Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON GOD; Part CLII

We come now to the end of our discussion on these Values to Live By as we have been relating them to the words of the Master in His instructions to His disciples and ALL that would be His disciples. We should understand here that to fulfill the words that the Master has given us is the mark of a disciple and of one who attains His Kingdom. Many fancy themselves as disciples but do not keep His words and many as well believe that they have attained the Kingdom while they have yet to Truly follow Him. These beliefs are a function of the illusion and the glamour of Life in the world and these allow for the deception of a man which is most often self deception. We should note here that the sayings of the Master that we have centered upon are His teachings on Love as His command that a man “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 19:19) and in the Golden Rule which we have used in a effort to understand these values. In addition we have found that His sayings from the Sermon on the Mount, His practical instructions to us regarding our interaction with others, give us much on His perspective regarding these values as well. These Values to Live By are in their own way also instructions on our interaction with others with the only difference being that they are devoid of reference to God and to the Master. While this may turn many off, we should see the reality in them by seeing that it is impossible to take God and the Master out of any discourse regarding our interactions with our fellow man and that the absence here is likely for the sake of the appeal of these values and virtues to the common man in the street. From this perspective we can see these values as spiritual and religious thereby making any who attempt them to be such and this without his own realization. While this may seem to be a difficult thing to accomplish, to make a man who does not think of God desire to live in a way that is right with his neighbor, it is likely easier than making a man who believes he is religious to accept these ideals without the use of the terms God and Jesus. It is True that the majority of men around the world do understand something about Right Human Relations and ALL likely desire Peace albeit in line with their own selfish terms and here lies the great challenge for us who would be disciples. Can we exhibit these values and virtues in our Life without reciprocation and in the face of adversity as the Master teaches? Can we steadfastly “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16) and be as an example in our own circle of influence?

Values to Live By

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

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

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;

Our next point is the last one except for the closing remark and we should see in this last point the reality of ALL that are before it. To Serve the Common Good there must be a Love of Truth and a Sense of Justice and we must act in a Spirit of Cooperation and exhibit a Sense of Personal Responsibility; ALL of these contribute to our Service to our fellow man which is the Common Good.

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

What is the Common Good? We should not think of Common Good as that which will bring “the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of individuals” from the standpoint of material effects only but rather in the way that relates the physical wellbeing of ALL with the spiritual component which is the Soul. The understanding of the Common Good will vary much from person to person, region to region and society to society and this is an understandable consequence of looking at Life in a strictly material way. For us who aspire to discipleship however there should be the added component of the reality of Life which is the Soul and which, in its proper relationship to others, should work with our fellow man with this recognition that ALL are Souls. When we can look about us at the world realizing that ALL men are but expressions in time and space of their ability to function in form then we can Truly act in the Common Good. We will see that ALL men are entitled to the same Love and respect as we ourselves are; we should be able to see ALL men in the same way that the Master tells us is True of the Father’s seeing saying “for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). This is the Common Good according to God as it relates to the things of this Earth and in a deeper sense and behind this fact we should see that the just and the unjust and evil and the good are but physical plane expressions of Souls. It is this in realization that we can see the reality of the Common Good as it applies to men around the world; as Souls, the Common Objective is ONE, and that is the Right expression of the Love of God through form and the Common Good is whatsoever can be done to bring this about. Hidden in this realization is the eradication of ALL that ails humanity; in this is hidden the necessary giving and sharing of resources, of information and of Love.

There is a common understanding that, as the Apostle Peter tells us, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) and this is a profound statement that can only be understood in the context of the Soul. ALL are equal in God’s eyes and this is the same message that we should get from the verse from Matthew above. The context that we need to understand is that God does not see the person as this form and this personality but as the Life and the consciousness within it and this is the Soul, the Christ Within. We should also understand that the God that sees IS Love as the Apostle John tells us and much more than this we cannot say with any certainty. From the perspective of the man in form, the God Within and the Christ Within, which are one and the same and mans direct relationship to God, there is no confusion on this point, that is that this reality of man IS NOT subject to the illusion and the glamour that feed the deceptionof the personality consciousness in time and space. Until a man begins to have this revelation of the Christ Within however he will believe that he is the form and it is in this state of mind that the majority of the race exist. This is the “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly” (Romans 8:20) that we recently discussed when reviewing Paul’s words to the Romans (In the Words of Jesus parts 353, 354, 357). We should be able to glimpse here the idea that when the world can be taught the reality of Life, that man is not the form but the Soul and Spirit ONLY, that reincarnation is the very stream of Life that runs through this Creation of God, and that as Spirit and as Souls man is ever ONE with GOD and that ALL are equal in nature, that this vanity which is the illusion and the glamour will no longer have such a widespread effect on the human family. This is the way that through the sacrifice of selfishness becomes a reality and that Only what is good for all is good for each one can become a way of Life. We should remember here that there are many who can glimpse this Truth with no conscious idea that it is form their own Souls and it is these men and women of GoodWill that will help to pave the way for the return of the Christ. Our own part is in instruction and support for those who see the Light as well as the promotion of these values in any way we can but especially through our own actions.

For us, we should try to see ourselves in a similar Light to the twelve and the seventy that were sent out by the Master who gave these instructions that should be brought forward to our way of Life here in the twenty first century.

• “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them” (Mark 6:7-11).
• “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:1-5)
• “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet” (Matthew 10:5-14).

Across these three renditions of the same event we see the overall reality of what is taking place and the understanding that we should gain is in the way that they are sent and not in what they accomplished or did as we know little of this. In Mark’s version we learn that they go “by two and two” and in this we see that they are not a traveling band of men; in Matthew’s version we get the idea that they are to go to the Jews only and while this may have been the way of the times, it is not the way today as is we KNOW that the Master told us over 2000 years ago of the Jews that “Therefore say I unto you , The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). The rest is rather common among the three synoptic gospels and is the Master’s instruction is that the disciples should not appear to be above the people in any way and this is likely the most important part of His message. Let us look at some points from which we can take instruction today:

• The Master’s sending them off “by two and two” embodies the idea that they should not be an overwhelming force but merely a pair of traveling teachers; humble as was the Master in His travels. They were to bring the message to the people as was His way which He acknowledges saying “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent” (Luke4:43).
• Jesus “gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases” and in this we should be confident that as disciples we would have the same. As aspirants we may have glimpses of this reality as we work toward our chosen goal.
• The Master tells them that they should “take nothing for their journey, save a staff only” as in Mark and “Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.” as in Luke. We note here that the words for stave and staff are the same and this appears contradictory but this is not the message that we need from this; The message is in being humble and to not, in any material way, appear to be better or better off than those to whom they were going to preach.
• He tells them also that “freely ye have received,  freely give” and this is a most important statement of mission. There is no charge, no requirement and no strings; the Love of the Master flowed to them as disciples and it must flow from them as well.
• Our last point is that He tells them that “In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place” and in this we should see the idea that as disciples we are not to seek out the best place or the best offer but that one should be content with what he may have insofar as his teaching and outpouring of Love are concerned.

Thus they were sent forth and the same is true for the disciple today and for those that aspire to be disciples and it may be in accomplishing this humbleness of Spirit in going forth with His word as aspirants that we can find the Power from within to become disciples in Truth.

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

This last saying is self explanatory and it is the reality of Life and each of us must see his own place in the scheme of things. No matter how small one may see his contribution, it is a necessary one and it is in the combination of the efforts of ALL that the world can and will change.

We will begin with new topic in the next post.

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.

We leave this Mantram of  Unification again for today as it does go well with our topic.

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.