Monthly Archives: April 2017

ON LOVE; PART MCXXXIX

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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 a part of Jesus’ words on Love from His Sermon on the Mount. We should understand that the words that precede our selection as well as those that follow it ARE also about Love, about agape, albeit they DO have a more personal appeal than those we chose. Our selection IS a group of straightforward statements on Love which DO NOT include any personal reward, statements that show us the heart of Love through the understanding that those that offer us evil, those who would take our belongings, those who ARE enemies ARE likely those who ARE yet lost in the vanity of Life and this includes as well as those who curse us, hate us, use us or persecute us.

It IS in our understanding that those who DO such things ARE yet lost in the vanity, in the illusion and the glamour, and that they DO NOT have the Light of Truth shining yet in their lives that we find the Path to True agape. To be sure this IS a most difficult thing to DO: to allow others to take advantage and to DO nothing and to live by His precept that says “whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also“. These things ARE difficult but they ARE less difficult when the reason for one’s DOING so IS based in understanding and NOT in fear. And this IS how we must paint the operation of agape in this world….as understanding.

It IS when we can KNOW and understand our brothers that we can KNOW and understand that they ARE just like us and that the ARE motivated largely by the same selfish tone by which we ourselves were and likely still ARE motivated. While doctrines like to point to Jesus’ words here which tell us to Love those who curse us, hate us, use us or persecute us in Christian terms, that IS that such ARE acting against Christians, the reality IS much more universal and afflicts ALL men. It IS in the Light of Truth and in understanding our brothers that we ourselves can deflect so much of the potential ill will of others. We repeat here our selection from Matthews version of the Master’s Sermon and add a selection from Luke’s; we read:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, 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” (Matthew 5:38-44).

“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.  But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven” (Luke 6:27-37)

These versions ARE largely the same ideas in a different order and with a different presentation; Luke includes the Golden Rule and repeats the idea of “love ye your enemies” in a different context. While we DID NOT DO so with Matthew’s version, we have included several ideas where there IS reward and we should remember here that the word rendered as thank IS charis which should be rendered here and in ALL uses in terms of grace. From these words, through which Jesus shows the True ways of Love as the expression of the man who Truly seeks God, the most popular doctrinal idea has naught to DO with that expression of agape. Doctrines have picked the next words in the Apostle Luke’s Gospel where the tone appeals to the selfish nature of men in its out of context presentation.

Luke tells us Jesus’ words as: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38). Too many doctrinal teachers use this idea of giving in their sermons to spark the idea of giving in the hearer and this from the perspective of the reward that they should receive. And too many people DO give in anticipation that in so doing “shall men give into your bosom“.

These doctrinal thinkers and teachers forget that this saying IS offered in the context of the Sermon on the Mount and that the return gift IS grace, things from God which have naught to DO with the things of this world. We should see in the Master’s words here the idea of measure and that the giving implied IS NOT merely carnal things as too many have come to believe, the reward IS, by measure, the things that God offers to us, the things that have eternal spiritual meaning here and now in the Life of the man whose giving IS an expression of Love. And what IS this giving? It IS ALL of the ideas that precede this, ideas which go against the grain of the normal ways of men.

The whole of the Master’s Sermon IS founded in the idea of right human relations and this from the perspective of the man who Truly seeks God. It IS this man who will “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” and it IS this man whose understanding attitude of Life says “whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also“. This IS Love, this IS agape, and this IS the context of the idea that “with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again“. There ARE NO men involved; this idea of men heaping treasure into one’s lap IS a false narrative, there IS ONLY God and His gifts which ARE the rewards of the trifecta which we repeat here again:

• “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).

The trifecta gives us rewards of keeping His words and here we should understand that in one’s expression of Love as Jesus outlines this IS the reality of keeping His words and ALL of the commandments. The Apostle Paul tells us this saying that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and, to the Romans, that “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10). It IS the Truth that frees us, the realization of the Kingdom of God and the Presence of the Lord in one’s Life that ARE the rewards of Love which IS the equivalent to keeping His words.

The basis of this Love IS understanding and the basis of one’s understanding is the measure of Wisdom that IS his realization of Truth and in this idea we should be able to see how that this ALL works together with the idea of giving that the Master shows us above. This giving IS offering or expressing Love to ALL based in the understanding that while another can be against you, that this IS but a worldly reaction based in a worldly focus. An understanding by which we KNOW that hidden beneath one’s worldly thoughts, attitudes and actions IS the Soul that IS part and parcel of God as you ARE. It IS this understanding that can overcome the divisive and factious mindset of men and the Wisdom of this understanding stands clear and bright for ALL who will simply look for it.

In One World and One Humanity we have the clear KEY to our essential unity as men and in the reality of One God, “One Boundless Immutable Principle; one Absolute Reality which, antecedes all manifested conditioned Being. It is beyond the range and reach of any human thought or expression“***, we have that spiritual Oneness that CAN NOT be escaped. And Paul shows us this Truth saying to the wise men of Greece that “in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28) and when we can understand that this IS the Truth on every level of existance, we can then Truly understand that the dynamic reality of One World, One Humanity, One God IS the very foundation of agape as the True teaching of the Master and His apostles.

It would seem that this great Truth should be readily seen by ALL who have the capacity of mind but, as the world’s events have ever shown us, this IS NOT the case. This IS the result of that vanity to which ALL ARE subjected; this IS the reality of the illusion and the glamour in which men live. And this IS ALL fed by the nurturing and the indoctrination of everyman which obnubilates the Light which “which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). It IS one’s nurturing and indoctrination according to the vanity, the ways of this world, which IS the basket that covers the Light according to the Master’s analogy saying: “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light” (Luke 11:33).

While this saying IS True of men and candles, it IS NOT True regarding the Light of the Soul which IS kept hidden behind the facade that IS the illusion and the glamour through which men DO NOT “see the light“. In the larger context of Jesus’ words we should be able to understand that it IS the focus of a man that determines how much of the Light of Truth IS hidden and in this Light IS that Love which IS expressed by the man who Truly understands some measure of that Truth that frees us from the darkness; we read the context of Jesus words according to Luke:

“No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light” (Luke 11:33-36).

We have discussed this idea based in the way that the Apostle Matthew gives it: in relation to the Sermon on the Mount and in the context of focus upon the things of God over the things of this world. Luke gives us these same words in the context of Light but  we should see the same idea of focus as this IS inherent in the idea of the single eye. In both Matthew’s and Luke’s presentation of Jesus’ words, the intent IS the same; in both we see that the when the eye, the perception of the man IS full of Light because of his singleness of vision, then this man IS “as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light” and in this Light IS Love and its expression.

The contrary idea IS rendered as evil from the Greek word poneros, which indeed IS ALL things bad, and, if we can relate this to Paul’s True intent in his list of “the works of the flesh” and his thoughts on “the works of darkness“, we can then see the idea of Love, of agape, with greater clarity. In Paul’s list of “the works of the flesh” there ARE men’s thoughts and attitudes that ARE contrary to the Great Commandments; ALL things that keep men from God and ALL things divide rather than unite one with his fellowman. In the apostle’s list of “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:19, 22), which IS headlined by Love, we have ALL things that ARE in accord with the Great Commandments and with Jesus’ words.

The evil eye then IS the perception of a man that sees ONLY the things of this world and this regardless of his religious intent whensoever that intent IS tied to his doctrines and the carnal view that so many doctrines provide. To be sure there IS a vast middle ground between the single and the evil and it IS here that most ALL men live. While in this middle ground there may be some glimmer of Light or a flashing through of Light from time to time, this IS NOT the Life of the man with the single eye….this IS NOT the Life of the man whose “whole body also is full of light“.

We should understand there that when one DOES NOT have the fullness of Light, that he must then be in the dark and, in Jesus’ words “thy body also is full of darkness” and we should note here that the Master DOES differentiate between the whole and the part. It IS in the fullness of Truth that “whole body also is full of light” and it IS in the grip of ‘evil’ that “thy body also is full of darkness” and our point here IS in Jesus’ use of the idea of holos which IS rendered as whole and which also means completely ².

It IS based on this idea of whole and complete Light verses some measure of dark that the Master offers us the caution that men should “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness“. And with this caution Jesus’ ends adding the part of measure in telling us that it IS when one IS “having no part dark” that he IS that “bright shining of a candle” which expresses the Light and the Love of the Soul. To our point, it IS the vanity, the illusion and the glamour of Life, that cause the darkness and the ‘evil’ vision which IS but the perception of men that the Truth IS in this world.

It IS the illusion and the glamour that keep men in the dark and cause so many to NOT see Jesus’ warning. Too many DO NOT “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness” and call their own darkness Light, and with this many sink ever deeper into the morass that IS their “bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21). And it IS in this state that men DO the “works of darkness” while they believe that they have “put on the armour of light“. This IS the delusion that comes in the words of the Apostle James saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

And this word IS Love and to be “doers of the word” IS to express that Love which Jesus teaches us and which His apostles expand upon. It IS when we can look past our doctrines that come largely through our nurturing and our indoctrination that we can see the reality of Love and how that it IS the lack of our expression of Love that IS our darkness. Paul shows us this as he tells us that “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12).

We should see here two things; first that the night IS our darkness, it IS the state in which we live and work and second IS that the whole of this idea IS in regard to Love which IS the greater context of the apostle’s sayings here. In Paul’s words here we should see that it IS in Love, in agape from the idea of “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“, that men Truly can “put on the armour of light“, that same Light by which the “whole body also is full of light“. And this same relationship IS offered to us by Paul in regard to “the works of the flesh” where he tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14) and then shows us what IS contrary to this as “the works of the flesh“.

We have spent much time discussing the specific ideas from the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and the fifth chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians where the common understanding of both reveal that men DO NOT “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness“. We close today with these ideas from Vincent from his commentary on Matthew’s version of “The light of the body is the eye“; we read on the words “in thee be darkness” that:

Seneca, in one of his letters, tells of an idiot slave in his house, who had suddenly become blind. “Now, incredible as the story seems, it is really true that she is unconscious of her blindness, and consequently begs her attendant to go elsewhere because the house is dark. But you may be sure that this, at which we laugh in her, happens to us all; no one understands that he is avaricious or covetous. The blind seek for a guide; we wander about without a guide.”

“Seeing falsely is worse than blindness. A man who is too dim-sighted to discern the road from the ditch, may feel which is which; but if the ditch appears manifestly to him to be the road, and the road to be the ditch, what shall become of him? False seeing is unseeing, on the negative side of blindness” (Ruskin, “Modern Painters”)i1.⁴

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

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts