Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CCLXXXIV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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Of all that the Master told us, He considered this as the Greatest of Commandments. So much of what we are to understand as aspirants or as believers is found in the precept that we must KEEP HIS WORDS:

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

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:

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them“ (Matthew 7:12).

We ended the last essay with some words on the Values to Live By that we have adopted which we list again below and which had been our Quote of the Day for several days as we discussed various issues related to that Love that the Master teaches us that we MUST express in Life in this Earth. We have kept with this list of values because in these is the practical application of that Love in the world of men and guidance for how one’s thoughts, attitudes and actions should be in relation to our brothers and our neighbors around the world; likely strangers ALL. And this IS our point and the Master’s point as well, that we should look past our differences and see ALL others in the Light of the Golden Rule and the Great Commandment, that we should Love ALL men with an equanimity that is the expression of these values and in blindness to the diversity of forms and of personalities as we realize that the Inner man, the Soul, is essentially the SAME IN ALL. We are individualized Lives; Sparks of the Greater Flame that IS God and our role IS, as an aspirant and a disciple, NOT to advance our own temporal self in the world of men but to advance the Expression of the Life of God through men in form; starting with ourselves and continuing to ALL that we can influence by our example and by that fruit of the Spirit that becomes our expression TO the world.

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;

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.    ***

There IS NOT anything in these words above that should cause discomfort to any who see clearly the reality of the Master’s words as posted again at the top of our essays and our explanation of the reality of that Love that the Master teaches. There IS NOT any thing that can hurt an individual who is trying to accomplish living according to these values or any set of values that IS based upon the words of the Master or of any True Son of God. And we should think about this idea of values from the perspective of the Master’s teaching on treasures and our understanding of that term, we see in treasure what it IS that IS important to us, what we pay attention to….in a word, our focus. There IS a great disparity in the world today between those who have and those who have not and, as is spoken about in the news, the great middle class is quickly disappearing and fading into that same abyss as the minor few control the ways and the means of most all things carnal and who fight, even unconsciously, against the very values that we see above. Perhaps this is why the Master gives us that Beatitude that says “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20), perhaps we have been trying to see this in the wrong light and that it IS more a omen that it IS a blessing. Can we see here that as one has less and less, comparatively speaking, that perhaps this helps lessen the importance to the treasures of the world to that man and helps him to see the common good more readily? We have made several attempts at understanding this particular Beatitude; way back in In the Words of Jesus part 10 we cover this and in short we say of the Master that: He is telling them that they are Blessed who give up all for the Kingdom; who sacrifice the pleasures and the treasures of this earthly life to dwell in the Presence of God. He is saying, as He repeats later, That in giving up the things of the world you will gain the things of God. Further on, in part 18, we restated this as: Blessed are they that have given up all for the Master and for the Kingdom. Those who have made the Kingdom the focus of their life and their treasure and have forsaken not only the longing for material things but also wrong attitudes and feelings and have put their trust in the Lord. They have made the Kingdom the most important thing and they shall have it.

Now we should remember that the version of this Beatitude from Mathews Gospel is worded a bit differently saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3) and our comments above are on the combination of these two versions and from our current perspective, while we do hold to the veracity of our sayings of the past, we offer this expansion into the idea of spirit as this exists in the world as men DO have what we can call carnal spirit albeit the IS NOT a spirit as is that part that IS our Spirit which IS part and parcel of God. This other spirit, this carnal spirit, is that which builds and motivates the Life of the personality in the world; this carnal spirit, fed by the illusion and the glamour of the world, fosters both that sense of pride and that sense of drive in Life that pushes men toward carnal greatness and here is the blessing; that those who have overcome this sense of carnal spirit are no longer looking at the treasures of the world as their treasures but are looking toward God and the God Within. In this sense, being poor in the world can help a man to see the reality of Life as the Life Within if he is so focused; or, it can reflect what we say here about lacking the intensity of the carnal spirit in the world thereby increasing one’s ability to express the True Spirit as the Soul if the man is so focused. Or this can reflect upon what we had earlier said regarding the forsaking of the treasures of the world for the Kingdom of God and perhaps being led here by a True sense of being comparatively poor or having moved past  being engulfed in the ways of the world and the carnal spirit. We have not said much about this Beatitude with ALL these words other that to identify some varied ways that this can work; however we look at this we should NOT see that the poor are blessed with the Kingdom because they are poor in the world except that this man’s blessing of worldly things could come from others who see his need and perhaps move both the giver and the receiver a bit further along. Our overriding point here however is not to explain this Beatitude except as it pertains to our sense of values as the things of this world are the greatest cause of a man’s not seeing the reality of his own relationship to others and to ALL; it is likely much easier to say that those that have should give to those who do not when we are among those who do not and this not only pertains to those treasures of monetary value but to the treasure of our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions as well and it IS here that the scales of those that have versus those that have not changes although this is seldom recognized as a factor in Life. Remember that the Master’s words refer to the “treasure of the heart“, the consciousness of the man in the world that is fed either by the world, the “evil treasure” or from the Soul, the “good treasure” (Matthew 12:35).

And here we began with the most normal idea of treasure, as the riches and the possessions that one’s worldly spirit strives to achieve for his carnal pleasure; this is the most apparent and this is where a man’s mind goes when the words treasure or rich or poor is used. From the perspective of the Values to Live By above as well as the Master’s words to the rich young man we should be able to understand the need for the just distribution of the worlds goods and resources for ALL and how both our values and the Master’s word come out against the existence of selfishness and the building of vast empires by the few while many segments of the masses live in abject poverty. This of course will only change as the ‘rich’ man is confronted by the Master, by his own Soul, his Christ Within, as the rich young man of the gospels was confronted by he Jesus who says: “sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). We should note here that this is a very difficult thing to accomplish regardless of the depth of one’s riches but it IS at the same time the Master’s test as He asks that we forsake ALL for the Kingdom and this forsaking begins with relinquishing our attachment and our attraction to the things of the world and focusing our lives on the True treasures that stream forth in the Love and the Power of the Soul. And it IS these treasures are encapsulated for us in the thoughts, attitudes and actions of the man living by the Values to Live by above.

