A leaf that falls into a stream (or a leaf we intentionally drop into a stream) just where the water disappears into the ground…will come out again at the next opening, because the underground stream has faithfully carried it there, though during this journey it has been beyond the reach of any outside interference. In the same way, an idea that has been introduced into our minds (or that we ourselves have intentionally introduced) will produce its effects after longer or shorter subconscious development.
— Charles Baudouin
Heinrich Arnold adds, “The water and the leaf symbolize our inner life. When we place a positive image or idea into our heart, it will remain in us and work in us until it appears again in the flow of conscious thought. The same is true if we give room to an evil thought or image. It may be concealed for a long time by the subconscious, but then suddenly it is there, and its previously unnoticed effect on our inner life will also make itself felt.”
Reminds me of an old programmers’ saying, “Junk in means junk out.”
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)