ON LOVE; PART CMXXVI
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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).
The reality of Love can be found in one’s full understanding of the concept of GoodWill as this IS, as we show in the banner above, Love in action. We should understand that the Master’s concept of Love IS manifold and that it reaches into EVERY part of EVERY human endeavor and that it IS when our thoughts and attitudes regarding ourselves and our relationship to others IS founded in Love that we ARE in Truth keeping His words. That this fundamental precept from the Master’s teachings goes unheeded, even unseen, by the masses of men in this world DOES NOT detract from the basic Truth of Love and, if we should read His words on His Presence as then ARE intended, we should see as well that it IS this Love for ALL men that IS the sign and the symbol of our Love for Him; this He says clearly as “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). It IS this Love that leads us to the reality of the Holy Spirit as His Presence in our lives which the Master shows us in these words that we again repeat:
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).
While the idea that to keep His commandments IS to Love as He teaches us remains rather alien to most men yet today; the reality should be seen in the totality of His words on Love. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus shows us the depth of Love and the reality of looking away from the carnal instincts of men and their sense of doctrine and when we can relate this to His closing words according to Matthew, greater insights can be gained. It IS at the conclusion of His Sermon that Jesus offers us the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders and the words to which He refers ARE these very words of the Sermon; we read:
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended , and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).
If we should look at this world of men, religious and secular, in Jesus’ context here, what would we see? Wise men or fools? If we should look at the picture that IS painted by our history of aggression and war and at the tendency of most ALL men to see themselves above others as they create societies that raise those that have while depressing those who DO NOT, what would we see? Wise men or fools? It IS interesting here that while I and others who can see past their own sense of self will see fools, that the fools themselves will see Wise men and consider themselves among them and this IS a constant bane to our very existence. We should understand here the ideas behind these ideas of Wise men and fools and understand that this IS intended in a most spiritual way and, if we can reflect Jesus words here against His previous words regarding the Kingdom of God, we will see the deeper Truths that He IS trying to convey. And when we can relate this to Jesus words on His Presence above, we will see that it IS the man who keeps His words that has His Presence and that this IS the Wise man who lives in the Truth.
This idea of Truth is given us in that trifecta of spiritual things that comes to the man who will strive toward the Kingdom of God. We read above about His Presence which IS but one part of the whole which includes attaining the Kingdom of God and the reality of True discipleship and it IS in the combination of these ideas that we find the Truth that frees us “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”. We read this in Jesus words that show us the reality of discipleship as He says: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). Can we see the overall relationships here? Can we see the reality of the Wise man? And yet there IS more. In the Master’s words that precede the parable we find the deeper Truth of this Wise man and the fool and while the beginning part of this IS a part of our idea of this trifecta, the balance shows the plight of men as fools; 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).
The Apostle Paul shows us the deeper aspects of both keeping His words and the ways of men who believe that by their several abilities that they have attained the Kingdom of God. In our seamless reading of the twelfth and thirteenth chapters of his Epistle to the Corinthians which cite below, the apostle gives us the Master’s ideas above in quite a dynamic way. The apostle speaks of Love as the more important part of one’s spiritual reality and while this IS framed for us as that Love IS “a more excellent way“, our better understanding comes from the lexicon’s defining ideas for the Greek word huperbole where we read that this means: 1. a throwing beyond; 2. metaph. a. superiority, excellence, pre-eminence; b. beyond measure, exceedingly, preeminently; c. beyond all measure 2. In this view of Love we should see how that Paul downplays ALL of the gifts of which he speaks throughout the twelfth chapter as his message becomes that it IS good to have such gifts and abilities and that, in accordance with Jesus words above, these ARE meaningless without Love which IS the essence of keeping His words. This IS this the context that we should see in Paul’s words and while we see the idea of excellent explained for us in the lexicon, Vincent offers us his commentary on the idea of the Way saying: Way; To attain the higher gifts. The way of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 4. We read the apostles words saying:
- “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all * prophets? are all * teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:27-31).
- “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8).
Although we split the apostle’s words according to the traditional chapter and verse way of the New Testament, there IS no such break in Paul’s writings nor in his thoughts as he takes the reader to the ultimate point: there IS naught as important as a man’s expression of Love in this world. Through the entirety of this part of his epistle, the apostle shows us how that these so called gifts are essentially worthless in one’s spiritual pursuits except when they ARE accompanied by a man’s expression of Love and, if we look closely at his words, that these ARE but psychic phenomenon in the absence of the True Presence of God that comes according to the Master’s words above; that Presence that comes to the man who keeps His words.
