ON LOVE; PART DCLVII
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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).
We have been so engrossed in the Epistle of James that the Festival of GoodWill, otherwise KNOWN as the Festival of the Christ, World Invocation Day, and now the Festival of Humanity as well, has passed us by without our comments on it. In this multiplicity of names for this celebration of the Full Moon of Cancer we should see the common thread that flows; Christ IS the reality of GoodWill in the world, that attitude of Love for ALL men and that equanimity of respect for ALL men as we see ALL as we see ourselves. In the idea of the Festival of Humanity, a term that we did not see used in years past, we should see the reality of the Master’s words as He relates to us how it IS that we can Love Him; He says in a parable that He relates to himself:
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 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 25:31-40).
While many see this parable or this story ONLY in the eschatological view of “When the Son of man shall come in his glory” and the specific ideas that the Master elucidates, the greater message IS found His last words above which ARE the Truth for ALL men regardless of their perspective on the rest of these words. We should ever remember that Jesus’ parables are intended to cover and hide some of the essential Truths from the man whose focus is upon his self and the things of the self in the world, but here we should see that His intent IS actually hidden in plain sight. And the message IS GoodWill and the message IS Humanity as the objective of that GoodWill and perhaps the most hidden part of this IS found in the Truth of Love, that this idea of caring for ones brother IS and MUST become a Life attitude for ALL who Truly desire the Kingdom of God. We should understand that there IS NO specific reference to who ARE among the “one of the least of these my brethren“, the the intent IS not that one should seek out the hungry or the thirsty, nor should one look for the stranger, the naked or the sick, nor should one think of prisoners as this IS commonly understood. The hidden idea in ALL of this IS the realty of the Master’s words on Love as we see above in the Great Commandment and as we have seen in the reality of James’ thoughts on the “royal law“.
In the Truth of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” ALL of these ideas that come to mind regarding humanity ARE in play and this is easily seen if one can imagine the reality of such Love which James puts into a yet clearer perspective for us as he tells us that in this Love there IS NO “respect to persons” (James 2:9). In both the words of the Master and of James IS the reality of Love for ALL and in this Love comes the understanding that we ARE ALL the same, Souls expressing Life and consciousness through a body and a personality in this world. In this view, the tolerance that we would show for any one person should be shown for ALL men, and this IS the same as the tolerance that one would want shown to himself in even his own worst times. In this ALL we are reminded as well of a song from the late John Lennon, a man who is reviled by some in the church and misunderstood by many. While it was not our intent, we will look a bit deeper at this song as it relates to our ideas on this Festival of GoodWill and of Humanity, this Festival of the Christ. Lennon’s lyrics for the song Imagine are:
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
There IS nothing by beauty and Truth in these words; a beauty and a Truth that is unseen by so many who claim to be religious and who DO NOT see the reality in the Master’s words on Love. Holding on to the doctrinal presentations of heaven and hell, presentations that ARE NOT supported by scripture, some see an atheistic tone in the first sections and many see this tone as carried throughout. But what IS the reality of Lennon’s words here as he asks us to imagine?
First that there IS NO heaven, not the reality the Kingdom of God as this really means in scripture but the common understanding of this as some place where the ‘good’ Christian will go after death or after the Second Coming of the Lord as some may count this. In the reality of the Master’s words we can find no heaven above; nor can we find a hell below. We can however find these ideas as a state of being when we can understand Jesus words that tell us that “the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Spiritually speaking, a man’s focus IS either on the evil or the good and it IS in this context that heaven and hell are best seen as both exist ONLY in relation to one’s Life here in this world. From the common view there IS great separation formed by the many religions who recognize these ideas, the many who separate themselves from whosoever they may consider as evil while they themselves have many skeletons in their own closets; these may be different skeletons but this should be seen in the light of James’ words saying “whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). If we can see the overall goodness in Lennon’s words then we can see this same goodness in the closing line of this first section as we “Imagine all the people Living for today”, living for the good that they can DO today.
Similarly we should try to understand this idea of countries and of religions as Lennon presents this in the second section. The sense of both country and of religion serve to divide the ONE World, ONE Humanity and ONE God into the sub parts that can meet the understanding that IS given these ideas by the world of men and NOT by the Truth of the Unity of God. Countries and patriotism are a call to war and have always been as men fight over boundaries, and over superiority; they fight over philosophies and they fight over religion; and they take sides and support those of like mind to themselves. And this is done by the few whose sense of these separation is excited by the times and it IS these few who drag into conflict many millions of men, both the willing participants and the unwilling and who count the innocent as ‘collateral damage’. And so the sentiment, if there ARE NO countries and NO religions, there will be NO wars, and, it is precisely this effect that so many in the church fight against. Our own reality in this IS that there IS ONLY ONE religion and that is Truth and there IS ONLY ONE Truth. While so many lay claim to that Truth, conflicts and wars continue in its name. But the ultimate Truth IS unifying and NOT separative, the ultimate Truth IS found in Peace and in understanding and in mutual respect for the customs and the ways of others. There IS a Great Affinity between Love and Truth and in both ARE Wisdom. So we are asked again to imagine as Lennon closes the second section saying: “Imagine all the people Living life in peace”.
After the chorus where Lennon invites ALL to join in the activity of seeking Peace and Love in the natural unity of the One Humanity, he presents the third section which has the essence of True religion behind his theme. In the idea of NO possessions we should try to see the freedom that this idea offers; not that a man should be bereft of ALL things but rather that he will NOT spend his time and his energy and his attention on achieving such possessions. This IS a driving force in the world and one that IS spoken of by the Master and His apostles. Jesus tells us about the treasures of one’s heart, the struggle between God and mammon as the controlling force in the Life of man and he tells us that we should “take no thought” for the things of the world but should first seek spiritual reality in which ALL things ARE considered. We can look at the Master’s words regarding these ideas as regarding possessions and wealth only, but the greater reality IS that ALL things that take our attention are included, ALL thoughts and attitudes that keep a man bound to the things of the world. Jesus tells us:
“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. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek: ) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:19-34)
In this steady stream of words from the Master ALL things that relate a man to the world and to Life in the world are covered and in this we should try to see the totality of what Lennon is offering: can we imagine living a Life according to these words from the Master? Can we imagine our focus being on the things of God; can we imagine seeing ONLY the Truth of Love, of NOT serving the personality’s whims and wishes but rather serving the things of God; and, can we imagine NOT spending our time and energy thinking about the things of the world and one’s own place in the world? In ALL of these we should keep in mind the reality of Life in this world, that we DO NOT KNOW the time of our own demise and here we should try to see this in the way that James frames for us saying:
“Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say , If the Lord will, we shall live , and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:13-17).
This IS the reality of possessions as a complete thought: to have them IS to gain them and to gain them IS to spend one’s focus upon those things, those thoughts and those attitudes of the world. In the next thought we should see the expanded idea as well; while Lennon seems to be relating possessions to these ideas of greed and hunger, and there certainly IS a link here, the greater idea IS that when one, or many and even countries and religions, IS in control of much, there IS ever a sense of greed and in the reality of the ways of the world this greed results in the dynamic of the haves and the have nots. And this is the reality of the parable that we have above, that in the most basic ideas of Love and GoodWill, the haves willingly give to the have nots, NOT ONLY of their abundance in some calculated idea of percentage, but in the reality of the Kingdom of God where the idea of possessions IS found in one’s greatness of serving.
Then, in this Festival of GoodWill, of Humanity and of the Christ we should be able to see Lennon’s idea of brotherhood, of the “brotherhood of man”, as in this IS the essence of the “royal law” in which there IS NO “respect to persons” as the Apostle James tells us. As he closes out this final section Lennon invites us to “Imagine all the people Sharing all the world” and in this we should be able to see the reality of the Master’s words regarding the Love and the giving in the thoughts and the attitudes of the man who Truly seeks God; Jesus says:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: 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 5:38-45).
In these words IS the essence of GoodWill, the Truth of the One Humanity and of Brotherhood; in this there IS NO war, there IS no religion and there IS NO inkling of that separation that we find in the carnal idea of countries. In these words from the Master there IS no holding of possessions, no greed and there IS NO hunger; there IS ONLY ONE World, ONE Humanity and ONE God and the Greater sense of Truth.
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.
