ON LOVE; PART DCXLII
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GoodWill IS Love in Action
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “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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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.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12)
In the last essay we continued our discussion on the Apostle James’ words regarding patience, which we understand as the patience of the aspirant and the disciple who IS working through his own difficulties with the temptation to focus upon things of the world. We understand this as an active, working patience which works as the aspirant’s and the disciple’s continued striving toward the his goal of ending the duality in which he lives which gives temptation its foothold in his Life. We have also looked at this idea of patience as it IS followed by the apostle’s words regarding the swearing of oaths where we find the uniqueness of James’ intent IS to tell the man to whom he writes that this idea of swearing and promising oneself or others that one would do such and such, against some idea for which one has no control, IS wrong and that the reality IS that one’s word must be his bond and Truth his mantle. Our thoughts here ARE that there IS some basis in James’ day to dissuade men, men who are striving and who somewhat KNOW the reality of their own way, from promising such and such against their own failures to understand the reality of temptation and the duty of patience.
Perhaps we can best see the ideas here from the most simple perspective of the man who is tempted to have or to do a thing while KNOWING that whatsoever it IS, it IS NOT in his best spiritual interests but IS a distraction that can take him back into the ways of the world. In the reality that there IS NO wrong or right in this thing we find this man promising God or his own God Within, depending on his own understanding, that if he can DO this thing he will do some other progressively spiritual thing as well and this then becomes his oath. Now this IS but a spiritually oriented example of the innumerable ways that this can work out in any individual Life. Here we can see James’ words as he says that this should NOT be done and here we can recollect the Master’s words that tell us that whatsoever promise we may make is futile as we have NO control over our own ability or our own time to accomplish it. The better way then in the apostles instructions IS that we exhibit this patience, that we understand the role of temptation and understand that to succumb IS NOT the end and that one’s very attempts at resistance will help him for tomorrow. We should note also that in the reality of temptation IS the reality of our own place in the scheme of things, our own affliction if you will in our world of duality which IS the natural state of the aspirant and the disciple and the crucible through which he IS refined.
Most ALL of the ideas presented by the apostle are the result of the temptation of a man who strives and who sees with a sort of double vision and we should KNOW by our own experience that each view seems to be ever so real and in each we can convince ourselves of the merits in both directions, the spiritual and the carnal. It IS with this in mind that we should understand James’ words on Wisdom and on what IS that Wisdom from above; it IS in his overall instruction, tied together as a series of thoughts, that we should see the faults that he shows us as the perils that face a man…not the only ones but perhaps the more important. We should see and understand how that one can be deceived by NOT being a DOER of His words and how that NOT Loving as the Master teaches us, universally and without “respect to persons” IS sin which keeps us tied to the carnal aspects of Life in the world. We should KNOW from his words that to say one has faith but to NOT DO the works of that faith IS not True faith but deception as well; and we should understand that it IS necessary for our spiritual progress to control our expression, our tongue as James’ tells us, and that we should teach the Truth, and NOT whatsoever suits us, through our expression to the world.
James tells us as well about the inner struggle that we are now discussing as this relates to our understanding of the way of this Life in duality and how that we must understand that “a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). He tells us that armed with this understanding that we should NOT make plans and schemes for our lives in the world but should take our opportunity to work out our own spiritual reality. And then he warns us again of the perils of succumbing to the things of the world and how that ALL that seems to come as its benefits will actually “be a witness against you” (James 5:3); that is a witness in one’s own heart that he “knoweth to do good, and doeth it not” (James 4:17). And throughout his epistle James DOES give us the right view of sin, that it IS NOT the gross offenses ONLY but IS ALL that is opposed to the ways of God, ALL that is NOT what we should see as Good. James’ teaching, while it IS addressed to the aspirant and the disciple, IS the Truth of the way of Life for any man who seeks God and IS in our view a comprehensive series of instructions, interspersed with words of encouragement and hope, that IS intended to keep the man who strives on the right Path and to help those who seek to find that Path.
We have said that some believe that there IS NO cohesive message here in James’ words and that this epistle is a rather haphazard collection of independent sayings and with this we wholly disagree. Vincent tells us that: The style is sententious and antithetic; the thoughts not linked in logical connection, but massed in groups of short sentences, like the proverbial sayings of the Jews; with which class of literature the writer was evidently familiar 4. It IS likely a matter of perspective and of understanding the nature of James’ audience that shows us the cohesive nature of the apostle’s words, that there is not only a logical connection but that there is also a logical sequence in his instructions. These same ideas are offered by the Apostle Paul in his many epistles and in both we should see the role of discipleship training and succinct instructions on the True nature of the man who IS on the Path to the Kingdom of God. James IS blunt and straightforward and his style lends less to the propensity for its being misused and misunderstood as we find in Paul’s many words. At the same time however James’ work IS NOT held in same esteem by the organized church and this IS likely for the same reasons; his blunt and his straightforward and seemingly accusative words.
Returning to our current topic which we began above, the apostle takes us from his ideas on patience and its use, to telling us to refrain from the practice of swearing oaths as a substitute or even an adjunct to our right understanding of the work of patience, an understanding that looks past whatsoever shortcomings as the man continues steadfast in his work. From here James gives us the idea of prayer, that our continued communion with our Inner self, our continued focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, IS our best way to overcome this affliction that we have in the duality of the Life of the aspirant and the disciple of the Lord. We have discussed this idea of prayer in the last few posts and we should be able to see that the common understanding DOES NOT represent the True idea of just what prayer IS; it has become a way of asking for intercession from Our God who DOES NOT intercede and it has become a way of focusing one’s attention upon those things that one may want in the world instead of upon the very things of the God to whom the prayers ARE made. If we can try to see that True prayer is more of a communion with God and the God Within and a way of fixing one’s focus upon Him and the reality of His words, we will have a much clearer idea of the meaning of the Master and His apostles in virtually every occurrence of the word. We will speak more on prayer further on as the apostle DOES bring up this subject again. In our current sayings we then come upon the idea of being merry, of joy, and here repeat our selection from James’ Epistle which covers our thoughts above as we continue:
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold , the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient ; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. 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” (James 5:7-15).
On this idea of being merry there IS again much misunderstanding as we could see in John Gill’s 8 ideas from the last essay. Mr. Gill sees the merriment in carnal achievements and prosperity and sees this idea from James as that one should sing psalms for joy over what one has achieved and accumulated. Our view here was similar but opposite of Mr. Gill’s ideas as we DO see the carnal aspect as bringing merriment but we also see that the singing of psalms IS intended to dispel such joy as one would have over worldly gain and benefit. James tells us to sing psalms so that we may re-focus our thoughts on the things of God. We ended yesterday by relating this idea of merriment and singing psalms with the apostle’s earlier words which today we will look at in their context:
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:4:10).
In the beginning thoughts here regarding the idea that “friendship of the world is enmity with God” we have a continuation of the previous ideas regarding that internal conflict of the man who lives in the duality of the aspirant and the disciple and here we should understand that the depth of this duality IS much more than the idea of doing ‘bad’ things ONLY; it reaches out to ALL carnal endeavor. James takes the opportunity here to show the opposite side of carnal behavior in the attitude of being humble as he encourages the reader to look past the worldly comforts and pleasures that he may yet seek and to “submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you“. Then he instructs us to try to see the Truth of our own double mindedness, our own duality, and seek the Truth of the single minded focus of the accomplished disciple. How to DO this James tells us next and we should see his words in relation to what it IS that still holds us in the world, what tempts us and takes away our focus; he tells us that in these things we should be “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep” which IS to understand the error of our ways. It IS our carnal focus and our ways in the world that afflict us and in these words we are told to feel this way and to have NO joy in whatsoever we are doing.
While we discuss this point in In the Words of Jesus part 1032, we repeat this here for its relationship to our current idea which, while it may seen to be opposite, IS the same thought and in the same context. In this word rendered as “be afflicted” we found the more understandable meaning of feeling misery, and we should note that this IS a different Greek word than we have in our current saying that asks if one IS afflicted. This second Greek word is more related to suffering but he underlying idea IS the same and both are words that are rather unique to James’ writing although this one IS used by Paul in his second letter to Timothy where it is used three times and rendered differently in each: as “endure hardness“, “suffer trouble” and “endure afflictions“. In ALL of these the intent should be rather clear and in James’ use we should be able to see the relationship to feeling misery. Here in our current saying we are asked if we are feeling the effect of suffering as we read “Is any among you afflicted” and then in the same regard the question IS posed that “Is any merry“; it IS here that we must see the context and understand from the previous words that such affliction, such a feeling of misery, should bring mourning and weeping and NOT Joy and singing as this IS commonly understood.
We should try to see here how that the apostle gives us this Truth in a way that IS NOT easily understood by the man who would view this as an isolated saying or one who would see the whole of the idea from a carnal perspective. This and so many of James’ other words must be seen spiritually thus giving yet more force to Paul’s words that explain this as he says: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14); ponder on this. And so we end today in the same way that we ended in the last essay: with the idea that this instruction to “sing psalms” IS NOT because we are merry and joyful at obtaining some worldly benefit, the instruction to “sing psalms” IS to take our attention away from the idea of worldly benefit and to put our focus back onto the things of God. This IS a most misunderstood verse.
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 |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Chris.t |
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 Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse those forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.
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.
The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
