every community in heaven is growing in numbers daily,
and the more it grows, the more perfect it becomes…
It will never be closed,
and its ever increasing fullness makes it more perfect.
So angels long for nothing more
than to have new angel guests arrive there.
~ Heaven and Hell 71 ~
Unending.
Those who during their lifetime
have found happiness in marriage
because of genuine conjugial [marriage] love
find happiness again in the next life,
so that the happiness experienced by them in one life
is continued into that of the other,
where it becomes a union of minds,
in which heaven consists.
~ Arcana Caelestia 2734 ~
Spring.
People in heaven
are continually progressing toward the springtime of life.
The more thousands of years they live,
the more pleasant and happy is their springtime.
This continues forever,
increasing according to the growth and level
of their love, thoughtfulness, and faith…
In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow young.
~ Heaven and Hell 414 ~