ON LOVE; PART MCDLXXX
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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).
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We ended the last essay with a discussion of the equanimity of the Lord and the intended equanimity of everyman who Truly expresses agape or strives to DO so. To be sure this idea of equanimity IS a fundamental attribute of the True expression of agape by both the Lord and those whose Transformation has offered them a measure of Truth and Love in this world. It IS the overcoming of our carnal instincts, the overcoming of our vanity, that IS our Transformation and it IS in our Transformation that we DO keep His words and accept the reward. the Master shows us this reward 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). Our the view of this equanimity IS expressed in the Master’s saying that the Lord “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). There ARE NO favorites nor ARE there any that gain special attention until True Repentance and, even after this, there IS NO real intervention by the Supreme Being save for through the work of one’s own Soul, one’s own Christ Within. As we cited in the last essay we too ARE bound by this same ideal of equanimity in our view of others. Paul offers us this Truth in his words to the Ephesians that conclude with his words saying “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him” (Ephesians 6:8-9). We should NOT be fooled here into seeing these words ONLY in a carnal context regarding the treatment of servants, again, we are ALL servants; we should see these words in their spiritual context and expand the idea, as DOES the Apostle James, into the fullness of the relationships between men. That “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11) should be a defining reality as we look at the relationship between God and the world of men. Unfortunately this IS NOT so True in the church where men believe that through their prayers and supplications they will receive what they want in worldly things. Many use the Master’s words, words that ARE NOT intended to be so used, to support this belief and chief among these ARE such sayings as “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24) which we discussed in some detail in recent posts. Another IS the idea that “good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Luke 6:38).
Presuming that one will get material benefits from the Lord through prayer IS in direct opposition the the basic Truth “that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34) and such beliefs go a long way toward destroying our ability to properly understand pistis and pisteuo which ARE rendered as faith and believing. In the above words from the Master according to Luke, the church has defined the idea of “good measure” to reflect worldly things for the self and, at the same time inserted the idea that it IS men that will give. This idea that it IS men that “shall give” IS created by men; while some render the ideas as “shall they give into your bosom” the idea of they IS understood in the same way. We should note that it IS measure that IS to be given and if we can see that this IS NOT from the men nor the they, we can then better understand the whole idea and its relationship to one’s own expression of whatsoever measure he has attained. We should remember that the nature of the whole saying IS in regard to our own giving. Jesus says “give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38). and when we look at this in terms of measure the doctrinal ideas quickly fade. It IS “what measure ye mete” that “shall be measured to you again“. When we look at this idea through expressions of Love and Truth, our expressed measure of these, we can then perhaps see the reality of His other words showing us similar ideas across a variety of spiritual themes. We read His words saying “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:2) and here we have a loose relationship with Jesus’ caution on judgement rather than the idea that we offer our own seemingly undefined measure in giving. But IS this measure undefined or can we look at the rest of His words and understand such as “good measure“. The use of good here IS from a different Greek word than found in such ideas as “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18); it IS from the Greek word kalos and here we could imply that the meaning IS taken down to the worldly rather than the Godly. That ONLY God IS good IS a Godly attribute while this idea of “good measure” IS given at the hands of men through the action of their own Souls perhaps making it a man’s effort at Godly goodness. Regardless of how we look at this idea of “good measure“, it IS surely NOT carnal things. The idea IS shown us against our own giving, in terms related somewhat to judgement and, in Mark’s Gospel, in terms of hearing. We read that Jesus says “Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given” (Mark 4:24). Here we should understand that this hearing IS NOT merely the physical plane act that provides sound to the brain, we should understand this idea as what it IS that we perceive, that it IS what we may understand and come to KNOW.
