ON LOVE; PART DXLVI
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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).
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“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 essay we discussed the Lord’s Prayer as it is given to us in Matthew’s Gospel. We noted that this prayer IS NOT typical of the kinds of prayers that are uttered by people in churches or in private as the whole idea of prayer has become a solicitation for things presumably needed and mostly wanted. Many denominations take the attitude of praying for most everything and teaching this despite the rather straightforward words of the the Master on prayer; many seem more concerned about the idea of “vain repetitions” than about the balance of the saying that “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matthew 6:7, 8). The latter rather parabolic idea tells us that there IS NO need to ask for anything. Prayer in Christian circles has taken on a life of its own as we can see in a variety of practices ranging from the Catholic use of the rosary to the more Evangelical use of prayer requests where ‘qualified’ persons will pray for or with the requester and there are many other variations between these. There IS NOT much said in the New Testament about prayer; we KNOW that John the Baptist taught his disciples prayer and that the Master’s answer to this IS the Lord’s Prayer according to Luke’s Gospel; we KNOW that the Master Himself prays but we recognize at the same time that this IS likely more for those hearing than it IS for Himself and that in the Unity of the Father and the Son there IS NO need for this prayer. And we DO NOT know the nature of the Master’s prayers save for the few details that ARE offered by His apostles in their writings and this especially from John who details a long verbal conversation with the Father as the Master asks for the protected future of His apostles.
We should note that the Master most always prays in private and on the occasions that we KNOW what He has said, there IS NOT much information about how we KNOW and in this we see our own idea of His purposeful speaking aloud for the disciple’s benefit. And what of prayer in the epistles? We find several ideas:
- “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26). Here we have a similar idea to that of the Master above, that “your Father knoweth“; the idea here IS the Spirit that IS the man, that he KNOWS the Truth of Life and that the man to whom the apostle IS speaking KNOWS ONLY what has been revealed. Paul tells us that a man in the world, an aspirant and disciple to whom the apostle is speaking, may NOT KNOW the reality of prayer, what to pray for or even how, but that the Spirit does and will. In this we should try to see that the Spirit is always in prayer, always in communion with the Father and always in communication with his expression in the world which the man can KNOW by his focus upon the divine.
- We should note that the Apostle Paul spends considerable time speaking about the habits of the fledgling church and much of his commentary on the gifts of the Spirit and about prayer to the Corinthians is to help them to rightly understand the Truth of what it IS that they should be doing and experiencing and desiring as spiritual gifts. In our Quote of the Day IS the apostle’s answer to the Corinthians as he acknowledges the reality of these gifts and sets them in order with some instructions for their use if you will; but the greater reality is missed which IS found in these words of Truth: “But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3). Here we should see the Truth of Love, that this IS what IS the important part of the Christian Life and this is preached over the ways of the man in the world who tends toward the more worldly things as these gifts.
- “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Here the apostle is concluding his summation of the armor of God, those ideas of Life that the disciple can use to deflect the ways of the flesh. We see here prayer “in the Spirit” and in this we should understand that same thing as above; that prayer IS a spiritual endeavor and that the man who IS spiritually focused can commune with and through his Spirit as the conscious expression, by degree, of the Soul.
- “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). In this there is much that feeds the common idea of praying for things but the main point here is missed, that prayer is a spiritual endeavor and that whatsoever one would ask for IS of a spiritual nature. The apostle follows this saying with: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4:7-8). In these words we should be able to see the reality of the apostle’s preceding words on prayer.
- “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:13-16). Here in James’ words there is much that IS misunderstood and it is ALL reconciled in the last verse where we should see the reality of who can pray with success as the apostle tells us: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much“. This IS the reality…righteousness; and not the idea of righteousness that is commonly understood but rather the idea of the man who IS keeping His words; he IS the righteous man. We should understand that James’ words are written to disciples and aspirants, men who are following the words of God and the Master and that James’ objective is to keep them on the right path by pointing out the pitfalls and the potential problems. Again, from the spiritual nature of prayer we should see that the ONLY thing here in James’ list that IS personal is to attain more Light so that a man can overcome his own afflictions; this view of personal IS NOT what we mean in speaking about praying for oneself or things for the self in the world. Here in the matter of sickness the disciple does not pray for himself but rather calls for others to pray and the reality still stands that it IS the “prayer of a righteous man” that can work.
In general we should try to see prayer as that it IS a spiritual endeavor, it IS the consciousness that IS focused upon the Truth of the Soul and the things of God that Truly prays and this we should see in the frequent references to prayer by the apostles, that they are so focused, and that they are communicating their spiritual desire, if we can use such a term, for those same things that we find in the Lord’s Prayer to be manifest upon the Earth and in the hearts of others. Can we see here the idea of “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This IS the reality of prayer and of invocation; it IS NOT that the Supreme Being of the Universe will take some interest in the pleadings of a man in the world for more or for better nor does the Supreme Being intercede in the affairs of men as we can see in what DOES happen around us in the world at large. And there IS NO intercession by the Supreme Lord of ALL on behalf of the sick or the maimed who, as we see in James’ words, CAN be healed by the intercession of “a righteous man” who would heal spiritually much as do Peter and Paul and, in their turn, Stephen and Philip.
