ON LOVE; PART DCCVIII
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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 grace and how that this IS the factor in the Life of a disciple that gives him by measure the the Power of the Soul , the God and Christ Within, in his individual Life. Grace can be seen then as the Light of the Soul and we should remember here that the word that we use to render this in English IS not an exact representation of the intent and the thought behind the Greek word charis. It is in the perspective of the English word, and likely other languages as well, that the idea of grace has taken on the nebulous ideas of a gift from God which IS largely unexplained. Over the many posts that we have written on this subject, the idea that we have used in defining grace or charis has held and this includes in the Apostle Paul’s attempt to explain the idea of the grace as the gift of God. Grace IS a gift to the Life of the man in the world and it IS a “free gift“; but these ideas need to be understood in the context of the Truth of the Godhead and NOT in the views of the doctrinal pronouncements about them. Grace IS a natural part of the Life of the Soul, it IS the Souls Power of Love and, from the perspective of the man in form, grace IS free and it IS a gift to the man who can focus upon the things of God. Perhaps it IS better to see this idea of gift in the greater idea of reward, of wages if you will, for this same action, for a man’s focus upon the things of God.
We find this idea of reward by looking at the Master’s words in the Sermon on the Mount and comparing the idea presented by Matthew to the same idea as it is presented by Luke. This IS of course muddied by the doctrinal ideas used in translation but, as we have discussed, the reality can be seen in the actual Greek words that ARE used by the apostles. In regard to offering the Love that a man should offer to ALL others according to the Great Commandments at the top of our essay, Matthew gives us the Master’s words using the idea of reward; we read: “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?“. The point here IS that this type of Love, “them which love you“, IS the opposite of Love for ALL which Jesus frames as “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” (Matthew 6:46, 44). and that in the idea of reciprocal Love ONLY there IS NO reward, NO thing from God nor from the God Within. In Luke’s Gospel we have these same thoughts from the Master framed for us in terms of charis which IS rendered as thanks by the translators. In our bible library, only in the Young’s Literal and the Wycliffe Translations render charis as grace which IS the overwhelming choice of the King James translators in most ALL other uses of the word and, the idea of grace as we present can likely be found in ALL the uses of charis where another English word IS rendered. The Master’s words according to Luke tell us:
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:31-35).
In this expanded view of Luke’s version of the Master’s words we have the reality of the idea of grace, as that this IS the same reward that IS offered in Matthews version and hence our own view that these ideas ARE the same. In the reality of the word charis we should see the idea of grace and NOT thank in these ideas from Luke as it IS for the spiritual reward that men act in a spiritual manner and this IS seen rather clearly in the other ideas offered by Matthew were he uses this word reward; we read:
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:1-6).
This same tone IS repeated further on by the apostle as he tells us of the Master’s thoughts on fasting but the ideas above should suffice to show our point of reward, that it IS for the actions of the man whose focus IS spiritual and NOT for the man whose focus IS carnal. Here, there IS no reward for seeing things in a worldly view, there IS ONLY reward in acting and DOING spiritually. We should measure here the wording that Matthew uses in this regard: that “thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly“; in this we should see that the reward IS a spiritual one and in our view this reward IS that same grace that Luke speaks of above. In reprising our thoughts here on the reality of grace as the Master expresses this according to Luke and as this IS seen in the way of reward or wages according to Matthew, we ARE trying to have the right focus on this ides of grace as we go forward into the reality of the Holy Spirit. In the above selections from the gospels we should be able to see the idea that grace IS the reward from God for spiritual action and that this reward MUST come to us through our own contact with God….our own God Within which IS our own spiritual center of Truth and the ultimate reality of man.
There is one other point of note to be seen in the expanded selection from Luke above and that IS in regard to the Golden Rule. While framed a bit differently by Luke, the intent and the reality of these words IS the same as we find from Matthew which saying is again at the top of our essay. The idea as it IS presented here: “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” IS seen by many to be a thing to do reciprocally and this same IS understood from Matthew’s version. The reality however is that the very context of this in Luke’s Gospel destroys any such idea of reciprocity as we are told to NOT ONLY Love them that Love us….to DO so IS reciprocal. We are told that this idea of reciprocal should be seen as that: This concept describes a “reciprocal”, or “two-way”, relationship between one’s self and others that involves both sides equally, and in a mutual fashion**, but this IS NOT the idea that IS presented by Luke above where there IS no “two-way” relationship at ALL; spiritually we are to Love ALL for the sake of Love ONLY. It IS likely in the very idea of reciprocity that the Golden Rule has lost its lustre in the world of men; the reality of this IS offered to us by Emmet Fox in his Fifteen Points; repeating Mr. Fox’s words:
I PRACTICE, the Golden Rule of Jesus instead of merely admiring it. He said, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” The important point about the Golden Rule is that I am to practice it whether the other fellow does so or not ***.
