IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 472

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART LXIV

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way , the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 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” (John 14:3-12).

We looked yesterday at our ideas on the relationships of God and Christ, the Father and the Son and the more personal Spirit and Soul. We can see in our way of looking at Life that these pairs are ALL synonymous with the only difference being in the context in which they are perceived. Man IS, the True man as Spirit and Soul IS, ‘part and parcel’ of the Supreme Lord or OUR ONE GOD. In the idea of ‘part and parcel’ as an idiom is the reality of something that cannot be separated from a condition or activity* and in these defining thoughts is the idea that we are trying to get across regarding our relationship to OUR GOD. We, as Spirit, CAN NOT be separated from God, and, if this is True, God CAN NOT be separated from us as well nor from any part of HIS Spiritual Creation. We should understand that on this physical plane, on this Earth and on every planet and star, ALL IS ENERGY. In saying this we imply that this ENERGY is also Spirit albeit on a much LOWER plane of existence as in the idea we can get from understanding that this ENERGY IS less evolved that the HIGHER ENERGY that can use it as its vehicle of expression. The degree that this can go both LOWER and HIGHER are immeasurable by our standards and our understanding permits but a glimpse of this which is evidenced by the rather constant discovery of smaller and smaller particles of ENERGY. There was a time before the atom was recognized as a factual particle and today we have subatomic particles like the quark and the search goes on to string theory and to Higgs Boson which some have given the name of the God Particle. 

While this seems far from our normal subject matter, we should understand that in our premise ALL IS GOD; these smallest of particles are combined into larger particles and this goes on and on to the planetary level and who is to say that a Solar System is not but another atomic structure in a yet greater Existence. While we look in awe at the reality of these energy forms, we must understand that each is a LIFE, although not a LIFE as we understand it, and each Life makes up a part of a larger Life and this we can see through the way that the cells of our own bodies are made up of molecules of varying purpose that are made up of atoms which are made up of subatomic particles and, again, there is no understanding of how far this reaches. Going in the other direction the body that we use, while it is made up of components from the Earth, is also a part of the Earth which is part of the Solar System which is part of a Galaxy and so on. ALL this is only in reference to physical matter; we have not yet touched upon the psychic parts of the man, the animal and in some way, perhaps most ALL things that can gather and use parts that become components of a body. In ALL this we have not touched either upon the True man who but uses the body and the psychic parts; he IS NOT them, he only uses them. Can we imagine a being who can make a planet His own body and can we understand in this context that ALL beings must pass through the stage that we call mankind which premise we take from yesterday’s idea that “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). Of course we must understand persons as the divine being of the man and not the form.

If we could but imagine what we Truly look like we would likely be amazed and, from this perspective as painted above we can see a glimpse of how small LIFE itself IS, from a physical plane perspective, as this would be seen in the smallest of the particles. If this is True, and we see this in Truth as the God Particle, what does this mean to us but that all particles that use these God Particles in their construction, can then be considered to be Life forms whose Life originates on another plane other than the physical plane and that these Life forms assemble and use this basic building block of matter which we thought at one time to be the atom but now we look inside the atom to find it. We could theorize on this endlessly and never come to a real understanding and, like we said, we have not yet looked at the reality of the lives that use the smaller lives with all their complexity and purpose.

One thing that we can perhaps clearly take away from this discussion is the reality of the idea that man is not this body and that ALL of this complexity and purpose of the parts that continually become the body of the man are not in the conscious control of the average man and it is in this context that we can see some of the miracles of Jesus and the apostles through their ability to have conscious control over these elemental happenings. For the rest of us the body has a Life of its own that is apart from the consciousness of man; it grows and it changes and it replaces cells all well below the threshold of consciousness. It is, from the perspective of the True man, an automation, and, being such, can be seen to be a part of what the Master calls for us mammon. How many men yet today serve the body and its cravings and its appetites while thinking and believing in many ways this body is the man.

In the last post we began to consider the idea of serving from the Master’s saying that  “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13) and here today we add to this that the body, the mind and the emotions of a man can be and are served by many who attend to the lusts and the cravings and the appetites of the form nature. This can be seen to be as much serving mammon as any other thoughts that one may have on this matter.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will  or Power	Spirit or Life	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Way

Continuing our look at the United Nations as we approach United Nations Day, we today have a further breakdown of the  Eight Millennium Development Goals.** These Eight Goals are further divided into twenty one Targets which we list here today along with the associated goals.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Target 1A: Halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day
  • Proportion of population below $1 per day (PPP values)
  • Poverty gap ratio [incidence x depth of poverty]
  • Share of poorest quintile in national consumption
• Target 1B: Achieve Decent Employment for Women, Men, and Young People
  • GDP Growth per Employed Person
  • Employment Rate
  • Proportion of employed population below $1 per day (PPP values)
  • Proportion of family-based workers in employed population
• Target 1C: Halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
  • Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age
  • Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

• Target 2A: By 2015, all children can complete a full course of primary schooling, girls and boys
  • Enrollment in primary education
  • Completion of primary education
  • everyone will get into school

 Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Target 3A: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015
  • Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education
  • Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector
  • Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament
  • For girls in some regions, education remains elusive
  • Poverty is a major barrier to education, especially among older girls
  • In every developing region except the CIS, men outnumber women in paid employment
  • Women are largely relegated to more vulnerable forms of employment
  • Women are over-represented in informal employment, with its lack of benefits and security
  • Top-level jobs still go to men — to an overwhelming degree
  • Women are slowly rising to political power, but mainly when boosted by quotas and other special measures

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates

• Target 4A: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
  • Under-five mortality rate
  • Infant (under 1) mortality rate
  • Proportion of 1-year-old children immunized against measles

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

• Target 5A: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
  • Maternal mortality ratio
  • Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel
• Target 5B: Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health
  • Contraceptive prevalence rate
  • Adolescent birth rate
  • Antenatal care coverage
  • Unmet need for family planning

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

• Target 6A: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
  • HIV prevalence among population aged 15–24 years
  • Condom use at last high-risk sex
  • Proportion of population aged 15–24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS
• Target 6B: Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
  • Proportion of population with advanced HIV infection with access to antiretroviral drugs
• Target 6C: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
  • Prevalence and death rates associated with malaria
  • Proportion of children under 5 sleeping under insecticide-treated bednets
  • Proportion of children under 5 with fever who are treated with appropriate anti-malarial drugs
  • Incidence, prevalence and death rates associated with tuberculosis
  • Proportion of tuberculosis cases detected and cured under DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Course)

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• Target 7A: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs; reverse loss of environmental resources
• Target 7B: Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
  • Proportion of land area covered by forest
  • CO₂ emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP (PPP)
  • Consumption of ozone-depleting substances
  • Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits
  • Proportion of total water resources used
  • Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected
  • Proportion of species threatened with extinction
• Target 7C: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation (for more information see the entry on water supply)
  • Proportion of population with sustainable access to an improved water source, urban and rural
  • Proportion of urban population with access to improved sanitation
• Target 7D: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers
  • Proportion of urban population living in slums

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

• Target 8A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
  • Includes a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction – both nationally and internationally
• Target 8B: Address the Special Needs of the Least Developed Countries (LDC)
  • Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports; enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPC and cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA (Official Development Assistance) for countries committed to poverty reduction
• Target 8C: Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and small island developing States
  • Through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly
• Target 8D: Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries through national and international measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term
  • Some of the indicators listed below are monitored separately for the least developed countries (LDCs), Africa, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States.
  • Official development assistance (ODA):
    • Net ODA, total and to LDCs, as percentage of OECD/DAC donors’ GNI
    • Proportion of total sector-allocable ODA of OECD/DAC donors to basic social services (basic education, primary health care, nutrition, safe water and sanitation)
    • Proportion of bilateral ODA of OECD/DAC donors that is untied
    • ODA received in landlocked countries as proportion of their GNIs
    • ODA received in small island developing States as proportion of their GNIs
  • Market access:
    • Proportion of total developed country imports (by value and excluding arms) from developing countries and from LDCs, admitted free of duty
    • Average tariffs imposed by developed countries on agricultural products and textiles and clothing from developing countries
    • Agricultural support estimate for OECD countries as percentage of their GDP
    • Proportion of ODA provided to help build trade capacity
  • Debt sustainability:
    • Total number of countries that have reached their HIPC decision points and number that have reached their HIPC completion points (cumulative)
    • Debt relief committed under HIPC initiative, US$
    • Debt service as a percentage of exports of goods and services
• Target 8E: In co-operation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable, essential drugs in developing countries
  • Proportion of population with access to affordable essential drugs on a sustainable basis
• Target 8F: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications
  • Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population
  • Personal computers in use per 100 population
  • Internet users per 100 Population

We should try to understand that in  many of these targets the objective is to offer to ALL our brothers and neighbors some modicum of those things that we take for granted and in many cases these are the basic necessities for sustenance. We should understand that it is the normal progression of evolution that creates this diversity and it is and always has been the responsibility of the more advanced to aid in this progression of the less advanced. In this idea we should try to see the reality of the choices that the Soul makes in taking on bodies and personalities through which he, as the Soul, can successfully express Life as ALL things are in this progression, the bodies with their personalities and the Souls that express through them.

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.:

So that we do not forget that the reality of this ALL is still LOVE which is our Truth regardless of whatever other realizations may come to us in Life, we present here again the Apostle Paul’s words followed by our own understanding of this reality:

….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 13:8-10).

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)

We should remember always to link to this Greatest Commandment that other saying of the Master that gives to us the practical understanding of how to love one’s self plus the practical instruction on how it is that we CAN Love our neighbour; He tells us:

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them

(Matthew 7:12)

Unlike so much of the Master’s sayings that come to us in the form of parables and for which we can only surmise that we have the spiritual presence to understand, these sayings are very straightforward and they are the key to many of the promises of spiritual life; they are the very key to the Kingdom of God. To these sayings we add our adopted definition of the Greek word agape (agapao) which is translated into the English words Love and Charity and which is:

‘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’

• **     United Nations Website: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html
• ***   Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 7 Oct. 2012.
• *       Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003