The point here IS that this idea of measure runs throughout the New Testament but IS relatively misunderstood and IS generally applied to carnal things. And while many see carnal rewards in the sayings cited above, the reality IS that there ARE NONE; first because of James words that contribute to this idea of asking and receiving. James tells us “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3); here we should understand that to “ask amiss” IS to ask for things for the self “that ye may consume it upon your lusts“. What DOES this mean: To “consume it upon your lusts“? It IS simply the apostle’s way of showing us that when we ask for carnal things, we ARE essentially asking amiss; we ARE asking for such things as we can use in our carnal lives. This point IS cemented into these carnal ideas by the apostle’s next words that show us the necessary separation between the things of God and the things of the world. James tells us “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever* therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). As we often say, this calling out of his readers as “adulterers and adulteresses” IS NOT in any way a reference to sexual ideas, nor IS the idea of lust in the previous verse. The reference to “adulterers and adulteresses” IS against the ways of men that ARE “a friend of the world“; these ARE choosing the world over the Lord interrupting the natural bond of the Souls of men with their God and diverting one’s focus from the True Love of God. This IS NOT unlike the idea of adultery in this world where one interrupts the bond between man and wife to seek pleasure elsewhere and if we should look at ALL ideas of adultery through this dual lens, we would better understand the scriptural intent. James’ point then IS that we “ask amiss” whensoever we ask for things for the self in this world and it IS this point that we should try to bring to ALL biblical ideas regarding such prayer. And this IS NOT unlike the Master’s less blunt words that we have been studying. Words that tell us of the choice and the benefit of the right choice between “treasures in heaven” and “treasures upon earth” (Matthew 6:20, 19). Can we see how that choosing “treasures upon earth” IS to “ask amiss“? When we then tie these ideas of choice and asking amis to the Truth that “there is no respect of persons with God” we should be able to gain some insight into the deeper message, albeit a message that the doctrinal church will NOT accept and against which they have for centuries railed. The message IS NOT hidden however; it IS presented to us in plain sight throughout the New Testament. Why then DO men NOT understand the point:? Simply because in their vanity they lose sight of ALL that IS capable of moving men away from being men in this world.
There have been and likely ARE those that DO forsake worldly pleasures and things based in a deep religious belief; most of these however have tied their resistance to the world to their doctrinal leanings, living chaste lives in relative seclusion as a personal feat. While there IS much virtue in such practices, the greater reality IS found in the Master’s words saying “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven“. Jesus stood as our example of the righteous Life, our example of being “the light of the world” (John 8:12) as He told His disciples, and through them us, that “Ye are the light of the world“. We must of course understand these words as they ARE spoken to disciples and NOT as carnal men yet caught in their vanity. This we should take from His previous words according to Matthew; the Master tells us that “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5:16, 14, 13). In these words Jesus’ claims NO special traits for being “the salt of the earth“; He rather uses this idea to show us the effect of failure, the effect of losing our effectiveness, telling us that such failure makes a man spiritually “good for nothing“. The Apostle Paul shows us this same idea in regard to agape saying “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 agape, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). In the combined point here we should try to see how that ALL IS intimately related to agape, to our expression of this Love, as both “the light of the world” and “the salt of the earth“. ALL things spiritual bring us a greater measure of Truth and Love and it IS this sense of measure that we must read into such sayings as we cite above. We must come to understand just what it IS that Luke sees in his words saying “give, and it shall be given unto you“. We must come to understand that this IS NOT the things of the world but rather spiritual things, things that ARE part and parcel of our True Light that flows from our Souls into our daily lives. This IS explained by the apostle in his next words saying that it IS “good measure” that we both give and receive but this IS NOT seen by most as that same measure that the Master so frequently speaks of. That these words from Luke’s Gospel have ever been seen in carnal terms IS one of the Truly unfortunate hinderances faced by those that seek the spiritual Life though the doctrines of men. We would be remiss if we did NOT cite the Master’s words on such doctrines here; Jesus tells us that “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).
As we discuss the fundamental error in men’s presumption that this “good measure” IS carnal things, we also discuss just what IS the True meaning of this idea. Above we show how that measure IS a term used for quantity or degree but we should understand that the whole of this idea of measure IS a deeply spiritual one. In a variety of topics the Master tells us the same basic thing: that “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you“. This idea IS a foundational aspect of the spiritual growth of everyman and a integral part of our Transformation. Throughout our blog posts we speak in terms of measure with the understanding that the more intent we become with keeping His words the greater the measure of Light we will ourselves receive. We should note here however that whatsoever degree of Light we have will be wasted if it IS NOT expressed in our lives and this according to the Master’s words saying “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven“. In this Light IS Truth and agape Love and our measure of these deeply spiritual realities increases as we both express them and strive toward our greater measure. We return here to our main theme which IS to define what agape IS and, with this we should also examine the idea of Truth. While Truth seems to be the easier ‘virtue’ to explore, it DOES itself have many nuances. Carnally it means simple that we see what IS real versus what IS NOT and that we express factual reality over false realities. This can apply to most any carnal endeavor and includes the easy failure of men in lying. This latter idea IS easy to understand and we perhaps should note that some falsehoods may seem necessary in certain situations; properly thought out lying IS NOT any more sinful than any other human frailty. In expressing factual reality over false assumptions IS the more difficult and in this we should see how that men’s basic beliefs play into their sense of Truth. In the world we have many religions and subsets of them in denominations and sects; each has their own view of the Truth and most ALL fail to understand that there IS but one ultimate Truth and it may NOT be what they believe it to be.
We ourselves believe that we have some measure of the Truth but, at the same time we understand that we DO NOT have it ALL with clarity and here we should try to see how that spiritual Truth plays its part. Spiritual Truth IS the thoughts and ideas that flow from our own Souls but to distinguish this from whatsoever we deem True as a personality IS a difficult task. It IS extremely easy to mistake the the thoughts and ideas of the personality as though such ARE of “the wisdom that is from above“. The reality IS that the thoughts, ideas and actions of the personality ARE of that wisdom that “descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James 3:17, 15). It IS ONLY when the personality IS expressing the Light of the Soul through its Life on Earth that the personality can Truly KNOW whatsoever IS actually the Truth; this expression requires that we keep His words as we read 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).
While it IS the first part of the trifecta that shows us the idea of Truth and how that we DO receive that Truth, ALL three parts should show us the Way by which we reach our own spiritual Truth, our own sense of the One Truth. We may believe that we have the Truth, the Kingdom and the Presence of the Lord but this IS but a belief in the lives of those that DO NOT keep His words but rather subscribe to doctrines that tell them different. Doctrines that tell men that they ARE ‘saved‘, that Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit live within them and that they have the Truth ARE still but the doctrines of men if they ARE NOT in accord with His words. We should remember that the trifecta IS but a example chosen by us to represent the Master’s words and the whole of the New Testament. There ARE NO alternate Truths, there ARE only those ideas that men believe to be Truth but which ARE NOT. The antithesis of the ideas of men IS ever found in the words of the Master and the amplifying and clarifying words of His apostles. The trifecta IS a compilation of the words of Jesus which represent for us the major spiritual goals of everyman. These ARE first to have the Truth through the revelation of the mysteries, a revelation that comes through keeping His words. Second IS to have the access to the Kingdom of God which, while an archaic way of viewing this state of being, DOES represent our Presence with the Lord which again IS accomplished by keeping His words. Luke shows us that the Master IS rather clear on the existence of His Kingdom; He tells us that “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). That these words ARE Jesus’ response to the Pharisees question DOES NOT detract from the reality that they provide, a reality that IS NOT seen nor understood by most over the centuries and this because of men’s preconceived ideas regarding His Kingdom and the idea of heaven in general. His Kingdom and our Presence with the Lord in that Kingdom should reflect for us the idea that we ARE no longer of this world. This idea IS presented to His disciples and for ANY that Truly strive for discipleship; Jesus tells us “ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world” (John 15:19). We should understand here that we ARE chosen when we ARE ready, when the Soul, the Christ Within, can be expressed as Love and Truth through the carnal mind and body. Here we should NOT forget the Way to discipleship, that this too IS incorporated into the first part of our trifecta as the Master tells us that we ARE such when we keep His words.
The third part, and perhaps the most clearly stated, offers us the Presence of the Lord in our lives, a Presence that perforce reflects itself in the comportment of a man in this world. If we Truly have this Presence, we ARE then bound by it to live in accord with ALL of the True rules of the Kingdom and while we may believe we have this Presence we should be careful that we ARE NOT merely deceiving ourselves. Here we ARE reminded of James words saying “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). James offers us the same idea as DOES the Master: that we should keep His words; this IS a non-negotiable point throughout the New Testament and one that IS NOT understood as being such. Jesus tells us that keeping His words IS our signet showing that we DO Love the Lord and we should remember here that Loving the Lord with the reality of agape Love, IS the first of the Great Commandments. Additionally, He tells us that it IS ONLY those that “hath my commandments, and keepeth them” that will have realization of His manifestation which IS our realization of His Presence. Jesus DOES NOT offer us any alternative Way, there IS NO alternative Truth to the process of striving to keep His words. A ‘by-product’, if we can use that idea here, of Jesus words in this third part of the trifecta IS found in the way that Jesus relates for us the ideas of keeping His words and Love. While He says that keeping His words IS our showing that we DO Love the Lord, the idea goes much deeper and this we read in what IS called the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, a parable that IS largely misunderstood. We should note that it IS the first part of this that can be understood as a parable, the part that describes the separation of the sheep from the goats; the rest IS a clearly stated reality. In researching this parable we find this statement that IS reflective of our view: According to Anglican theologian Charles Ellicott, “we commonly speak of the concluding portion of this chapter as the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, but it is obvious from its very beginning that it passes beyond the region of parable into that of divine realities, and that the sheep and goats form only a subordinate and parenthetic illustration”**. For us these divine realities ARE the reality of the singularity of the first and second of the Great Commandments; the combination of a Love for the Lord and a Love for our fellowman. It IS this combination that we should address from His words saying:
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal“
Matthew 25:31-46
While the Master’s words here seem to carry the idea of the end times, it should be understood in a parabolic way as the practicality of gathering “all nations“, which idea should be ALL men, “before him” creates a rather impossible scene. Similarly the idea of sheep and goats IS NOT meant to disparage the goats but rather to show that there ARE two distinct groups included in “all nations“. As the story continues the idea of the “Son of man” changes into that of “the King“; it IS the king that speaks to the sheep and the goats and it IS what IS said that IS of importance. From our perspective any ideas regarding the end times ARE but the creation of the church. While much of the church treats the story as that it IS more than the end times from a practical point of view, they DO at the same time see the end times as the theme of the judgement of these two hypothetical groups. For us the story goes into the reality of agape as this should be expressed and NOT the doctrinal notion the the subject IS the end times. It IS from the perspective of agape that the king puts himself in place of those that hungered, thirsty, and so on. This IS clearly stated in the idea that men, addressing the hunger and the thirst of others ARE at the same time addressing the same to the Lord. Here the idea IS clearly that whensoever we tend to the needs of “one of the least of these my brethren” we ARE expressing agape to them and to the Lord. Can we see here how that the Master combines these two ideas of agape, of Love for our fellowman and through this our Love for the Lord. What we should see here IS that the sheep ARE expressing agape to their fellowman and for this they ARE rewarded spiritually while the goats ARE NOT expressing agape but ARE rather acting as the DO the priest and the Levite in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In the end we should see the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in terms of agape and its right expression according to the Master’s earlier words and NOT in regard to any view of the end times. Earlier we said that there IS a practical perspective also taken by the church; this we should see in the various ministries that have been created to somewhat address what Jesus calls “one of the least of these my brethren“. Food pantries serve the hungry and the thirsty, donations serve to help clothe men and ministries ARE established to visit the sick and the prisoner. This parable IS a rather long winded way to say one simple thing: that we should treat everyman as we would treat the Lord and that whatsoever we DO or DO NOT DO for everyman in agape Love, we ARE DOING likewise for the Lord. In essence we should also see how that this expression of agape for the Lord IS tantamount to keeping His words and this through the third part of our trifecta where the Master establishes the fact that we can ONLY Truly Love Him by keeping His words. By extrapolation then we should see that to DO as the Master tells us regarding the sheep of the parable IS then keeping His words and this purely through the reality of the second Great Commandment saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself“. While we should NOT need extrapolation to show the Master’s precepts, it IS at times necessary to connect the dots.
The point in ALL this IS that we should see the teaching of agape in the Master’s Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and understand that it IS NOT intended to serve as an end times prediction. It IS in Love that we care for our neighbor and it IS our expression to this agape Love to ALL that equates to and shows our Love for the Lord. We should ever remember that the Master gives us specific criteria concerning our proclaimed Love for Him and the Father and this IS found in His most simple words saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John14:15). We should try to see and to understand these words and those of the third part of our trifecta as the Truth of our proclamations of Love for the Lord and understand that NOT keeping His words IS our signet as well; our sign that we DO NOT Love the Lord. While this may be a difficult idea for the Christian world, it IS from His words as He tells us clearly that “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings“. We should also try to see that the simplicity of True Christianity IS found in His words saying “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me:” and here we should add a companion saying from the Master; He asks us rhetorically “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). When we understand Christianity this way, as that the KEY IS that we keep His words, we can better comprehend the more obtuse ideas presented in the New Testament which show us how that keeping His words IS accomplished in the lives of men in this world. However, we should also understand that the whole idea of keeping His words can be reduced to the singular idea of agape and its expression with NO “respect to persons” Perhaps it IS here that we must begin as we Repent and Transform our lives in this world, as we strive to overcome our vanity and ALL that it entails and while such ideas as the seven deadly sins may offer some guidance, these ARE solely concerned with our carnal activities. It IS in our expression of agape that we can begin to see the extent of our own error and failures as we allow an ever greater measure of Truth and Love into our heretofore carnal minds. Our expression of agape requires us to overcome much of our vanity and the nurturing and indoctrination with which we grew; our expression of agape requires us to see past our sense of pride and ALL else that keeps us bound to our carnal behaviors. As Paul so clearly tells us “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity agape, 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 agape, 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 agape, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Regardless our station in this Life, it IS our expression of agape that will move us forward.
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 |
- ** Wikipedia contributors, ‘The Sheep and the Goats’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 May 2023, 19:01 UTC, <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sheep_and_the_Goats&oldid=1154176164>
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher