ON LOVE; PART DCXCVIII
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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.
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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).
In the last essay we continued in our look at the words below from the Apostle Paul as part of our discussion on grace and its relationship to the Holy Spirit. This theme comes to us in the view that grace IS the realizations and the revelations of Truth and Love that flow from our own Souls as we focus upon the things of God and that the Holy Spirit IS the operation of this grace, its activity if you will, in the Life of the aspirant and the disciple in the world. While these words from Paul may NOT seem to be in accordance with this theme according to doctrine, we should try to see the reality of grace as this IS presented as the apostle shows us that it IS the grace of God that comes to humanity in the progressive teachings of the patriarchs, then Moses and then the Master, each of whom bring to the world revelations of the reality of the Godhead. It IS the progressive nature of these teachings that are first, aligned with the mental and the emotional capability of men in the time that they ARE offered, and then that they ARE the next sequential step in the revelation of God to man. From the perspective of the patriarchs there IS faith, blind faith at times, that leads these individuals and those that they may influence to follow in the Ways of the Lord; from the perspective of Moses there IS the law which Paul shows us reveals the idea of sin to them who had not heretofore realized that their actions may be against the Will of God. Paul tells us that “sin is not imputed when there is no law” and he tells us as well that this sin DOES exist, that there IS “death by sin” and that this “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression“. In this we should see the greater reality of sin, that it IS NOT merely the offence that is against the law of God but that it IS the very activity of the man in the world based in his focus upon the things of the world and on himself; here we should try to understand that even in those days sin was ALL things that DID NOT focus upon the things of God and in this “all have sinned“.
And this IS Adam’s transgression; NOT that he eats the apple but that his focus comes off of the Truth and the Love that IS God and turns to himself in the world, to his own comforts and his own pleasures. And this IS the vanity that the apostle tells us of later in this same Epistle to the Romans; that vanity which explains for us the plight of men in the world according to the Plan of God. This IS the message of his saying that “the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). Here IS the way of the world and the expectation by the Plan of God that ALL will be delivered from this bondage; here IS this sense of vanity which sets the man in the world apart from God as his consciousness is distracted by his attractions and the attachments to the things and the ways of the flesh. This distraction IS the result of Life in the world, Life enmeshed in the illusion and the glamour which IS, and IS the cause of, this vanity. We see Paul’s words above as a part of this further revelation and progressive teaching which IS the grace of God; these ideas help the aspirant and the disciple in that day to more clearly see the reality of the story of the Garden of Eden and we should remember there that ALL such teaching has a parabolic value that hides the reality of the words from the man who IS NOT yet able to understand. And this same parabolic value IS a part of our subject sayings from Paul to the Romans that we have been discussing; here while the outer message has become a confirmation of sorts of the doctrinal ideas of the story of the the Garden, the inner message IS the progressive flow of grace into the world and into the consciousness of men who can see the Truth through their own focus upon the things of God. We read again:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:12-19).
And the further message here IS that it IS through this global offering of grace that men can come to realize grace in their own lives as the revelations and realizations of Truth that flow from one’s own Soul, from one’s own God and Christ Within. This IS True in faith of the patriarchs who came to rely upon God and NOT upon themselves; this IS True in the Life of the man who keeps the law as this becomes the focus of his Life in the world and this IS True of the man who hears and follows the words of the Master, the man who comes to see ALL men in the same way that He Himself sees them, the man who follows the Master’s example and keeps His words. ALL of these are grace in the lives of men, progressive ideas and perhaps progressive degrees, which are concurrent with the nature of the men in the world; this IS grace that meets the needs and IS according to the ability of mankind in time and space. That the ideas presented by the Master ARE NOT seen as they ARE intended by most men in the world IS likely the anticipated result as the working of the law and the reality of faith as we see in Life of Abraham were never universally held; these too were ONLY seen and understood by the minority of men. For the rest these ideas turn to doctrine….to the nebulous ideas of faith that ARE more mental and emotional than they ARE spiritual; to the doctrinal approach to the law where ceremony and ritual and adherence to the easier way of atonement replace the heart of the Lord’s commandments; and to the doctrinal approach to the words of the Master where the easier ideas that are interpreted from the words of His apostles are allowed to become the rule over the most straightforward message of the Master Himself.
And, as we discussed in the last essay, we have the very words of the Master and His apostles which are misinterpreted and translated according to doctrine rather than according to their spiritual intent. Here in these sayings from Paul we find the gift of grace as given by the Christ; the global gift of His Presence in the world and His timeless teachings. Here in these sayings we see that while the ways of the world, the way of sin, came upon ALL men, so the gift of the grace of the Christ, His way of righteousness, Truth and Love, came upon them as well as a global guiding Light. If we can see the last words above as that they speak of “the obedience” TO rather than the “the obedience” of we can likely see much more than IS realized today. That He was obedient IS NOT a question in that day nor today as He IS the Christ, the Son of God, and in that strange and mysterious way He IS God Himself….what need has He for this sense of obedience. Here, regardless of the doctrinal pronouncements, it IS ONLY by “the obedience” of the individual, it IS ONLY by keeping His words, that it can be that “many be made righteous“. And this obedience IS according to the faith, the True faith or KNOWING, of the patriarchs; this obedience IS according to the law which MUST remain the foundation of Truth in the world and, most importantly, this obedience IS in Love as the Master teaches us. This IS that Love of the new dispensation, that new reality of grace, that the Master offers us as the free gift of God; this IS that Love that is seen above in the Great Commandments and the Golden Rule and this IS that Love that the apostle shows us saying:
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:9).
This IS the reality of the grace of God as it works out in the lives of men whose focus IS upon the Truth of God and who are obedient to His words; this IS at the same time the reality of the man who “believeth on me” as we read in the Master’s words from John’s Gospel. In this grace IS the KNOWING and in this KNOWING IS the DOING and this DOING IS keeping His words. It IS in DOING that we unlock the favor, that we unlock the grace that we may have in realization and revelation which we find this through our focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, our focus upon the things of God. Hidden in this Truth IS the reality of DOING and while there IS the stronger inclination by the man who IS so focused to be a DOER, this IS NOT automatic and the Apostle James words to disciples and aspirants has much meaning in this respect. His words ARE to disciples and aspirants; it IS to them that he says “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22), and while this IS pertinent to ALL who may believe that they are “in Christ” from any perspective, this IS especially offered to us as those whose focus brings them to True Repentance. The art of keeping His words is a Lifelong effort for the aspirant and for the disciple who IS Transforming; an effort that must be the primary drive in Life and it IS toward success in this effort that we find the reality of those things that Jesus speaks of saying “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name” which we read in our words from John’s Gospel again:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:12-20).
This asking IS NOT unlike the ideas that we get from James who tells us of that Wisdom from above and that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). This IS the asking that the Master speaks of and NOT any of those things that ARE of the world or for the self in the world; and James cautions us on asking also as he says “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). We should try to see here that it IS in keeping His words that the reality of grace IS unlocked in one’s Life and that it IS in this unlocking that we can see the reality of these “greater works” and understand that these ARE ours for the asking. We should try to see also that in this idea of Jesus saying that “I go unto my Father” IS the seed thought for the reality of the Christ Within which IS further developed from the preceding words on His relationship with the Father, that “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” (John 14:11). He goes on to speak to us about the Truth of the Holy Spirit, the activity of the Christ Within in the Life of the disciple, the operation of His grace.
And this IS the context in which we should try to see the Master’s words; in the reality of “I am in the Father, and the Father in me” and in the Truth that it IS “the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10) IS the hidden message of the Spirit working through the form of Jesus. In this, combined with the Master’s words on “greater works“, that “the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“, we should be able to see that what IS True of the Master IS True of His disciples and IS True of us as well so long as we keep His words. It is in this context that we should try to understand the connection to asking as well, that the asking IS for the grace, the ability to DO these “greater works, which comes from focus, from keeping His words and from prayer which should be seen as that Union with God through the Christ Within, the Soul. Here then to these disciples, to the Eleven who ARE with Him and to us through them, we find John’s version of those ideas that we read of in the synoptic gospels, those ideas reflected in that rhetorical question “why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) and the similar saying from Matthew where we read “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Here in John we read “If ye love me, keep my commandments” and in these words ARE the same realities that we see in the synoptics above; it IS here we should see the Truth of the relationship between the disciple and his Lord.
And Jesus repeats this idea two more times as He continues in His teaching so that the reality IS inescapable. Here in the Master’s words we have Love, that same Love that we owe to the neighbor, to our brothers and to the stranger, that this IS ONLY Truly offered to Him if we are keeping His words. Can we see the deep significance of these ideas as Jesus leads us to see the reality of the God Within which we understand today as the Christ Within as well? Can we see the yet deeper idea of this Love as He gives it to us in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats and how that it IS this Love that He speaks of when He says: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
| Aspect |
Potency |
Aspect of Man |
In Relation to the Great Invocation |
In relation to the Christ |
|
GOD, The Father |
Will or Power |
Spirit or Life |
Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN |
Life |
|
Son, The Christ |
Love and Wisdom |
Soul or Christ Within |
Heart of God |
Truth |
|
Holy Spirit |
Light or Activity |
Life Within |
Mind of God |
Way |
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
We repeat here again a saying that is from the Bhagavad Gita, which goes well with our theme of the God Within, the Soul, which we see as the Christ Within and while this is good in the Christian world and is True based upon our understanding of the Christ as the manifestation of God, we should also see in these words below that it does not matter what these divine ideas are called; that it matters not what we call this Inner Man, that he is the same in ALL, he is the Soul.
Thou carriest within thee a sublime Friend whom thou knowest not. For God dwells in the inner part of every man, but few know how to find Him. The man who sacrifices his desires and his works to the Beings from whom the principles of everything stem, and by whom the Universe was formed, through this sacrifice attains perfection. For one who finds his happiness and joy within himself, and also his wisdom within himself is one with God. And, mark well, the soul which has found God is freed from rebirth and death, from old age and pain, and drinks the water of Immortality.—Bhagavad-Gita
It is difficult to tell just what verses of the Bhagavad Gita the above is from; whether it is a paraphrase or a combination. It is from the book “The Great Initiates” by Édouard Schuré which was originally published in French in 1889 and perhaps it is in the translation of the verses that they become hard to recognize. However, the sheer beauty of the presentation caught my attention and so I share it with you. The Path to the Kingdom is the same no matter what religion one professes.