We should understand here as well the corporate implications of these words as this tendency to selfishness pervades much of Life in form and afflicts most every religious, social and governmental entity, most all of which see for themselves the need to keep its resources against any possible future need. Yes many individuals, religions, social enterprises and governments give much but some not so much in comparison to their possessed resources. Carnal treasure  IS NOT however our intended topic here but the totality if these Values to Live By as they relate to the Master’s teachings; we have gone down this road of riches and possession only because it IS the most apparent. There are other important aspects of values that we have not broached and it IS in this sense of value that we should view all things personally and corporately. What IS important to us is the question; whether it is those things that give us pleasure and are world related or it is those divine things that last and form the basis for the focus of our Life.

Understanding that the idea of treasure IS more that riches and possessions can be seen in the Master’s words as He gives us the guidelines. For the actual treasures that ARE riches and possessions He tells us: “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23-25). Now this is ALL very clearly stated yet ignored by men in the world as two groups; the one group that “have riches” and the other group “that trust in riches“. Here it IS generally understood that the second saying that includes “that trust in riches” is a restatement that leaves those with riches some way out or rather into the Kingdom but is this so? The restatement ONLY occurs in Mark’s Gospel and it is likely based upon the idea of the astonishment of the disciples that we believe that the intent of the saying this again with the idea of trusting is a modification to the first saying. We should try to see here how both of these ideas exist at the same time; that there is a problem with the one who has riches and there is a problem for the other who trusts in them whether currently rich or not. Many different pictures are painted in the doctrinal understanding and much is theorized about the camel and the eye but, again, seeing the Master’s words in the broadest way will tell us the Truth of the matter which is further explained in this next saying which, from our perspective, includes much more that the riches and possessions of the world.

The Master tells us that: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Here, in this context of thought we see again possessions and riches but this is but a part of the overall message that the Master is giving us as He uses these same words in other contexts. In a later chapter of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells us that : “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things” (Matthew 12:35). Here the idea of treasure is the same but the subject IS words or we should say apparently words and speech as noted in the prior verse that ends in His saying: “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh“. Now in this we have two things; what we may say and where it is from, which we can understand to be that a man will speak what IS in his heart and, in so saying, can we not consider this to be about the content of one’s heart, his treasure, and not merely what one says? Carrying this forward to our subject verse we can see that He is no longer speaking about speaking but rather about those things, that treasure that is either good, from above or within, from the Soul, or else evil, from the world. We should measure these words by the Master in the inclusive manner that sees ALL thought, attitudes and actions as being either of the world or of the Soul. At the same time we should see the Master’s strong words against having riches and against those who “trust in riches“; that these WILL NOT enter into the Kingdom. And, these ideas make much more sense for us when we understand that the Kingdom IS here and now and not at some far off time. The simple point IS again back to focus; the man who focuses upon the things of the world, be they treasures of monetary value or of thoughts and attitudes that are in and of the world, will simply find that this IS His field of action and that he is building no spiritual collateral. To the man who IS focused upon the things of God the things of God will be His treasures and we can count among these Peace, Love and the freedom from having to deal with the pressures and the confusion of Life in the world; this man will express this Peace and Love as the fruit of the Spirit and he will understand these as the Wisdom from above. This IS of course a simple way of stating this most complex issue as there ARE men at most every degree of realization from being totally grounded in Life in the world and the self to being totally grounded in God as a True disciple; in between these poles is our existence here in the Earth where we suffer from or enjoy the fruit of our focus which IS changeable at best until we reach that realization of Truth.

Of course we should understand here that the greater the focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, the closer we come to our objective and our goal and the better able we become to express that Love as it is stated for us in these Values to Live By and the words of the Master. We can quibble over the meaning of the eye of the needle or we can take the message as presented in ALL its broadness and understand that it IS our right focus upon the things of God that will set us upon and keep us on the Path to the strait gate that opens into His Kingdom.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

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.

This new Quote of the Day works well with our ideas above regarding Values to Live By as they are, or should be, influenced by Love, by meekness and by GoodWill; we post this with our former comments.

This is the Prayer of Saint Francis which we repeat again from a previous post as our Quote of the Day. If we were all to accept these ideas as guiding Lights in our lives, we would be expressing the Love and the Faith that the Master teaches. The last time that we presented this we called it the Prayer of Saint Anthony in error; It is attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912*. Regardless of the True authorship, the sentiments revealed in this prayer are genuine and are in keeping the intent of the teachings of the Master and His apostles. We should note here that the dying is not necessarily the death of the body but the death of the carnal man in the world when one is born again. In this context we read this about Saint Francis: Francis was the son of a wealthy foreign cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life**. Here is the antithesis of the rich young man of the gospels.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen 

This is a prayer that is Truly in line with the teachings of the Master and the ideals encapsulated in this should be those that govern our lives and our prayer should be that ALL can see Life in this same way. We should try to see the reality of these words in the verses above regarding feeding and visiting the least of His and our brethren; in these words is a deeper meaning, as clearer expression of Love and, we should look at the Master’s words above as an expression of Love and not merely in the terms that He presents as this is the intent of the entirety of His teachings.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• * Wikipedia contributors. “Prayer of Saint Francis.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013
• **Wikipedia contributors. “Francis of Assisi.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2013.
• *** From the pamphlet Values to Live By published by World Goodwill and Lucis Trust