All things of
charity have regard to looking to the Lord and shunning evils as sins, and doing
the goods of use that pertain to one's calling. But all things of worship are
externals, of the body and of the mind. The externals of the body are performed
by acts and by words; and the externals of the mind are those that are performed
by the will and the thought, which cohere with the externals of the body.
The externals of the body which pertain to worship are:
(1) Frequenting temples.
(2) Listening to sermons. (3) Devoutly singing, and praying on the knees. (4)
Partaking the Sacrament of the Supper.
And at home:
(1) Prayer morning and
evening, and at dinners and suppers. (2) Conversing with others about charity
and faith, and about God, heaven, eternal life, and salvation. (3) And in the
case of priests, preaching, and also private instruction. (4) And with everyone,
the instruction of children and servants in such matters. (5) Reading the Word,
and books of instruction and of piety.
The externals of the mind which pertain to worship are:
(1) Thought and
meditation concerning God, and concerning heaven, eternal life, and salvation.
(2) Reflection upon one's thoughts and intentions, as to whether they are evil
or good, and that the evil are from the devil, and the good from God. (3)
Aversion of one's mind from impious, obscene, and filthy language. (4) Besides
thoughts, there are also affections which come to the sight and sense of a
man.
These are called externals because they cohere and make one with the externals
of the body.
That such things are externals of worship, and that the externals of worship are signs of charity, will be seen in the following order:
(I.) Charity itself is in the internal man, and its sign is in the external.
(II.) When charity is in the internal man, and constitutes it, then all the acts of worship that are performed in externals are signs of it.
(III.) Worship in the external man proceeding from charity in the internal, appears to the angels as a standard bearer with a banner in his hand. But worship in the external man not proceeding from charity in the internal, appears to the angels as an actor with a firebrand in his hand.
(Charity 173 -177)
