ON LOVE; PART DCCCIX
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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. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God
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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 few essays we have been exploring the words of the Master and His apostles that depict for us the dichotomy between the things of God and those things of the world that should be most clearly seen as contrary to the Ways and the things God. We should try to see here that in the Ways and the things of God we have the greater reality of His words and that to keep His words IS to be cognizant of and in accord with the realities that Jesus expresses and that His apostles affirm and amplify. This IS the reality of the Master’s words in our selection from the fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel saying “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” as He instructs His disciples in how that they must Love and keep His commandments….especially that final idea formed in His words saying: “These things I command you, that ye love one another“. It IS this sense of commandment that we should see in most ALL things that Jesus instructs us on regardless of how that they ARE called by the writers; we should understand that ALL of what He says IS for the spiritual benefit of the hearer and IS instructional for the striving of men toward the goal of the Kingdom of God. It IS in this sense that we should understand the Master’s words from that great and ever looming rhetorical questions that asks: “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
In the corresponding saying from the Apostle Matthew we find this same reality couched in a different view; Luke shows us that it IS NOT enough to hear the Truth but that men must act upon this Truth which IS the essence of the word of God as we read in Jesu’s words that we have been carrying over for many posts. It IS in His words on the way to the Presence of God that we find that His commandments, His words, ARE the word of God, which idea He could NOT make clearer than His saying that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“. And so Matthew shows us as he gives us the Master’s words as “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21); in this we should see that it IS the totality of the words of Jesus along with ALL that can be deemed as the “will of my Father” that ARE of importance in the Life of the man who would be His disciple, the man who Truly seeks God. In all of this we should see the steady stream of reality that IS emphasized for us in Jesus’ words 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).
Here, and in the ideas above, we should understand that ALL that He says, ALL commandments and instructions, ARE His words and that men CAN NOT pick and choose which are the more important; and this IS the message that we receive from the Apostle James who tells us that “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Here too we find that the very idea of the law takes away from the totality of what the apostle Truly means which should in Truth be seen in the context offered by the Master saying: “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). And so it IS Jesus’ instructions and commandments and even His advice to the man in the world that ARE His words…..NONE ARE idle. In this we should see that His words on “God and mammon” ARE not just a caution but a spiritual rule and that the man who continues to serve the self and the self in the world DOES NOT have the Presence of God in His Life; and this regardless that he may keep many other precepts and instructions. This IS the reality of spiritual Life and while we come to this by measure, it IS in the decision to take this Path that we can begin in earnest; this decision IS Repentance.
In Repentance we have yet another word that is misconstrued and misapplied by men who see this in the more common understanding of ‘atoning’ for individual wrongs committed. The reality of Repentance IS change, it IS the decision to change the course of one’s Life from the perceived realities of worldly living to the Truth of the Master’s words which direct us and show us the “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31) as the Apostle Paul frames the Truth of Love. In Jesus rallying words at the beginning of His ministry we find “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17); it IS in this most general approach to Repentance that we should find the ultimate defining idea….that men Repent for the Kingdom of God, that they change the very course of their lives. In Repentance we have the decision to change and in Transformation we have the process of that change and both of these ARE the central points of Paul’s message that we included in those sayings on the division between the things of God and the things of the world. In the apostle’s words that we should “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), we have the idea of Repentance framed as the cessation of being conformed, the decision to change from living in accord with the rules of worldly Life to living in the Light of the Truth of the words of God. It IS in this Transformation that men can come to the fullness of keeping His words and Truly understand the intent of Jesus teachings which center upon the reality of keeping His words.
It IS the spiritual discernment that comes to us in this decision, this Repentance, that continues to grow throughout our period of Transformation and we should see this as the effective refocusing of the mind away from the worldly and onto the divine; a refocusing that has naught to do with the minds of men in he sense that this IS usually understood. The mind IS but the thinking and reasoning aspect of the personality which works out in Life according to one’s sense of focus and while this seems difficult to grasp, this can become easier when we view the Life of man as the Life of the Soul in form. It IS the Soul that brings consciousness to the form, the human animal body in this world, and it IS this consciousness that acts out its own existance through the personality which incorporates the mind and the emotions. It IS the Soul that IS “made subject to vanity” (Romans 8:20); it IS the Soul that IS lost in the illusions and the glamour of the world. And it IS the Soul, the True man and the Christ and God Within, that IS ever trying to gain control of his Life in this world through the promptings which ARE seldom heard over the clamor of daily living and the staunch positions taken based in one’s own experience and nurturing. It IS the Soul that brings a man to religion as the words of Truth are reflected in his consciousness, and, while this reflection IS according to that same experience and nurturing, there IS ever the Soul’s own hope that a greater sense of Truth can be brought to bear and to overcome the more carnal instincts.
The consciousness that IS the Soul’s presence in the Life of the form expresses what he perceives through the carnal mind and the emotions of the personality which IS a man’s point of contact with the things of the world. When the focus of this consciousness IS upon worldly things, this IS then the man’s expression. When the focus of the consciousness IS upon the things of God we have the Repentant man who IS in the process of Transformation and this man’s expression becomes evermore according to the Truth of the Master’s words which ARE the reality of divine Life as this IS KNOWN by the Soul which IS the man’s point of contact with the things of God. We should ever understand that religion as it exists in the world IS NOT a factor here and the many doctrines that ARE espoused ARE but carnal interpretations of divine thoughts, interpretations that serve more the man of the world than his relationship with the Truth and with God. It IS in this sense of vanity and of illusion and glamour that we must try to understand the black and white nature of the teachings of scripture. We should remember however that while so much IS painted for us in this sense of black and white, that this IS in regard to the end point of the fullness of living in accord with the Principals of Truth and Love and that up to this point of fullness men can and DO experience some measure of grace, some measure of the Presence of God in their lives. It IS this measure that grows in men’s Transformation, and which begins in earnest in Repentance.
We should try to see in ALL of this the idea that it IS the consciousness that IS focused upon the things of the world that feeds the minds and the emotions of men and that in the apostle’s message of changing the mind, we must first change this focus and thereby feed the mind and the emotions with the Truth, with ALL that IS the “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God“. It IS in this that we can come to express the True fruit of the Spirit as our minds ARE fed with the contents of a consciousness that IS focused upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True….a consciousness that IS focused upon the things of God. In this rather practical view of the realities of spiritual Life we have a picture of the struggle and the reality of the torn conscience which may hear the prompting of the Soul but lack the wherewithal to act based in the uncertainty of the new, better and Repentant way. There IS NO teaching of the straightforward Truth that can help the man to see; there IS only experience and nurturing and the forces of worldly living that keep him in that state of uncertainty where he may grasp at the doctrinal teachings of others that perhaps seem like the better path. The Truth however DOES exist; it exists in the world’s scriptures according to the various cultures and times and it exists in the most inclusive teachings of the Master and, when one can escape the cauldron of conflicting doctrines and begin to sense the deeper Truths in His words, the Path to Truth can be found.
This IS Jesus’ message in the words we have above on keeping His words and on Love and this IS the Master’s message from our selection below from the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John. There IS NO ambiguity here yet much of the force of His words IS diluted by doctrines that take misinterpretations of Paul’s words and substitute them for Jesus’ own precepts. Many people who DO NOT keep His words believe that they have the Presence of God yet His words clearly show us that it IS in keeping His words that this Presence comes. Many who DO NOT keep His words believe that they have His Love and the Love of God, that they abide in His Love, while His words clearly tell us that this abiding IS dependent upon keeping His words. Likewise many believe that they are counted among the friends of Jesus based in some affirmation or ritual or based in their sense of faith or believing in His person, yet His own words clearly show us that there IS a criteria to this friendship….that “ye do whatsoever I command you“. When we can see and understand His own words in the Light of our own Souls and away from the clever interpretations of men, we can then see the greater Truth and our own place in the divine scheme. And we can understand as well the force and the Power of Love as the single tool that we ALL have at our command, a tool that in a single word shows us the totality of keeping His words.
We repeat again our current selection and then the balance of the fifteenth chapter which should serve to show us that as He did according to the precepts of God, so His apostles, and through them us, should DO likewise…that it IS in our example that men will see Christ; we read:
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another” (John 15:10-17).
“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did , they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come , whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness , because ye have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:18-27)
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.
Repeating a Quote of the Day from the past that has some significance in relation to what we are discussing here, that the Kingdom of God and therefore God is within us ALL and that it IS His Presence which a man realizes by measure as he begins his journey to the Kingdom of God. Here Lord Tennyson poetically tells us just how close God Truly IS and how it is that we touch Him
Speak to Him, thou, for He hears,
and Spirit with Spirit can meet
Closer is He than breathing,
and nearer than hands and feet.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809–1892)
From the poem The Higher Pantheism which puts forth the authors spiritual belief. Whether we agree with him or not, the quote if spiritually perfect for all of Christianity as well as any other world religion.
The thought behind the idea above IS NOT unlike that which we have been carrying as our Quote of the Day for many essays; It IS in the closeness that Lord Tennyson shows us that we should see the idea that “God dwells in the inner part of every man” which we read in the previous Quote of the Day. For us this saying and the previous one show us the closeness of the spiritual self to the Father and then too the closeness of the spiritual self with the personality of man. Men may like to think of God as something outside and above but the reality, as we have seen in so many of the sayings of the Master, is that God is with us and in us and we need only to let ourselves be drawn and to focus upon Him. And, if we can use these words from the Gospel of Thomas here we can perhaps see much: “When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father“
