Monthly Archives: November 2014

ON LOVE; PART DCCLXXIV

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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 with our ideas on grace and the Presence of God as these are revealed to the man in the world as the Love of God offered to those whose focus IS upon the things of God. In this revelation, which comes in our own ability to heed the prompting of the Soul to the Good, the Beautiful and the True, we attain the conscious realization of this Love of God. And it IS the ever growing nature of this Love, this Presence of God in one’s Life, that IS the journey of men on the Path to that strait gate which opens into the Kingdom of God. It IS this journey that takes us “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) as the Apostle Paul frames this and in this we should see the same idea that we have from the Apostle John who tells us that “every one that loveth is born of God” and that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” which we read again in the apostle’s words below. While Paul tells us here of the actual plight of men in this world, how that they are “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20-21) by the very Plan of God, John shows us the way out of this state of illusion and glamour in which men must live and, in the combination of these ideas, we should see the nature of the journey. There IS but one Path that takes us to the Kingdom of God and this IS the Path that IS shown us by the Master who tells us of thosee who “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven“; that it IS these who “shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). In the reality of the words of the Master and His apostles we should be able to string these ideas together and this IS likely the combined intent of the writers whose words are ofttimes couched in parabolic language and in mysteries that ARE ONLY discerned by those who can Truly see the Way.

It IS in this light that we should try to understand the ideas presented by the Master regarding this plight of men in this world where vanity reigns and illusion and glamour color even the hearts of many who purport to KNOW but who yet fail to DO. As Jesus tells us that “this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15), we should see that He IS NOT speaking ONLY about the Jews who DO NOT believe. The Master IS rather talking about ALL men in this world who ARE NOT DOERS; He IS speaking to ALL who ARE NOT His disciples and, in this word we should see those who ARE with Him and ARE His True followers as these words follow upon this exchange:

“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive” (Matthew 13:10-14).

These words and the words above about the spiritual blindness of the people ARE spoken to His disciples, men who had forsaken ALL to follow Him and who have become DOERS in this world of men; it IS to these True followers that He says “blessed are your eyes, for they see : and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Matthew 13:16-17). While many may believe that they ARE among these blessed who see and hear, the reality IS NOT found in that simplicity but in the reality that they perceive, understand and KNOW the Truth of the Master’s words. It IS this self centered carnal thought and the idea that men have achieved their salvation by any means short of keeping His words, that has plagued Christianity and most every religion and that continues to DO so. It IS in the reality of keeping His words, as we read in the Master’s own words, that brings the Presence of God into one’s Life and while John tells us that “his commandments are not grievous“, the Master shows us that they ARE sore difficult of perform. Both ideas ARE of course right; they ARE not grievous but, at the same time, it takes that act of Repentance, that decision to change, in order to DO so. In the Master’s words saying “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24) we have the picture of the difficulty and this IS NOT because the way IS grievous but rather because men DO NOT choose to leave behind those things that must be left for the Kingdom of God and for discipleship. And this IS where we left off in the last essay, with the words of the Master as offered by Luke and Matthew regarding the reality of discipleship. While we related these in an effort to show the Truth of the context of the Greek word miseo which IS rendered as hate, the deeper reality IS that this IS the cost of discipleship and access to the True spiritual discernment that comes in His Presence.

Again, Paul shows us the plight of men in this world in those words to the Romans while John shows us the reality of Love and of keeping His words as the way to escape this plight and to “overcometh the world“. In both, in the deliverance from “from the bondage of corruption” and in overcoming the ways of the world, there IS the reality of the fullness of discipleship and, as we consider that both apostles ARE speaking to men who can see and understand this dichotomy of carnal living and spiritual living, we should be able to see that they ARE showing forth the fullness of this endeavor. In the Master’s words above however we see the idea of striving, of working toward that goal of the Kingdom of God and of discipleship, and we should remember how that these ideas are intimately tied together by the Master’s words on DOING. Above we see keeping His words as the gateway to the Kingdom and in John’s Gospel we see the reality of keeping His words as the gateway to discipleship as Jesus tells us “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31). It IS in the relationship of grace and His Presence that we come to the realizations of Truth through our ability to KNOW and this IS the reality of spiritual discernment; this IS that place where men can “see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart” and, according to the Master’s words, this place IS ONLY found in the Truth of our striving to keep His words. We read His words on this Presence as He speaks to His Eleven saying:

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).

We have been using the complete idea including the Apostle Judas’ question over the last several posts and we DO so to show that these ARE difficult ideas to understand, that there must be some degree of discernment, which IS the product of His Presence, in order for a man to Truly understand Jesus’ intent. And we should see the relationship here between the Master’s showing us that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” and the reality of the DOING “the will of my Father which is in heaven“; in this we have the further relationship between the Kingdom of God and the Presence of God in one’s Life. We should see as well that while keeping His words IS the gateway to the Kingdom and to His Presence, the idea of keeping His words as a man in the world without his focus upon the things of God IS NOT the deeper reality of the teaching of the Master; and it IS this that the Apostle Paul emphasizes in His many words regarding keeping the law. In the end, the law must be kept however and this IS the reality of the Master’s words as well as the right discernment of the apostle’s which IS made clear in so many of his other sayings. This IS made clear in these words from John as well where we read of Love and keeping His commandments as the Truth of Love for God and, again, we must see that keeping His words IS inclusive of the reality of Love for ALL men; that without this Love it IS NOT possible to Love God. We read again:

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect , that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we now that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 4:7-5:5).

In this admixture of ideas on Love for God, the Love of God as His Presence, and keeping His commandments, there IS the reality of spiritual Life and of attaining the Kingdom of God which IS found in the reality of overcoming the world. In this we should understand the reality of measure, the reality that it IS by degree that we come to the fullness of discipleship and to being “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God“. And it IS the fullness of this that we should see in the apostle’s words saying “whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (1 John 3:17). While this may be difficult for the man who Truly seeks God and nearly impossible to the man whose focus IS on him self and the interests of the self in the world, the reality IS that this IS the state of perception in the fullness of discipleship and a state of Truth that IS seen by far too few. And this IS the depth of the message that the Apostle John offers us, a message that IS largely about our expression of Love in the world. It IS this expression that comes in the Truth of the Presence of God in one’s Life and it IS in His Presence that we find ourselves able to keep His words. And while so many men today claim to have the Presence of God in their lives, the reality IS that this Presence IS ONLY afforded to those who Love Him, which IS those who keep His words. There IS NO safe harbor from this responsibility in the world of men and there IS NO way to find the Truth as one focuses upon the interests of the self in this world. It is this reality that we find in that selection of ideas from the Master and His apostles regarding this dichotomy of focus, this separation of the things of the world from the things of God. In the Master’s words we find the choice between God and mammon and we find that one’s focus must be on the “treasures in heaven” over the things of the world; in the apostles words we find these ideas which we repeat:

• The Apostle John tells us: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:5).
• The Apostle James tells us: “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” (James 4:4).
• The Apostle Paul tells us: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
• The Apostle Paul also tells us: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
• The Apostle Peter tells us: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

It IS unfortunate that this reality IS NOT seen by so many who Truly desire to pursue spiritual Life as the doctrinal approach DOES NOT see this separation of carnal focus and spiritual endeavor and many teach that in following a specific doctrine one will receive carnal benefits.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

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