Tag Archives: The Good Shepherd

ON LOVE; PART MCCCLXX

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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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In the last essay we came upon the Master’s final comparison of the Kingdom of God to things that men can think about. Thinking about the Kingdom IS to think about the unknown; it IS beyond the grasp of the finite mind which DOES neither see nor understand matters of Spirit and how the spiritual intersects with the carnal. The intersection IS of course in the minds of men and understanding the very nature of Spirit IS the product of our Repentance, our Transformation and finally our adoption into what the Apostle Peter calls the “exceeding great and precious promises” which ARE that we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The Apostle Paul tells us that this sense of adoption IS “to wit, the redemption of our body” and in these interchangeable ideas we have the first three steps that must be taken by the Soul through his carnal apparatus: Repentance, Transformation and then Redemption. In these IS the logical Way that a man in this world can progress spiritually as DID the apostles of Christ and likely countless Souls about whom we DO NOT hear. This IS perforce a very private journey and the fruits of this journey ARE reflected ONLY in one’s expression of the Good, the Beautiful and the True, the things of God. Such a Life rarely results in being noticeable for what it IS but we should note here that many of the forerunners of change, harbingers if you will, ARE a part of this unique group of Souls. A group able to channel Soul Power through form Life in ways that have helped to change the world and move societies forward into ever greater accomplishment. In the mysteries of Life there IS the propensity of some to greatness in some area of Life, a propensity that perhaps bewilders those who have it and which can result in the ‘greatness’ intended by the Soul. We should understand that without a focus upon the reality of God, these men have achieved their greatness without Truly KNOWING the source of their Power for change and, for some, this has resulted in a negative turn of the Life. For others there may be a faint understanding while others still can have a complete picture of the mysteries involved as did some of the Apostles of the Lord. From our perspective ALL of these variations of Truth ARE part of the Great and Awesome Plan of God; a Plan that IS intended to move ALL humanity ever closer to the Truth and it IS in the lives of the fully aware that the True depths of spirituality can be promulgated. In this we should try to see that the Master’s teaching IS the Plan; it IS intended to move ALL humanity closer to the Truth that IS God. We should understand here that these ideas ARE but vague presentations of the destiny of ALL men as it IS summarized in a few words by Paul who tells us 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. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:20-23).

We should see here that the creation IS the Spirit manifest as Soul as it IS in the first chapter of Genesis where we read that “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27). It IS the Soul that IS subjected to vanity by way of his birth in this world as a man; it IS the human tendencies that ARE vanity and it IS these that ARE exacerbated through the nurturing and indoctrination that ALL must endure. Through this we turn into carnal men seeing ONLY the world around us through the eyes of our nurturing and indoctrination. We should understand here that it IS from the point of birth that we ARE on our own and it IS here that the previous victories of the Soul play an important but NOT essential part. The further one advances toward that integration of the Soul and his expression in this world in a Lifetime, the more prepared he will be to carry on that integration in the next Life and, as we note above, this integration can take many paths; religion and spirituality ARE NOT the ONLY ways to fulfillment in Life. These ARE however our focus as we seek to instruct men on the Way to the Truth; the other paths of Life, while undertaking the Plan of the Soul and therefore of the Lord, DO NOT seek the adoption but rather they seek to fulfill their part in the Plan. These Paths may see some sense of religion but it IS NOT a necessary component and here we should look at some of the Great Men who have come before us with world changing messages, inventions and deeds. We should also make note of those great men who travel on the side of evil and here we should try to see how that on both sides, the Good and the evil, the Truth that IS the Soul must perforce work through the carnal man which interprets and expresses that Truth. From our perspective it IS ONLY on the spiritual side, on the Path that seeks the adoption, that we can be Truly free from the vanity of Life and thereby be free from the illusion and the glamour that plague the lives of most ALL men. It IS only on the spiritual Path that we can have True realization of the Kingdom of God, “enter in” if you prefer, during our Lifetime. This should NOT however detract from those on the other Paths, the Good and NOT the evil, these will garner the rewards of their expression of Truth as Souls just as will those on the spiritual Path. Paul shows us the reward as being freed “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” as we ARE “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. Peter shows us this reward a bit differently as he tells us of the “exceeding great and precious promises” which ARE that we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). We should understand that being a partaker IS ever a matter of measure and here we should see first the lack of being a partaker, living in the vanity, and then the degree of freedom by which we ARE partakers, the freedom of that “glorious liberty of the children of God“. Finally we should see the fullness of being “partakers of the divine nature” as we ‘receive’ “the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. Can we see the point here?

