ON LOVE; PART MCCLXXIV
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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 thoughts on the different approaches to the New Testament ideas of faith and works as these ARE presented by the Apostles Paul and James. Doctrines have, from nearly the beginning, chosen to take Paul’s ideas out of context and apply them as the Way to salvation and this without Truly understanding his perspective on these words. Most ALL have presumed that their idea of faith as that nebulous doctrinal precept IS the reality of the Greek word pistis without ever applying the Master’s own criteria to this idea, a criteria that clearly shows us that to have pistis IS to KNOW and to DO so without doubt. It IS with this sense of KNOWING, the KNOWING of “a grain of mustard seed“, that one IS able to “say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you” (Matthew 17:20).
Rather than to accept the Master’s words as Truth, the church fathers chose to accept their own ideas of pistis in its nebulous form and to relegate the Master’s words on moving the mountain to be a mere saying using such ideas as: not that it would be ordinarily or ever done in a literal sense by the apostles, that they should remove mountains; but that they should be able to do things equally difficult, and as seemingly impossible 8 as John Gill explains Jesus’ words. We should try to see here that this sense of KNOWING IS NOT merely having some degree of knowledge as a man in this world; this sense of KNOWING IS that which flows from the Soul as “the wisdom that is from above” (James 3:17). This sense of KNOWING IS the reality of Truth which Jesus shows us saying “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).
This sense of KNOWING is that which the Apostle John shows us IS from the unction which IS yet another idea that the doctrinal thinker has distorted to his own use and profit. The unction, or the anointing as this IS also rendered, IS from the Greek word chrisma which IS the noun form of the adjective christos that IS always rendered as Christ. John tells us that “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” and here we should understand that the man of doctrine, regardless of his measure of faith and believing or his status of believing that he IS “born again” DOES NOT “know all things“….if he did then he could move that mountain. With this in mind we should easily see that this unction IS NOT the possession of the “natural man” whose sense of KNOWING DOES NOT come through the Master’s criteria of “If ye continue in my word” and IS therefore NOT that anointing that some parts of the church believes that they have.
Paul tells us 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) and in this we should see the same idea as Jesus shows us in regard to KNOWING the Truth. The point here IS NOT that the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT have some measure of Truth based in a combination of his ow spiritual collateral and his application of that to his Life in this world, it IS rather that he IS NOT as far along he believes; he IS yet the “the natural man” as ARE most ALL men in this world. He is deluded by his doctrinal belief that he IS “born again” which IS NOT a right that goes to the man who affirms and attests according to doctrines but rather it IS a state of being for the man who IS Truly “born of water and of the Spirit” or, as Paul presents this, the man who has “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
What DOES this mean to “have the mind of Christ“? Can one have “the mind of Christ” and still live as the carnal man, “the natural man” as Paul frames this? This IS the delusion of doctrines and the reality of James words that tell us most clearly to “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Here we should try to understand that as a doctrinal thinker a man IS bombarded with doctrinal messages which assure him that if he follows the precepts of his doctrines and believes as his IS instructed that he IS ‘saved‘. This idea of salvation IS then converted into being “born again“, a conversion that IS but the invention of men; this man then comes to believe that he has “the mind of Christ“, a mind that IS filled with Love and understanding of one’s brother and a Life’ motivation to live in accord with the Great Commandments.
The “mind of Christ” CAN NOT be anything less than this yet men, who ARE yet “the natural man” see themselves as having such without ever putting forth the effort of True agape which IS so much more than his doctrines will acknowledge or teach. This IS the failure of the church which has allowed men to live as men from the beginning, a failure that has allowed animus and prejudice to flourish in this Earth as well as those things which follow….wars, slavery, and the inability of everyman to see his brother as he sees himself. Much of this IS based in the total lack of understanding of just what agape IS as men confuse this with the emotional and mental attractions and attachments that men have for specific others and for the things of this world; few see the reality that James shows us saying “if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:9).
This idea of having NO “respect to persons” IS the foundational building block, the cornerstone if you will, for the expression of True agape in this world but, again, we must divorce this idea from the common view of Love, the common view of the mental and emotional attraction and attachment. Having NO “respect to persons” IS the reality of the Great Commandment that most clearly tells us that we should “love thy neighbour as thyself” and while the Judaeo Christian religions have ever questioned the meaning of neighbor, the answer IS clearly given to us in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan. The neighbor IS everyman and to Love him IS to see him as one sees himself which IS a most difficult thing to DO without the foundation of understanding the intent of having NO “respect to persons“.
We should try to understand here that James’ words have little to DO with the ideas of the rich and the poor; this IS but an example of how one CAN and DOES show more or less ‘respect‘ based in one’s being rich or being poor or based in one’s appearance. The greater Truth IS found in the way that such respect MUST cross ALL lines of division be they racial, cultural, caste, evil or good, sex or even sexual orientation. Into this we should see the Master’s own words regarding judgement and how such divides, ofttimes along societal lines, men into groups….some of which one may hate and others toward which one has some measure of fondness or perhaps NO such emotions at ALL. Jesus tells us to “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) and in this we should try to see the societal effects rather than the individual.
In one’s NOT judging there IS NO guarantee that one will “be not judged” by others but on a societal level we can easily see that if men DO NOT judge others en masse then one will NOT be judged himself. This would be True in the family, the small group, the church, the neighborhood, etc.; in an ever expanding way and the idea here IS enhanced by the Master’s words according to the Apostle John saying “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We should understand here that the idea of appearance should be seen in the broadest possible way as it should in James’ words where the idea transcends one’s physical raiment as an indicator that one IS rich or poor; the idea here should reach into ALL ideas of appearance and expression and resolved under the idea that one should view ALL with NO “respect to persons“. James tells us:
“For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors” (James 2:2:9).
We should see here that this idea of having NO “respect to persons” IS put on the same level as “the royal law” and that the conduct of men in and out of the church that IS contrary to either IS a sin and one that goes unheeded by vast portions of the church. This failure to Love IS as much a sin as any other part of the law and this James tells us saying “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10-11). Can we see the point here? Can we see how that the doctrinal thinker sees the adulterer and the killer as sinners but DOES NOT recognize himself as being in the same place merely by judging them to be such?
And more, the failure to see ALL men the same, to see them with NO “respect to persons“, IS itself the precursor to judgement. If one could see ALL men as both the same and as himself, one would be better prepared to see himself in others and realize that his own thoughts, attitudes and behaviors are being reflected to him in the thoughts, attitudes and behaviors of others. We should see in this the Master’s words saying “why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye. Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Luke 6:41-42).
While understood as presented, that one should NOT see one’s brother’s little sins without first seeing one’s own and likely larger sins, there IS a deeper reality here when viewed with James words above which equate ALL sins….including that there should be NO “respect to persons“. Jesus IS showing us the lack of understanding which IS part and parcel of the whole idea of agape; in so many ways agape IS such understanding that everyman IS the same, everyman IS caught in that vanity, that “bondage of corruption” and while each may respond to this in a different way, ALL are carrying the same baggage. The ONLY way to relieve oneself of this baggage IS to see everyman in his most basic form….as a spiritual being expressing a Life through his flesh in this world.
As a man this IS nearly impossible as the effects of vanity, of one’s nurturing and indoctrination, plus ones own experiences as a man in this world shows forth ONLY his societal view of the world of men complete with the animus and the prejudices through which societies function and this from the family, to the small group, to the church, the neighborhood, and, in an ever expanding way, to the city, the state, the political party and the nation. At every level there ARE societal norms which ignore the inner Truth of the Soul and which focus upon the nature of a man being his worldly nature ONLY; it IS this that Paul shows us as “the natural man“. We should add here that within these societies and societal fragments there IS as much confusion and division as there IS between them and the idea here IS that there IS little harmony in the human family and that there IS much division.
This IS the way of Life in this world where men learn from men generation after generation and we should try to see how that it IS ONLY the constant but slow evolutionary changes that bring a man from era to era, changes that ARE caused in a large part by the natural progression of Life that impacts the psyche of the entire race. From the superstitious and barbarous man of the Old Testament and before who lacked understanding of his place evolves the man who while yet superstitious and barbarous, comes to have a greater understanding of his own relationships to others. From the emotional driven man evolves the man whose mind can begin to exhibit some modicum of control over those emotions and then, as this evolution continues, the mind becomes the paramount tool by which the race can function. We should try to see and understand here that yet today there ARE men in the world at every level of this evolutionary structure and in this we should be able to see how that there ARE leaders and followers.
NOT necessarily leaders in a political or national sense but rather leaders in the establishment of new social orders brought about as the mind continually supersedes the emotions as the controlling factor of Life. In this we should see the role of such men as Moses and the prophets in the Judaeo Christian world as well as those great influencers that ARE NOT seen in terms of religion but who have brought to the world the wherewithal to change and, indeed, there ARE some political and national leaders in these groups. Finally we have the Advent of the Christ, the coming into the world of a one who IS the very expression of Truth, a one whose Life and teachings could have been the final change save for the staunch opposition that held the status quo and which then adapted His Truths into the doctrinal approaches of men.
Since the Master there have been many other proponents of change and we should note here that by and large these ARE NOT men of religion but rather men of science and of philosophy who came among us able to express some singular idea which helped propel the race forward. We should see that this most purposeful journey forward carries the ability of the mind to ever greater ideas which, if we could see behind the concrete science, can show us glimpses of the greater Truths of Life. We continually unveil realm after realm by revelations which seemed impossible NOT many years before and while these ARE yet considered ONLY as parts of the concrete structure of the universe. the greater reality IS of the vast fields of energy that both holds ALL of this in place and allows us to see a connectivity of these fields which lies behind the concrete and ARE its reality. It IS in this Light that we should try to see and to understand the Soul.
While the study of the atom, the basic building block of ALL things physical, appears to men to be rather advanced, the Truth IS that this science IS yet in its infancy and there IS little understanding of how the combinations of atomic particles can result of that peculiar structure that we call man or, for that matter, the structure of any ‘living’ thing. ALL things that ARE alive derive their Life’ energy from some source and these ‘things’ will ‘die’ when that energy IS withdrawn. For the human we can see this in terms of the Spirit or the Soul which gives Life to the matter that IS the body as well as the subtler components of mind and emotions plus that energy field that keeps ALL of this in place. It IS NOT our point to discuss these things save to show how that it IS the Spirit of a man, manifest as the Soul, that furnishes the Life energy that becomes just that….Life.
Perhaps we can look at the Life of a man in the same way that we view an atom. The nucleus IS the ‘Life’ of the atom and in a similar way the Soul IS the Life of a man. An atom will NOT exist without a nucleus and a man will NOT exist without a Soul; and both ARE matters of energy. Can we see the point here? Beyond the nucleus we have found hadrons which ARE believed to be made up of quarks which have never been seen and ALL that IS KNOWN of these is based in the observation of the hadrons. In this vision of the complexity of matter and the energy that IS matter we should be able to sense that there IS yet much more. We are talking here about the invisible components of matter which ARE invisible because of their size.
At the same time we should try to see that there ARE corresponding human components which may well be based in the same fabric of nuclei, hadrons and quarks which ARE the components of matter. For the human and for every Life form that uses spiritual energy as its motivating Power there IS an equally hidden fabric which keeps the form in place as DOES the nuclei with such ideas as mental and emotional energies lying beyond that. This IS NOT intended to be a clear picture of the Life of a man nor the state of an atom but rather to paint a picture of the energies that ARE assembled together to create and grow a form which IS informed by a mind and emotions and which IS held together by the Power that IS the Soul.
This IS but similar to the way of the atom which IS assembled of the nucleus and its revolving electrons, the whole of which IS energized by the hadrons which ARE made up of quarks. This IS the simple version which gets ever deeper when such ideas as bosons, mesons, baryons and even the God Particle or Higgs Boson ARE considered. With ALL this complexity and the existence of sub particles that CAN NOT be seen and which ARE the energy components of matter, why IS it so difficult to see man in a similar way where rarer and rarer forms of energy can show us even more subtle energies that hold the form in place and motivate it and the mind and emotions; why IS it so difficult to see the Spirit manifest as the Soul as the spiritual energy of Life?
The great Truths of ALL of this ARE NOT yet discovered concerning the atom and its sub-atomic particles of energy; the discovery of nuclear energy and the ability to weaponize it ARE but a beginning. We should try to see the same idea in regard to man….that the great Truths of his existence ARE yet to be discovered. We should try to understand that the words of the Master and His apostles allude to these great Truths as they speak of the spiritual man and his Oneness with the Godhead; in such ideas as spoken by the Master saying “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” we have a Truth that works out on many levels.
In ALL being one we should see the realization of such as we ARE already One human family; Paul shows us this saying of God that He “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth“. Jesus’ words however go deeper as He tells us that God IS in Him and that He IS in God making them One singular Force; this IS NOT as bodies in this Earth but as the Life, the energy, of those bodies and in this realization we should KNOW that we ARE ever One in Him. Paul shows us this as well from a more permanent perspective which DOES NOT require realization saying “in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:26). Much of this Truth yet remains to be discovered by the man in the world who should see this as a physical necessity beyond which ARE spiritual Truths as this idea IS the reality on every level of existence.
Jesus goes on to show His apostles the idea of “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one” and here we should try to see and to understand the role of realization and how that KNOWING these things IS KNOWING God and KNOWING some greater measure of the Truth which comes to everyman who will keep His words, an idea which allows the Power and the Life energy that IS the Soul to flow through the physical body, the mind and the emotions, and to become the expression of the man. This IS the reality of our trifecta which we repeat here again; Jesus tells us:
- “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).
We should understand here that the scientific world that sees the sub-atomic particles, the fabric of the created universe, DOES NOT yet see the subtle realms of existence and this because they ARE NOT looking for this in the right way. They DO NOT yet see how that in the realm of mind and of emotion that these seemingly physical human traits ARE in fact an energy that IS possessed, as a part of one’s body nature, as an isolated part of a greater whole in which the parts can, under the right circumstances, communicate both consciously and unconsciously. There ARE historical models of emotional and mental communication in world events and ideas which sparked movements of various kinds, both good and bad, and there ARE signs of such things yet in this world. The current world wide trend toward nationalism IS an example as was the worldwide movement toward the ideas of Love and Peace in our recent past.
We should try to see that these worldwide trends ARE NOT universal but selective; NOT ALL men agree but if we could look deeper into the psyches of men we could perhaps see that it IS certain types of personalities that ARE attracted to certain movements. We should try to see as well that while worldwide, the effects ARE most keenly felt amongst populations whose mindset IS attuned to a particular idea; the Second Great Awakening in Christianity in America IS an example of this while the previous First Great Awakening affected both Europe and the fledgling colonies. We should understand here that such ‘awakenings’ ARE an emotional and mental change that attracts the masses and in these examples it IS ONLY the Christian mind that would be attracted. On the negative side there ARE also many examples such as the spread of Nazism and Communism from a thought to a movement and the realities of quickly spreading social unrest ARE also to be included in this.
Today these things ARE aided by the quick spread of information and disinformation through social media, the internet and the general news and while these may be the scientific focus regarding cause and effect, the past reality of the spread of such should NOT be ignored; the worldwide trends ARE still motivated in the realm of emotion and thought that surrounds us as an energy field which IS NOT much different than that which carries our social media and internet, our cell phone communications, our radio and our TV. While we CAN NOT say how that this ALL works, we can clearly state that there IS much more to the way that the human mind and its accompanying emotions can be led and that the force that moves mass thought and emotions IS NOT haphazard but rather a function of the progression of time and the influence of ‘cosmic’ forces which ARE, to be sure, the forces of the Truth of God.
And, if we ARE to believe what the apostles tell us and what the Master teaches us about Love, about agape, we should be able to see that this force of the Truth of God IS Love. We should try to see also that the human reaction to the incoming forces of Truth, while progressive, ARE interpreted by the human mind and emotions. We should remember here that the race was formerly driven by the emotional part and that the actual thinking aspect of the mind IS the more recent development; and that there IS a rather wide range of evolutionary development among men….that many ARE NOT yet at that thinking stage. This takes us back to our ideas on the spiritual collateral that everyman brings into this world and here the idea should be seen in the way that the greater one’s collateral the easier his task of building for himself a more advanced body that IS capable of such thought.
There ARE likely many at this stage of Life in this Earth that ARE capable of supplanting emotions with thought but who at the same time ARE NOT DOING so. Nurturing and indoctrination play a large part in this failure but the larger part IS played by the vanity, by the illusion and the glamour, from which everyman must escape. The reality here IS found in the way that men continually deceive themselves, religious men by NOT being “doers of the word” and the irreligious by dwelling fully in the ways of men. Both largely ignore the prompting of the Soul which DOES at times offer some glimpse of revelation which IS most often ignored against the constant pull of worldly living. Few see their occasional fleeting thoughts of Truth and Love as the greater reality of Life and fewer still ARE those that can help to lift this race of men out of the morass that IS their vanity.
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 |
Quote of the Day:
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- ** Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 3 (University of California Press, 2015)
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
