Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CL

We continue today with our discussion of these Values to Live By as presented by Lucis Trust, an esoteric organization that publishes the works of the Tibetan and whose influence is mostly found in esoteric circles. A large part of our own work here in this blog is to bring these heretofore hidden ideas to the attention of the Christian World and to show the relationship of ALL things spiritual. There is much of significance in the works of other groups that is ignored or even derided by the many facets of the ONE Church of Christ and this should not be so as at times their attitude is contrary to these very ideas of values and contrary to the words of the Master as well. As we have discussed in previous posts, the Master tells us that it is “…by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20) and the fruits found in these words below are of those that the Master calls GOOD throughout His teachings and they answer as well to the thoughts of the Apostle Paul who says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23) and again “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9). None in honesty and reality can say that these Values to Live By do not meet with Paul’s High Calling to us ALL. We should understand that this presentation of these values is a non-denominational and  a non-religious approach to the Love of God as it should be expressed by ALL and includes terms and ideas that can be accepted by ALL regardless of their views on God; they express for us the values by which we would judge others and by which others can judge us.

Values to Live By

A Love of Truth—essential
for a just, inclusive and progressive society;

While we addressed the title clause idea of values in the last post we should understand that the reality of the balance of the terms herein used are parts of this idea, that is that each of the points included are those ideals, virtues if you will, that can create within the human family that sense of brotherhood, GoodWill and Right Human Relations. These are ALL characteristics of LOVE as expressed by the Master, which are necessary to bring the race of men forward into that ere of Peace and Harmony. This era is that one which was inaugurated by the Christ more than 2000 years ago and which is more possible and probable now in our time than at any other time heretofore. This is encouraged by the ever so slow movement of our Solar System out of the Age of Pisces and into the Age of Aquarius and this movement is an astronomical and scientific fact and not just an astrological one. While there is much myth and lore about it, the True significance of this coming age have always been KNOWN; it is an era of harmony and Unity while the significance of the Piscean age which the Solar System is now leaving can be seen in the image of the two fishes; as an era of duality and of conflict between the Spiritual and the material aspects of Life. For our practical understanding the words of that song from the sixty’s production of the play Hair can be seen as painting and optimistic picture of the coming days; however, this is true only if the human family seizes the opportunity. The song says in part:

Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation

While we do not KNOW the writer’s intent in some of these words, we can KNOW that most of this is reflective of the teachings of the Christ and of the esoterically understood meaning of this dawning New Age. On this we wrote previously (In the Words of Jesus part 59) that the theme for the Age of Aquarius is Love, Brotherhood and Harmony, Peace, Understanding; all qualities that will help to assure that the world will eventually be drawn to the power of the Living Christ. And this is our point today as well; that while the ideas of New Age and New World Religion are upsetting to the church of today, they must see that the reality behind it ALL is the very Christ that they claim as theirs. In ALL of these values that we see in this idea of Values to Live By we should see as well these ideals of the New Age as they are overlapping and essentially the same. We can add here that for each of us to understand the great undertaking of this time there is an essential ingredient in the line that we covered yesterday: A Love of Truth—essential for a just, inclusive and progressive society.

We continue now with the next line in our discussion of this saying:

A Sense of Justice—recognition
of the rights and needs, of all.

Justice is a concept of Right Human Relations and of GoodWill, of Love itself, and a word for which it is difficult to find suitable definitions in modern parlance outside of the realm of law and order. Webster’s tells us from the 1828 version: The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is his due; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings of men with each other; honesty; integrity in commerce or mutual intercourse. Justice is distributive or commutative. Distributive justice belongs to magistrates or rulers, and consists in distributing to every man that right or equity which the laws and the principles of equity require; or in deciding controversies according to the laws and to principles of equity. Commutative justice consists in fair dealing in trade and mutual intercourse between man and man. Impartiality; equal distribution of right in expressing opinions; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit. In criticisms, narrations, history or discourse, it is a duty to do justice to every man, whether friend or foe. Equity; agreeableness to right; as, he proved the justice of his claim. This should, in strictness, be justness. Vindictive retribution; merited punishment. Sooner or later, justice overtakes the criminal. Right; application of equity. His arm will do him justice¹.

The word justice is not translated from the Greek in the New Testament in the King James Version (KJV) which we use but it used often in the Old Testament. Other translations of the New Testament render as justice what the KJV translates as righteousness and we should be able to easily see the relationship of these ideas. As an Old  Testament term we see it used frequently in Psalms and Proverbs and in terms that are readily attributed to righteousness and to the ideas we have above and the defining terms from Webster’s.

• “Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy” (Psalm 82:3). This is simply to be just to those who are worse off that we. It is kindness and it is mercy. This is spoken as from God to those who live and act contrary to His laws; it is a rather short Psalms that tells us to help the poor and the needy and to deliver them from the wicked. This is also one of the Old Testament Psalms quoted by Jesus and in this we should be sure that He KNEW it and professed it; in its entirety it says: “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.  Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations” (Psalm 82:1-8).
• “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face” (Psalm 89:14). In this we should understand that while judgement may be attributed to the judicial nature that the Jews applied to God, that justice is more about the ideas above of mercy and compassion. This 89th Psalm begins with just these words saying: “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.2 For I have said , Mercy shall be built up for ever…..” (Psalm 89:1-2).
• “To receive the instruction of wisdom , justice, and judgment, and equity” (Proverbs 1:3). Here we see the words of Solomon as he introduces his ‘son’ to his proverbs and here again we find the separation of justice and judgement thereby separating the ideas of law from the ideas of Right Human Relations. 
• “By me kings reign , and princes decree justice” (Proverbs 8:15). In this proverb we find the relationship between justice and Wisdom; here we find Wisdom speaking as an Aspect of God and saying: “I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice” (Psalms 8:12-15). We should understand here that Wisdom is a thing to be sought by ALL; it is akin to Love as an active property of the Christ and the Soul and we should see in this proverb that justice comes to a man with that Wisdom….that Wisdom that the Apostle James tells us of saying: “the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
• “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3). This last proverb makes a statement that is repeated in a different tone by the Master. Again there is the separation between justice and judgement and we can see justice in this context as righteousness and, according to the Master’s words, in the same tone as Love. A scribe says to the Master these words in response to the Master’s citing the Great Commandments: “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33) and to this the Master replies as to the scribe’s correctness, his Wisdom, in affirming the Truth of his statement. Carrying the Master’s thoughts further, He says also to the Jews “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” and again “But if ye had known what this meaneth , I will have mercy, and not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7). Translations and doctrine make it difficult to place this saying by the Master in line with the above from Proverbs; it is generally attributed to a saying by Hosea: “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6). We can however tie these ALL together in common sense and logical discernment and say that perhaps that the scribe spoke in generalities as regards those things that are more important than sacrifice and in this we should see that mercy and justice ARE in ALL ways connected to Love.

We should see here also in this statement of Values that it includes the ideas set forth by the Master regarding the Love for one’s neighbour and what we commonly call the Golden Rule and, of course, our own interpretation of this word Love. We repeat these here again with some alternate scripture references:

KEEP HIS WORDS:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it , Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

We ask ourselves WHAT THEN IS LOVE?

In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men.

We add to this THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST which can serve to both give us an understanding of what it means to Love oneself and how it is that we can Love our neighbor:

“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).

Can we understand these ideas on justice, that it is an outgrowth of Love and is likely used here in this saying intended for ALL because the word Love is so sorely misunderstood. In our understanding of Love above we see the reality of justice in benevolence and GoodWill and in the opening saying itself: A Sense of Justice—recognition of the rights and needs, of all, we should see the ideal of Right Human Relations which we KNOW is, when combined with GoodWill, Love in Action in the world of men. In our first two thoughts on these Values to Live By we have Truth and Justice and in both of these we should see the intent of the teachings of the Master. These are ideals that are both personal and universal insofar as we do want to get Truth from others and we do want to be treated justly and in this we should see the Golden Rule as the Master tells us above. It is only when men or groups of men seek to take advantage of others that problems arise. It is only in the misleading of the masses that governments still can, in this day and age, come to positions of war.

We will continue with the other ideals for GoodWill and Right Human Relations as expressed below in our next post.

Spirit of Cooperation—based
on active goodwill and the principle of right human
relationships;

A Sense of Personal Responsibility—for
group, community and national affairs;

Serving the Common Good— through
the sacrifice of selfishness. Only what is good for all
is good for each one.

The world of the future depends on what each one of us chooses to do today.

 

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

Today’s quote of the day is a repeat of the Mantram of Unification which is an affirmation of the Oneness of the human family from the perspective of the disciple and the aspirant and any who hold these ideals as important. In this we find the essence of the two ideas that we have discussed from Values to Live By and that these are firmly grounded in the desire to Love not hate; to serve and not exact due service and to heal and not to hurt. It is Love shown as Truth and justice that is at the heart of this mantram.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

• ¹    Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913