ON LOVE; PART CDXCII
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 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 12:29-31).
ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, 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 22:36-40).
In the last post we discussed the reality that we as Souls DO come into our next incarnation based upon our level of achievement in this world in previous incarnations and while this may be difficult to understand in the Western World, it IS nonetheless a glimpse of the Truth of the forward motion of Life; a motion for which we can only see a small part from our own myopic view as men in this world. A clearer view is however available to the man who can somewhat overcome the proclivities of the carnal Life and the illusion and the glamour in which he exists and this instruction to overcome is a large part of what the Master teaches. He teaches this through Love and, as we so often say, this Love IS the beginning of one’s journey out of the prison of carnal living and into the freedom which IS our deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). And we should KNOW and understand the role of Love by His example, by His emphasis upon it and, most importantly, by His elevation of the the commandments on Love to the status of the Great Commandments, that there ARE NO others as important. Here, in the parabolic way of the New Testament, we should see that in Love ALL of the other commandments ARE accomplished. But again, this IS NOT that Love that we understand through our own myopic view of Life in the world, this IS NOT that attraction and attachment to parents and children, to spouses and lovers, to pets and friends and those things in the world that may give us pleasure, this IS the Love that shows forth in the actions of the man who sees the reality of the Golden Rule and the equanimity of respect for ALL men. This IS the Love that shows itself in the idea of Love thy neighbor as it IS intended; that we see ALL that we can do to or for another in the SAME light as we see what we do for and to ourselves and; then apply the Golden Rule. And this IS that Love of and for God, not from a worship and adoration perspective but from a practical application of Love, of GoodWill and of respect for ALL of His Creation and Jesus most misunderstood teaching on this IS clear on this as we read:
“For I was an hungred , and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty , and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:35-40).
In the teachings of the various Christian doctrines two mistakes are made in understanding the intent and the complexity of the Truth of these words; a Truth that IS hidden behind the words of the story in the Master’s parabolic fashion. We should note here that this particular teaching is not seen by most in the normal sense of a parable as there are no apparent outside characters that become the example but, nonetheless, in our understanding this IS one of the more parabolic sayings of the entire New Testament as behind these words ARE the Truth, the final Truth, on Love. Here is our key to the True understanding of the Great Commandments, of which the Master Himself tells us that “There is none other commandment greater than these” and which we find otherwise framed as that “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets“. And the Apostle Paul understands this reality, the reality of the combination of the Great Commandments and the sayings from Matthew’s Gospel that tell us clearly “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me“; here Paul interprets ALL for us as he shows that to do the second part, to Love one’s neighbor, does accomplish the first part and this IS the True message from the Master.
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:8-11).
This IS the unrealized reality of the Master’s words and Paul makes special note to his audience nearly 2000 years ago as he says that “that now it is high time to awake out of sleep“. Here in that time the apostle is telling us that the time is NOW and here, 2000 years later, we still have not gotten that message. What is the time exactly? This has naught to do with day and night as some see; this has naught to do with the state of the church as others believe; this has only to do with the words that precede it on Love and the words that follow it on keeping His words. The time IS NOW is the message; the time to Love as our ONLY responsibility to others which IS the True meaning of this idea that the apostle states above; that we “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another“. This saying has little to do with actual debt but it IS rather the never ending admonition to Love as our own True responsibility to ALL. And when we can consider the yet greater Truth that the law and the commandment of which the apostle speaks IS NOT only the law as understood by the Jews but rather the revitalization of that law by the Master, the revitalization that takes this law to be the same as His word and this we should clearly see in these additional words from Paul saying “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) There is no lack of clarity in these words that are forgotten and ignored by the human family yet today.
Returning to our first idea above about the two mistakes that are made by the doctrinal church regarding these words from Jesus that play out as a story that some call the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, that story that has hidden within itself the reality of just how it is that one can Love God completely. First there is the eschatological view that IS taken by so many; that this is a story for the end times and for a ‘judgement day’. While the tone of this story does run along this line of judgement, we should understand that this IS a never ending saga that affects ALL men in ALL times; that judgement day IS NOW, it is every minute of every day that we are judged by our actions, judged by our fruit be it ‘evil’ of be it good. In His parabolic language the Master’s point is ever clear to those who will look for it and this IS partially glimpsed by some. The overriding point IS that in one’s display of Love to another, even to the least of men from a carnal perspective, is one’s display of his Love for God and when we put these ALL together we can see that one’s display of Love even the least of his brethren should be with the force of the Great Commandments….both of them. And this IS the second mistake, that men have deemed that this list of needs is the totaltity of the Master’s message and while the efforts of the churches regarding the hungry and the poor, the efforts of the churches in attending to the sick and the infirm and the efforts of the churches through prison ministries are well founded and good efforts, this IS NOT the whole of the Master’s point. The whole is found in Love for one’s neighbor of which these ideas are but examples; the whole IS found in the Golden Rule, not applied only to the least but to ALL men. In the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule we have the guidelines for our interaction with ALL men.
Paul tells us that the time is at hand and since he wrote this many centuries ago we should understand that the time IS overdue and it IS this that we should keep in mind as we enter into yet another year. And there is likely no better way to view our own responsibilities to our brothers, our neighbors and the stranger who qualifies as both than in the words to what has come to be KNOWN as the the Prayer of Saint Francis which we repeat here as perhaps our own guiding Light for 2014. 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. In this prayer is a greater view of the ideas expressed by the Master above, the view that He expresses in the examples of what one does even for the “ least of these“; we should see that in each of these ideas below ALL of the examples ARE included and then there IS the addition of the Truth of being humble and the reality of being “meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). Here in this prayer we place ourselves in that secondary position as we realize our own responsibility to Love ALL and in our basic understanding that in so doing we reap the rewards of Life and of being delivered “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. This IS the natural way of Life, not that we give in order to receive but that we understand the great law of reciprocity….the Great Law of KARMA.
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
And here we come back to the Master’s words that we left off with two posts back; those words of encouragement and of Truth that He says in His prayer to the Father. We should understand here that the audible nature of this prayer IS for the benefit of the apostles and for our benefit in reading their words as well and, it is in this reading that we our selves become a part of the greatness of these words; we read:
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17: 20, 21-23).
We are receiving His word through their words and we are believing on the Master as we strive to keep His words and it this striving, this ardent and deliberate attempt to overcome the wiles of the carnal nature, that IS likely the minimum that we can do….ALL else is likely found in that saying by the Apostle James where we read “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22); ALL else is but deception. It IS in keeping His words that we Truly believe on and believe in Him and here again we point to those most eloquent words from Mr. Vincent that tell us that to believe in or to believe on the Master IS: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life 4. Here, as we bind the Truth of His words onto our lives we come to stand with the apostles as the Master’s words reflect above and in so standing we are at the same time then among those who ARE ONE with the Father and with the Christ. This ONENESS is of course our own personal realization and revelation of divinity; while we are still striving we glimpse this but when we are True to His word, we will KNOW that these things are so; that this ONENESS is the reality of Life itself and the greater part of this reality is in the realization that “the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them“
When we keep His words we have these great realizations and we have that glory of the Master, the glory of the Christ Within expressing through the Life of the man in the world. And the beginning and the end of this expression IS found in Love; the Love that can be found in ALL of these sayings above, that Love that is selfless and equally applied to ALL men without question and without difference. In this Love comes that reality that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) and that in turn there can be none in our regard for others either.
And now as we prepare to enter into a new year and as we certainly get closer to our own demise, let us renew our efforts in Love and try to understand the depth of the responsibility and the commitment that we accept if we are intent on striving toward that strait gate that opens into the Kingdom of God and the Truth of discipleship. And let us begin in this new year with a fresh approach to this seemingly endless journey toward divinity; let us look upon ourselves as His advance party as we KNOW that there was one when He came among us 2000 years ago. Let us look upon this as an advance party that expresses and displays the Love and the harmony and the fulfillment of the Peace of that herald cry by the angel and the heavenly host announcing the birth of the Christ so long ago: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
And let us imagine this in unique ways, as what we can do every day to hasten the coming of the Lord and we should understand here that this DOES NOT need to reflect the physical presence of the Christ here again in the form of a man but can reflect the birth of the Christ in the hearts of many as the anchor for His presence among us. We CAN NOT even imagine the logistics of how the Master could come among us in today’s world, but we can imagine how He can come among us as the Christ Within the hearts of many.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
| 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.
We previously posted this saying in In the Words of Jesus part 367 and did so in conjunction with the Master’s teaching on the idea that ”But many that are first shall be last; and the last first” (Mark 10:31) and His teaching about the mustard seed where, in Luke’s Gospel, he says: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:5-10)”. In this context we say about the words above: The Master is speaking to His disciples in both instances above and both are, in our view, explanatory of the nature of the disciple; that he will accomplish what he has to do, his duty if you will, and will continue on in the service of the Lord and give his ALL in service to his fellowmen. There an ancient aphorism which states this truth in a different way and which we have taken the liberty of rendering in a more understandable language:
He who faces the light of His Soul and stands within its radiance is blinded to the issues of the world of men; he passes on the lighted way to the Kingdom of God. But he who feels the urge to pass that way, yet loves his brother on the darkened path, revolves upon the pedestal of light and turns the other way.
He faces towards the dark and then the seven points of light within himself transmit the outward streaming light, and lo! the face of those upon the darkened way receives that light. For them, the way is not so dark. Behind the warriors—twixt the light and dark—blazes the light of the Kingdom itself.**
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- ** Discipleship in the New Age – Volume II by Alice A Bailey; © 1955 by Lucis Trust
