ON LOVE; PART CMLXXXI

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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 some final words on the Apostle Paul’s ideas which he offers us as “the works of the flesh“. We noted how that there IS the easier and more carnal way of viewing the apostle’s thoughts and that there IS the more difficult Way of seeing the deeper meaning in which most ALL men will find their own sense of guilt. It IS easy to see oneself as better than another when it comes to the common understanding of these rendered words in terms of sex and doctrinal idolatry and it IS easy to see another as a witch or a sorcerer based upon things that ARE NOT easy to comprehend but may be against one’s sense of Christian values; it IS more difficult however to see one’s own infidelity toward God, one’s own ‘worship’ of the things of this world and one’s own use of the supernatural ideas that ARE built into the Christian understanding of such as Paul’s context.

We noted as well how that it IS easy to see the results of our carnal human thoughts, attitudes and actions that ARE the hatred and wrath that come from strife and how difficult it IS to see the root cause of these things in the factions and the divisions of men that doctrines create. And this need NOT be seen only in religious terms but we should try to see that doctrines ARE the motivating factor in so much of human thought; it IS men’s nurturing into their ideas of Life that IS the beginning of his indoctrination into a host of social ideas. Christian doctrines themselves ARE the cause of much of the factions that ARE of concern to the man who seeks God and it IS to these than the apostle speaks as he implores his readers to be in Unity saying: “that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

And it IS in these same words against factions that he tells us that “ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 3:3-4). Doctrine however DOES NOT see that this example stretches forth through the entirety of the Christian way over the last 2000 years. Men and their doctrines DO NOT see how that this yet afflicts most ALL religion and most ALL of men’s social attitudes; that their factious attitudes ARE become a part of the fabric of carnal thought incorporating ALL prejudices and hatreds toward others based upon most simple human differences. We ended our last post with these words on men’s factious thoughts, attitudes and actions: There IS a great KEY here in this idea; it IS the man who can see with NO “respect to person“, the man who can see ALL men as divine beings on the very same journey to “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21), it IS this man who can Truly Love. And it IS in this Love that a man can overcome ALL sense of drunkenness and revellings which ARE the final two words of the apostle’s list of “the works of the flesh“.

While these words that ARE rendered as drunkenness and revellings ARE seen in the most carnal ways and in ways that reflect upon the sexual interpretations of Paul’s many words, the reality IS that these must be seen, as the rest of his list, in a more spiritual context. Again Paul IS addressing men who ARE beyond these most carnal ideas and this IS rather easy to see in the way that this Greek word methe IS used in the New Testament and in common religious terms. The apostle Luke tells us Jesus words saying “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34) and in this we should be able to see the reality of methe; as that this IS much more that having too much wine. If we can understand the idea of methe as that one IS overcome with some sensation that distorts reality, we can then see the Master’s and the apostle’s point.

While there ARE parts of the church that DO recognize the idea of being ‘drunk in the spirit’ and while some actually look forward to being in such a state, they DO NOT at the same time apply this idea to Paul’s words nor to the Master’s. If we can see Jesus’ words saying “take heed to yourselves” in the same way that we understand Paul’s words saying “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3), we can then see this idea of drunkenness more clearly from two perspectives. First that the idea of methe IS in regard to the propensity of men to “to think of himself more highly than he ought to think” and secondly that Paul’s use of the Greek word sophroneo which IS rendered as soberly IS the opposite and shows the man as being in right mind ² as this IS alternately rendered. Can we see the point here?

We should try to see how that this being in right mind ² IS NOT in a carnal sense of right-mindedness or of being sober but rather in a spiritual sense. The apostle IS speaking to aspirants and disciples, men who ARE NOT getting drunk on wine but ARE getting drunk on their own sense of Truth, their own measure of the Presence of God which Paul shows us as “the measure of faith“. And his admonition here IS that men DO NOT let their measure of the Presence of God cause them to NOT “think soberly“, but rather for men to “take heed to yourselves” so they he will “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think“. In ALL of this we should see the propensity of men to be too easily overcome with some sensation that distorts reality and which can quickly become one’s reality. We should take this idea of sophroneo in terms being in right mind ² and this right-mindedness according to the way that Paul shows us saying “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

If we can see how that drunkenness and thinking soberly, or better being in right mind, ARE intended in these ideas from Jesus and from Paul, we can then understand how that this idea should work out in our view of the “the works of the flesh“. That men and their doctrines see these ideas in strictly carnal terms IS unfortunate and we should understand here that this common view IS aligned with the doctrinal view of the rest of Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh“, as well as the most general view that men have regarding the ideas of sin and evil and of Satan and the devil. In Jesus’ words according to Luke where the ideas of “surfeiting, and drunkenness” ARE rendered from kraipale and methe the point of Jesus words IS missed. In kraipale we have a word that the lexicon IS unsure of and surmises that it IS from the same root as IS harpazo which means to sieze, to carry off by force ². In the rendering of this as surfeiting however the King James Bible sees the idea of gluttony as the Webster’s 1828 version paints this ¹ while the lexicon defines kraipale as: the giddiness and headache caused by drinking wine to excess ². Vincent tells us of kraipale that: Derivation uncertain: akin to the Latin crapula,intoxication and that: In the medical writings it is used of drunken nausea or headache ⁴.

Other translations render this as carousing and we should understand here that these ideas and those of gluttony and hangover ARE misplaced and reflect the carnal ideas that many apply to what should be spiritual ideas as we have seen in the word rendered as drunkenness. If we can understand this idea of drunkenness as we have presented it, as that this IS some sensation that distorts reality which IS based in the propensity of a man to “think of himself more highly than he ought to think“, then we can perhaps understand the idea behind kraipale as a man being full of himself which can work well with the ideas from the lexicon and Vincent above and which IS a turn on the idea of gluttony.  In this we should see Jesus’ admonition that men should “take heed to yourselves” which He explains saying “lest at any time your hearts be overcharged“.

Remembering that the heart IS a man’s conscious awareness of himself in this world, an awareness that IS motivated by one’s focus upon the things of God by measure or the things of this world, we should try to see the King James’ rendering of overcharged. The lexicon tells us that the Greek word baruno which IS rendered as overcharged has the meaning of weighed down ² and is rendered as such by other translators. In this idea we should try to see how that gluttony, as one being full of himself, and drunkenness, as some sensation that distorts reality, can weigh down the consciousness of a man and compound his awareness of the “cares of this life“; it IS this combination that the Master warns against saying that these can put a man in a position that “that day come upon you unawares“. In this we should see how that it IS kraipale and methe along with one’s attention to the “cares of this life” ARE the plight of the men who DO NOT “take heed to yourselves“….the man who DOES “think of himself more highly than he ought to think“.

As the apostle’s words ARE directed toward the aspirant and the disciple who IS NOT prone to any of the carnal view of “the works of the flesh“, so Jesus’ words ARE directed at His disciples who ARE already beyond the ideas of gluttony and drunkenness as doctrines interpret these ideas. We read that Jesus “in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples” (Luke 20:45) and here offers a litany of ideas regarding the scribes, the poor widow, and the temple and its destruction before He speaks about the ‘end time’ which IS the destruction of Jerusalem. Regardless of how one may view the Master’s words here the idea of His saying above should be clear: that His disciples should “take heed to yourselves“….DO NOT allow oneself to “think of himself more highly than he ought to think” but to keep focused upon the things of God; to “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy” (Luke 21:36); and to keep His words which ARE again the foundation of ALL things spiritual as we see again in our trifecta:

• “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).
• “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).
• “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).

When we come back to the most basic idea of His words; that we should keep His words, we should be able to see how that the most carnal ideas ARE NOT the subject when Jesus and His apostles ARE speaking with disciples and aspirants who ARE striving toward that goal. Except for the second part of our trifecta above, the Master’s words ARE spoken to disciples, to men who have largely overcome the carnal, and in this we should see the reality of the spiritual message. And in the second part above there IS the admonition to men to keep His words as the “will of my Father” and the plain Truth that the man who DOES NOT, yet believes that He IS in God’s will, IS as a “foolish man, which built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:26).

That these ideas ARE NOT seen in the doctrines of men, these clear and simple Truths, perhaps paves the way for the carnal interpretation of most ALL else that IS the words of the Master and His apostles. In our selection from Galatians which we have been studying we should be able to see this Truth of carnal interpretation in ALL of the words that we have discussed over the last many posts and understand how that it IS the spiritual interpretation that IS the intent of the apostle as he writes to spiritually focused men whom he wants to be able to see the need to heed and to understand the Great Commandments as their guiding Light. Here, in our current word methe we should see how that he implores his reader to NOT be “vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18), NOT to “think of himself more highly than he ought to think” which the Master tells us saying “take heed to yourselves“. Repeating Paul’s words again we read:

“For 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. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians  5:17-24).

We close today with this thought: to have that methe, to be drunk as being overcome with some sensation that distorts reality and makes a man to see himself and the things he may do as in accord with His words, can be and IS the result of those things that precede this in his list; things that take a man’s attention off of the things of God and put his focus upon the things of the world.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of  God	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.

This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse these forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com