The reality of Mr. Fox’s idea here is that this IS intended to contradict the common understanding of the Golden Rule which has come to actually be called as the ethic of reciprocity, a name that had deteriorated the Master’s intent. This intent, which can clearly be seen in our selection from Luke’s Gospel above, IS lost in the wranglings of doctrines and the lack of sound teaching on the reality of Love. This IS, like most ALL Truly spiritual concepts, a very personal enterprise and one that IS NOT generally seen in the actions of men in the world; this IS an attitude, a spiritual attitude that comes in the grace that we receive from our spiritual focus; this IS at the same time a spiritual endeavor that engenders yet more grace in the Life of the man whose focus IS True. In ALL of this we should be able to see the reality of grace as the reward, as the Wisdom from above, and as the revelations and the realizations of divinity in our lives, which come to us as we strive toward the Kingdom and as we focus upon that goal.
In our view of grace, as the revelations and the realizations of the aspirant and the disciple in the world, we should be able to see that the reward IS NOT in any way a material thing but IS rather spiritual and that the function of this grace IS to change, to Transform if you will, the thoughts and the attitudes of the man in the world. Grace IS the Power and there is NO other Power that can com from above save ones realizing his own divine nature as a man in he world; the Power to DO the “greater works” that the Master speaks of in our selection from John’s Gospel below IS already ours as Souls, as the anointing from God which IS the Christ Within each and every man. It IS in realizing this Power that a man becomes the aspirant and the disciple and finally the perfect disciple as the Transformation of the personality progresses. It IS in the realizations and the revelations that ARE the grace, the reward for spiritual focus and action, that allow a man to KNOW by degree until such point where he can have that “faith as a grain of mustard seed” (Luke 17:6). It IS this sense of faith that IS that True KNOWING where one can “have faith, and doubt not” (Matthew 21:21); it IS this sense of faith were a man “shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass“; it IS this sense of faith and of believing that IS the Power of KNOWING, it IS this Power which IS released by ones realizations and revelations of his own divine nature that enable the man to move the mountain, to cast the sycamine tree into the sea and to “have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23).
In our words from John’s Gospel we have this same dynamic of grace as it IS released to the man “that believeth on me“; it IS to him that will come the ability to DO. we should see here that the KNOWING and the ability ARE the same idea in different terms. Jesus tells us that it IS this man who keeps His words, which is the True intent of the idea of “believeth on me“, who can fulfill the ideas that are concealed in His promise to His disciples saying “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. This is the ulitmate of grace in the Life of the disciple and we should remember here that there IS criteria for discipleship and that among these IS the reality of keeping His words. We can see this in the straightforward words of the Master saying “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31) and we can see this is the more obscure idea in our selection; His words that “If ye love me, keep my commandments“. It IS in this sense of Love that we believe on and believe in the Master, it IS in this sense of Love that we follow in His Ways; and it IS in this sense of Love that we call upon Him as Lord, Lord. We repeat our selection from John again:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:12-20).
We should understand here that it IS this idea of keeping His words which IS the paramount idea behind our word focus; that if our focus IS upon Him and His words, our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions will come to be on the things of God. It IS this focus that results in this grace, this ability to DO these “greater works“, and it IS this focus that allows us the greater abilities that come upon us as we ask for yet greater realizations and revelations as the aspirant and the disciple in the world of men. Grace then IS but a word that we are using to convey the idea of this Power from God, this Power which is the revelation and the realization of our own divinity and our own ability to DO.
Grace here can be seen as the input, the inflow of divine Power into the heart of the man in the world, into his consciousness as revelation and realization; this grace IS the ability to DO and here, just as the ideas of the Soul and the Spirit ARE One, just as the ideas of the Father and the Son ARE One and just as the ideas of God and the Christ ARE One, the ideas of grace and the Holy Spirit ARE One as well. Grace IS the input and the Holy Spirit IS the output of that same divine Power; grace IS the ability to DO divine things and the Holy Spirit IS the DOING of divine things in this world. In the reality of the Life of the aspirant and the disciple these are two inseparable parts of the One Power of God the One Power that IS God and we should try to see how that this Power IS Love. In the end these ARE but words that we are using to try to convey our vision of Truth; any word IS itself IS subject to interpretation….it IS the meaning of the word, it IS what the word represent, that ever matters.
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 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 repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- ** Wikipedia contributors. “Golden Rule.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 Aug. 2014
- *** From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc
