ON LOVE; PART CMXV
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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).
We ended the last essay with the Parable of the Sower from the Master’s explanation of this to His disciples who DID NOT see the meaning of His original words. In this original parable Jesus words ARE intentionally vague as typically His meanings are hard to find in most ALL of His parables. The relationship here however IS the same as the relationship in most ALL of them….He tells a story of carnal significance to show a spiritual Truth. When the spiritual nature of the His parables IS sought out, it IS significantly easier to see the Master’s intent as ALL of His words have a spiritual import; this IS generally missed by those who try to see their meaning according to the ways this world. Still today there ARE many of His parables that are interpreted in such a carnal fashion rather that with spiritual discernment and this reality reaches far beyond those words that Jesus shares with us which we understand as parables; this reality stretches thorough ALL of His sayings. And, as we have discussed in the past, there IS evermore to see and learn from His words as one’s focus upon the things of God intensifies and a man’s ability to discern such spiritual things increases.
And this IS the meaning that should be applied to the Apostle Paul’s words regarding discernment; that “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). In this saying we can find much Truth regarding men’s understanding of spiritual ideas as we come to recognize the meaning of “the natural man” and see how that it IS in the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world that men come to believe that they have moved past this stage and that they have the necessary spiritual discernment to see the greater Truth. When this idea of “the natural man” IS seen from a doctrinal perspective, we find that many who follow their own doctrines as that they ARE the Truth of the Master’s words believe that they have such spiritual discernment. However, when the reality of spiritual focus IS applied, the reality of keeping His words, there ARE few who Truly have such discernment. And this IS the nature of men’s illusion and the resultant glamour; this IS the vanity that the apostle speaks of saying “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same“; and this IS plight of the Pharisee and the other Jewish religious rulers that we have been referencing in recent posts.
These ideas of illusion and glamour surround ALL men and while the ideas here reference only spiritual illusions and glamour, we should understand that these Life effects on the “the natural man” reach out into ALL aspects of Life. It IS this illusion and glamour, this vanity, that men must escape from as we read in the fullness of Paul’s saying that: “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in expectation hope, that Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). When we can understand the idea of vanity as Vincent shows us, as: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4, we can then see how that it IS in illusion that men fail to see the spiritual Truths over the carnal noise of this world. And this noise IS worldly living and the needs and desires of the carnal man; it IS this that the Apostle Peter speaks of saying: “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). Here in Peter’s words we should see the same sense of illusion at play as so many believe that they ARE “partakers of the divine nature” while they ARE still far from the KEY to spiritual reality….keeping His words. It IS this KEY that should be seen and understood as the True nature and intent of the Parable of the Sower which we repeat again:
“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:11-15).
Save for the references to things of this world, references to “the way side“, “the rock“, thorns and “the good ground“, the ideas here ARE spiritual and ARE concerned ONLY with the reality of the man who will keep His words and, in so DOING, will “bring forth fruit“. This IS clear and it IS also clear to everyman that he IS or that He IS NOT the “the good ground” when this IS viewed through “an honest and good heart“. It IS in the confusion between doctrines and reality, between the commandments of men and the Truth of the Master’s teaching, that men are deluded; it IS here in this confusion that they can see the Master’s words saying “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” and NOT see how that this applies to them. It IS here in this illusion that men DO NOT see the reality of the Apostle James’ words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22) and it IS here that men DO NOT see the import of the Master’s encounter with the rich young man. The young man testifies that he has lived according to his understanding of the doctrines and the traditions of the Jews but he fails to see the deeper ideas that ARE embedded in the Master’s words as He clarifies the commandments of God for us ALL.
And the Buddha speaks to us in this same tone regarding illusion and glamour; these ARE the ties that bind men to the world. The Buddha says: “Mistaking the false for the true, and the true for the false, you overlook the heart and fill yourself with desire. See the false as false, the true as true. look into your heart“. It IS in the Truth of reflection, looking into one’s own heart, that we see clearly our own motivations and realities and this the Buddha frames for us saying “An unreflecting mind is a poor roof. Passion, like the rain, floods the house. But if the roof is strong, there is shelter” (Dhammapada; on Choices). This IS ever the plight of men: they ARE in this world of illusion and glamour and CAN NOT see their state through these effects of Life in form and, when they DO have the prompting to look deeper into the Truth, they shy away because of what they see….they go back to the comfort of their illusions. There IS however always the spiritual way, the way to the Kingdom and to the realization of the Presence of God, which IS found in the KEY of keeping His words and this the Buddha speaks on as well; we read:
“Do not live in the world, In distraction and false dreams. Outside the dharma. Arise and watch. Follow the way joyfully through this world and beyond. Follow the way of virtue. Follow the way joyfully Through this world and on beyond! For consider the world – A bubble, a mirage. See the world as it is, And death shall overlook you. Come, consider the world, A painted chariot for kings, A trap for fools. But he who sees goes free. As the moon slips from behind a cloud And shines, So the master comes out from behind his ignorance And shines. The world is in darkness. How few have eyes to see! How few the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven!” (Dhammapada; on The World).
When we can understand the idea of the dharma, that this IS the same as His words in our Christian world, and understand that to be outside of His word IS to live according to “the corruption that is in the world through lust“, then we can better understand the concept of sin and begin to see through the illusion, the “false dreams” that motivate men. And this IS NOT unlike the ideas that Jesus presents to us in His own depiction of “the birds who escape the net and fly to heaven!” which IS His way to show men the Way to the Kingdom of God; while the words may be different, the inner Truth IS ever the same for ALL men. The Master shows us the Way rather clearly in His words which we repeat again and He shows us as well how that men delude themselves by NOT being “doers of the word“; we read:
“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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).
Here, much like the distorted view of so many men who believe that they ARE “the good ground” while KNOWING that they DO NOT “in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience“; there IS the equally distorted view that they ARE NOT among those who call upon the Master as “Lord, Lord” yet DO NOT keep His words. This IS the same reality that we should see in Jesus’ words from the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John which we have spent much time on. It IS in these words that we find the most direct reality of keeping His words as He ties this to that central Christian idea of Loving God and Loving Jesus. Here we see that such Love IS only True of one who IS keeping His words; we read again:
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 again we find the Master’s words at odds with the doctrines of men which teach that Loving God IS only possible through the faith and belief of doctrines. Here again IS the illusion and the glamour as the doctrines that supplant the Master’s own words become the cornerstone of faith and blind men to the Truth of keeping His words in favor of the more convenient ways of Life that those doctrines embrace. Can we see here how that the Truth of keeping His words, the Truth of Loving ALL men without respect to any, the Truth of “take no thought for your life” and one’s focus upon “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:25, 20), and the Truth of “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath , he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33), ARE His words that we should keep. Can we understand that in NOT seeing the reality of such things in one’s quest for spiritual reality IS the essence of Paul’s words that we begin our essay with; that these things “are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned“.
So then this IS the Master’s point again and again: that we keep His words. We should understand here that ALL things that He says by way of teaching and instruction ARE His words and, according to our sayings above these ARE the words of God. Here again Jesus could NOT be any clearer than to say “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“. In the Truth of attaining to one’s own spiritual reality there IS NO safe harbor in doctrines that dilute, confound and change His words and it IS unfortunate that the illusion and the glamour of the world of men prevent so many from seeing just how that this IS DONE.
When men can understand that Life in this world is the cause and the effect of illusion and glamour and that in the temporal nature of our existence here there IS NO spiritual accomplishment except in the Master’s words; that whatsoever we can DO as the fruit of our Earthly existence IS ALL that we can take away. It IS with this in mind that we should read Solomon’s Wisdom saying “As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came , so shall he go : and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?” (Ecclesiastes 5:15-16). This IS our reality as men in the world and as we strive to keep His words we build upon our spiritual reality those “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20).
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.
Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions.
Like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Today’s Quote of the Day is from the Dhammapada (on JOY)5; a collection of the sayings of the Buddha. These words and ideas ARE much the same as those we discuss in our In the Words of Jesus essays. And what is this freedom but the release of our hearts and minds from loving this life in this world and attaining the Presence of God. This word Joy has many meanings as DOES the idea of Love, but in the context that it IS used here we should see the idea that Joy IS Love, Joy IS health, Joy IS peace and that Joy IS without the burdens placed on a man by the illusion and the glamour of the ways of the world. We should try to see that it IS the antithesis of these ideas in hate, in affliction and in troubles that ARE among the possessions of the carnal man, that ARE among the “evil treasure of his heart” (Luke 6:45) according to the Master.
And it IS in the second stanza above that we see the basic psychic ideas that can eliminate the harm caused by such “evil treasure” as a man looks past himself and at the welfare of others which IS the greater reality of Love as the Master teaches us. It IS in losing such possessions, losing such carnal thoughts and attitudes, that one can truly find the “joy of freedom“….this IS the Truth of deliverance.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 5 The Dhammapada Translated by Thomas Byrom
