Page:The Garden of Eden (Doughty).djvu/29

Rh perception of true life which the mind has, that goes forth into good life, or bears spiritual fruit. So all perceptions of the true, which sprang forth in the ground of the minds of those people, which could be pleasant to the sight (mental sight is the understanding; pleasant to the sight, is agreeable to the understanding) or good for food—good, that is, for spiritual nourishment—were given by the Lord to a people so loving and so true.

The river that went out of Eden to water the garden, is a curious expression. How, literally, could the river go out of Eden to water the garden, if, literally, Eden was the garden? Naturally, it could not; spiritually, it could. The river is the symbol of wisdom considered as flowing into the mind from the fountain of wisdom, God. It would be pleasant to trace this beautiful symbol through its many phases in the Word. Suffice it here to allude to the river of water of life, which in the Revelation is described as proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. The river of Eden and the river of the New Jerusalem are one. The spirit of wisdom, its fountain-head being the Lord, proceeds from the love of spiritual things within the mind, and the delight in pursuing them. Without a love for it and a delight in its pursuit, there is no wisdom of any kind. Hence the river went forth from Eden—wisdom springing from love and its