The Spiritual World: Talks for Children by George de Charms

7.  Garments  in Heaven

Did you ever stop to think how important it is to wear the right kind of clothes? There are many different ways of dressing, and each is appropriate for a certain use. You have clothes that you wear to play in, other clothes that you wear to school, and still others which you put on when you go to a party. If you should wear your best clothes when you play you would ruin them; and if you went to a party in your old clothes you would feel very much out of place. The kinds of clothes people wear change all the time. If you look at photographs taken many years ago, the people look queer to you, although you may know them, for they are dressed in clothes that no one would think of wearing today. You can see pictures in your history books of the garments worn in olden times, and they are very different from those now in use. And if you turn to your geography you will find that people in different countries of the world have their own national costumes - some of them very beautiful, but quite different from ours. Even among our own people different kinds of garments are worn. There is the uniform of the soldier and of the sailor, and these are different for the common soldier from what they are for the officers. And so you see that clothes make a great deal of difference. No one would think of going to a banquet in old working clothes, or of putting on evening dress to do ordinary work.

Now it is the same in the other world. A great deal is said in the Writings about the garments worn by spirits and angels. When you first go into the other world you will wear clothes very much like those you have here. But after you have been there for a time other garments will be given to you - garments that are quite different. And no one can come into heaven without putting on the kind of garments that the angels wear.

Swedenborg once saw an evil spirit who wanted very much to go up into heaven. And because he was so anxious to see what it was like in heaven the Lord finally permitted him to go. But when he got there he found that all the angels looked at him as if he were very strange. And presently he was brought before the Judge who asked, "How did this man come here without having the proper garments? Cast him out, for he is an enemy." On another occasion there were ten strangers, recently come from the earth, who wished to go into heaven. They were not evil, but good, and the Lord sent an angel to conduct them into heaven. But the angel brought them some garments, and said, "You must first put on these heavenly garments, because without them you are not allowed to enter. " So they wore garments just like those of the angels, and then they were safe, so long as the angel guide was with them. And when the time came to depart the angel told them to put on their own clothes once more, and as soon as they had done so they no longer wanted to stay, but departed immediately.

The garments of heaven are very beautiful. They are different in different societies, and different kinds of clothes are worn for different occasions. But they all have this in common - that they shine with a glorious light. In the celestial heaven the light which makes them shine is of a wonderful golden color, so that the garments look as if they were made of burnished gold; while in the spiritual heaven they are silvery white. You remember the angels seen at the sepulchre when the Lord arose after His crucifixion - of whom it is said that they were clothed in shining white garments. And you remember how when the Lord appeared to Peter, James, and John, on the mount, "His face shone like the sun, and His garments were white as the light. "

Now these garments in heaven are not like those we wear on earth. They are more beautiful in the degree that the angels love the Lord and are wise from His Word; and they are less beautiful, and less brilliant in the degree that they do not love Him. In the highest heavens, where the angels are very wise, and where they love the Lord very much indeed, the garments are like flaming fire - as if made of gold and precious stones that catch the light of the Sun of heaven and reflect it in living colors.

Every angel has many garments. They keep them in their houses, as we do; and they change them at different times in order to do different things. They wear certain clothes in the morning, while they are at work; and others in the afternoon, and still others in the evening. And from time to time - especially if they have done something kind and useful - the Lord gives them a new garment. They find it in their house, and know that the Lord has given it to them.

Boys and girls there also have different garments, and these change according to whether they do right or wrong. If they have been happy and obedient, and studious, they are given garments that shine brilliantly - some of them beautifully embroidered and adorned with flowers. But if they have thought unkind things, or have been selfish, or have quarreled, then ugly spots appear on their garments, and they no longer shine. They cannot wash out these spots. Only when they repent and try to do better do the spots disappear and the brilliance returns.

Now the most interesting thing about all this is the fact that our garments in the other world are beautiful or ugly according to the things we love to think about. If on earth you learn to take delight in the things of the Lord's Word, then will you be given beautiful garments in the other world. But if you have held evil thoughts in your mind, and things that are against the Lord's Word, then your garments there will be ugly. You will not be able to hide those thoughts there. You will not be able to pretend that you are good if at heart you are not good. For all who are around you can see the kind of garments you are wearing, and they will know at once whether you are good or evil. That is the reason why the evil spirit could not stay in heaven. They knew at once that he was evil, and cast him out - not because of his garments, but because of his evil.

In this world you can pretend. You remember what the Lord said about wolves in sheep's clothing - that is, evil men who are cunning and deceitful, who try to make others think they are good by putting on the garments of angels. There are many such, and you yourselves - when you have done something wrong try to hide it, and pretend that you have not done it. But in the other world this is impossible.

If you would come into heaven, you must therefore learn to love the Lord, and to think with delight on the things of the Word. For no others are allowed to enter there; and if they do they will appear in ragged and dirty garments - like those of some tramp, and such the angels will not allow to stay among them, If you do this - that is, if you learn to love the Lord, then, however poor you may be in this world, the light of that love will shine through your garments and make them beautiful in the eyes of all who know you. Even as is the case with a soldier who has gone through mud and fire and great hardship to save his companion; even though his outer garments are soiled, everyone loves and admires him, and in the other world his garments themselves would appear beautiful, like those of the angels.

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