While the apostle shows us more directly in other places how that this expression of Love IS the deeper reality of keeping the Word of God in the law, it IS left here for us to discover the deeper reality; that to DO any or ALL of these psychic things IS for naught if one DOES NOT have the rooted sense of agape working in His Life. And whether we call this in English Love or Charity, the meaning of agape DOES NOT change from Jesus message that we find in the Great Commandments and in the Golden Rule and in such ideas 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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).
And we should understand Paul’s list of the Way of Love in this context of agape, it IS in the context of the Great Commandment and the Golden Rule that we should see that this sense of Love IS to be applied to ALL men. It IS one’s True expression of agape that “suffereth long, and is kind“; it is this expression of agape that “envieth not…vaunteth not itself”and “is not puffed up“. This IS our reality, this IS the Truth of Love as agape; it is this expression of agape that “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things“. When we can honestly look upon our relationship with ALL men in this most humble attitude of agape, this most humble view of Love, we will have come to the reality of the Master’s intent and will be ever closer to being the True “children of your Father which is in heaven“.
This of course IS not an easy task for the man in this world and IS likely seen as impossible by those who DO NOT see the reality of Jesus many sayings that tell men that they should keep His words. It IS in this context that we should see Paul’s ideas on the flesh, that we should “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). It IS unfortunate that men DO NOT see the reality of the apostle’s words as they relate to everyman and understand that everything that IS NOT according to “the will of my Father which is in heaven” IS based in lust which IS the many desires of the flesh. This IS the same reality that we find in Paul’s words to the Galatians; in a section that begins in saying “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” the apostle shows us a selection of the manifold ways of the flesh and he compares these to the True “fruit of the Spirit“. It IS in the complexity that IS missed in the translations and rendering of the Greek words that so much of the Truth of his words IS missed as so many see the “works of the flesh” as only the most extreme ideas that these renderings provide.
In this we should see the effect of illusion and of glamour as men have ever seen themselves as so much closer to God than they Truly ARE and this reality IS clearly seen in the Truth that we present as the trifecta, as being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God, as being Truly called among His disciples and as having the Presence of God in one’s Life; ALL of these are attained ONLY in keeping His words and, by measure, in one’s striving. It IS this man who expresses agape that IS Truly the man who DOES “Walk in the Spirit“. It IS in the reality that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:16, 17, 22, 19) that we should see the very nature of the vanity and the deliverance as these ARE presented by Paul in those words that we cite so often, words that show us the reality of the journey from the “the corruption that is in the world through lust” to that “glorious liberty of the children of God“.
It IS the reality of Life in form that Paul shows us as he tells us of the vanity and the deliverance; the one is the state of men in this world and the other the goal of ALL Souls who come into this world. We read the apostle’s words on this saying that: “For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in expectation that 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). We should understand here that it IS ONLY in finding the Truth of the Master’s words that a man IS Truly set free “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God”….and it IS only in the glamour of Life that IS a part of this corruption that men hold to their found ideas and doctrines. And it IS this same corruption, this same reality of worldly living, this reality of the carnal man who lives after the flesh. which IS the greater reality of Life for most ALL men that goes unseen in the illusion and the glamour of living in this world.
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.
GOODWILL IS
LOVE IN ACTION
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: James 2:8
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Galatians 5:14
Our Quote of the Day is a stylized version of the footer that has been a part of this blog from the beginning. It is in a few words our motto and our slogan and as we have posted so many times, it is the method par excellence of bringing about a world in Peace and in Harmony. The words of the Master that accompany our motto here are the source for our understanding of GoodWill and our method of practice and the words of His apostles are their echo of the second part of the Greatest Commandment as enunciated by the Christ. Let us all strive to do our part for in so doing we are doing as the Master instructed; we are striving to enter at the strait gate into His Glorious Kingdom.
This idea of GoodWill takes on added meaning as we approach the third of the annual festivals this year. Beginning with the Festival of Easter which IS followed by the recent Festival of Wesak, the Festival of GoodWill IS the third and comes to us at the full moon of June, the Gemini full moon which IS on June 2, 2015. While there IS much symbolism in the full moon idea, the reality for us IS more simple and IS intended to show the relationships between the Christ and the Buddha and the Truth of Love and humanity. This festival IS alternately call the Christ Festival, the Festival of Humanity and World Invocation Day and it IS ALL of these qualities plus the unifying idea of GoodWill that should be seen flowing through the ideas behind it.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 2 from New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