Prayer IS meant to be spiritual in origin and spiritual in effect and the role of religion IS naught; those that claim the benefits of prayer to the ‘believer’ who IS NOT “a righteous man” is mistaking happenstance and the sometimes effective carnal powers of man for the Power of God. ALL True miracles ARE the effect of the Love and the Power of the Soul, spiritual Power, focused on and flowing through the Life of a man in the world, and the closer a man comes to that High Calling of True discipleship, the greater the expression of this Love and Power CAN be. And so the Lord’s Prayer IS a prayer that is affirming the Divine Nature of God and of the God Within each man and it is a solicitation of a man expressing his request through the Love and the Power of his Soul for the things of God. Here we should try to see that the greater the focus of the man upon the things of God the more the Power that can be expressed and that the things of God ARE “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven“; they are as well the sustenance of ALL men by that “daily bread” and the Peace and the harmony that is found in the sense of Love and forgiveness. Can we see that we ask, or rather affirm that, as men in the world that we can muster our own sense of Transformation to keep temptations at bay in those times of duality and that this is asked in the same breath as that we be delivered from evil which IS to be freed from the attractions and the attachments to the world. There ARE likely many ways to view these words that the Master teaches us but we should understand that in ALL True and effective ways there will be no solicitation for the things of the self or the self in the world; ALL is spiritual and the intent of ALL is universal. It IS in some ways asking for a greater approach of the Kingdom of God to the man in form which we should see it its reality: that it IS each individual who can bring to the world his own expression by degree of divinity which IS the approach of God.
The Master continues His thought in the Sermon on the Mount with additional instruction that shows us that we must be a part of the desired results of the Lord’s Prayer and He shows us this by explaining one’s personal involvement in the Truth of forgiveness; Jesus says:
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” ()Matthew 6:14-15).
In this statement on forgiveness and the use of the word trespasses in a universal idea which does not what it IS that IS commonly thought. While this idea of trespass is akin to sin, this IS NOT necessarily a sin against oneself but a sin in general whereby we can read this as that we must forgive ALL who sin, ALL whose focus IS on themselves and the world. It IS in this that we are ourselves freed of our own burden and in this we should see that forgiveness IS in the way of Love and that in this expression of Love we are free. The whole idea of forgiveness is a complex one that encompasses everything from the simplicity of forgiveness as not holding an offense as a judgement against another to the fullness of understanding the plight of one’s brother, that ALL are the same and that some have greater difficulty in controlling their carnal Life. There IS a deliberate choice of words here where the Master uses trespass and in the prayer itself where the word is debt and debtor; the former can be seen as the more universal and the latter as the more personal and this IS the way that debt IS used as the Master says “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors“.
The Greek word paraptoma which is here rendered as trespass IS rendered also as fault in two places that may help our understanding as in these the more used translation ideas of sin and offense do not work as well. Paul refers to a man being “overtaken in a fault” (Galatians 6:1) and James tells us that we should “Confess your faults one to another” as we read above; in both of these the idea is more than sin as the common individual offenses; it IS trespasses; it IS overtaken by the carnal instincts and it IS confessing one’s carnal weaknesses. In Mark’s Gospel we read a similar idea attached to the reality of receiving what is asked based upon KNOWING; we read:
“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses” (Mark 11:23-26).
Here we have the same idea of forgiveness but a different context. In the Lords Prayer a man CAN NOT expect to be heard spiritually without this forgiveness which IS addeed on to the ideas of this prayer while in Mark we find that KNOWING without a doubt that one can move the mountain to which the Master adds this idea on forgiveness. Perhaps we should try to see some hidden reality here; that the sense of this KNOWING as well as the Power of the Lord’s Prayer ARE not available to the carnally focused man but these are reserved for those whose focus IS Truly on God. In the Prayer there is a lessor burden as this IS an affirmation of the Truths and perhaps here it IS by degree that a man can realize the Master’s words in his Life. However, in the words from Mark’s Gospel there IS that certainty of KNOWING which is ONLY available to the True Disciple insofar a moving the mountain or achieving “whatsoever he saith“. Here we can see that in these instances this idea of forgiveness for trespasses is required and this IS forgiveness for ALL that one may have against ANY which is far removed from specific sins and specific persons and, while not so strong as the saying in Matthew, there is the same intent and universal application. We should see as well that the forgiveness of the Father is as well the forgiveness of the God Within or, in our understanding of this idea, the looking past of the things of the world as one focuses upon the things of God; we CAN NOT do this if our own heart IS NOT clear. Can we see how that this idea of forgiveness is inserted here in these sayings so as to show that realizing the Truths of the spiritual prayer and achieving “whatsoever he saith” IS NOT the simple affair that it may appear to be but that it requires this True forgiveness which one IS ONLY able to give if one IS expressing some degree of that Love of God as the Master teaches us.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
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GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
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Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
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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.
Staying on the theme of Love we repeat again the sayings of the Apostle Paul that puts this Love into perspective.
But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-3,13 (New King James Version)Regardless of our daily theme, the underlying theme of our posts and of this entire blog is Love. In these words from Paul we should be able to see the overriding importance of Love in the Life of each of us. This is a common theme throughout the gospels and the other writings of the apostles and a theme that is not nearly understood. As in the ideas above from Sermon on the Mount and our comments on the affirmation that had been our Quote of the Day, these words from Paul impart a better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, through a True understanding of the power and the purpose of Love and we should note here as well that this expression of Love IS the Will of God and this we should see clearly in the Truth that “God IS love” (1 John 4:8).
We repeat here what we said about these verses in a prior post: Today’s Quote of the Day from the Apostle Paul is his testimony to the power of Love. After speaking at length about the gifts of the Spirit that one should desire in order to be of service to the Lord, he says plainly that Love is a more excellent way. Love in the context of these verses is not the sentimental or affectionate kind that we ordinarily think of but rather 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. This