We should try to see the idea of Great Men in the lives of the apostles, Great Men who were on the Path of spirituality rather than on a mission of importance. Both ARE listening to the Soul’s promptings and interpreting it according to their equipment, their personality guided mind. Paul and Peter DO write the same Truths using starkly different words and ideas. In this we must include the Apostles John and James whose grasp of the Truth IS NOT the same as Peter’s and Paul’s but their words ARE of equal value and show us the same eternal Truths ALL of which ARE based in the words of the Master of which our trifecta IS our best example; we read:

• “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).

Jesus shows us the way to the Kingdom, to the Truth and to His Presence, the Presence of Christ in one’s Life. The apostles clarify and amplify Jesus’ words and while much of the church chooses to see its new covenant in the words of Paul; this IS become their impediment to Truth as men fail to understand that there IS NO shortcut….that one exists IS but their mass illusion based in carnal desire rather than spiritual intent. To be sure there ARE plenty of men in the church today who can be the forerunners of the New Age, plenty who ARE ready as Souls to expand upon their previous spiritual accomplishments. However, because they have come to rely upon their doctrinal beliefs as their Truth, because they have embraced their idea of a new covenant, they ARE failing in their human propensity to ask, to seek and to knock (Luke 11:9); and this because they believe that they have found the Truth. Returning to the theme with which we left off in the last post, we should try to see that the Master understands the reality that men will follow the path of least resistance as He gives us a basis for a solid understanding of the Kingdom of God. This understanding IS NOT completely hidden in His parabolic words but IS rather evident and tells us that should men Truly seek the Kingdom, they will find it. They will find it as the DOES the man who sows the “mustard seed” and if we can see that this man was seeking the Kingdom, found a grain of Truth and sowed it into his Life, we can understand the Path which ALL must take in our journey toward the True rewards of Life. Similarly we should see the woman who leavens her whole Life as she senses the value of the Kingdom and mingles that sense, hides it as the idea IS rendered, with her existing personality till “the whole was leavened“, until she has realization of the Kingdom of God. Should we comport this idea with the Master’s words from our trifecta we can see that her mingling of the leaven with her heretofore carnal Life IS the reality of keeping His words which IS the mechanism of change. The same ideas ARE True in the Master’s parable concerning the treasure that was “hid in a field“; here again we have a man recognizing its value, recognizing the value of the Kingdom of God, and forsaking ALL to possess it. While the ideas here ARE clearly presented within these parabolic sayings, most ALL still see the Kingdom as a place to go at the death of a ‘believer‘ rather than the reward for one’s Repentance and his drive toward Transformation. Repeating our selection from the Master’s words likening the Kingdom to ordinary human ideas we read:

• “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof“
• “Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it“
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away” (Matthew 13:31-32, 33, 44, 45-46, 47-48).

As we discussed in the last essay, the last comparison from this list IS a bit cryptic and perhaps DOES show us a view of the ‘end times’. However, there IS little clarity in Jesus’ words regarding this end as some of His words clearly point to the siege of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple. We should try to understand here that there ARE ‘end times’ theories among the Jews as well and that these DID creep into the thinking of even the Master’s apostles, some of which believed that this end would come in their Lifetimes. Based in this we can try to see Jesus’ words on the net as addressing those persons and showing them that the comportment of a man will determine his place and here we should try to see that this place IS either one’s ability to enter into the Kingdom in Life or to remain a carnal creature in this world. We should note here that in Jesus’ continuing words we find the idea of the fate of the wicked but there IS NO mention of heaven for the just. Jesus says “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:47-50). In the last essay we discussed some of the ideas behind the Greek word aion which IS rendered here as “the world” and IS also seen in terms of an age. Both of these ideas ARE ill defined and we should note that the word IS used by Jesus in regard to the happenings of 70 AD as well as this theme that IS interpreted as the end. While it IS difficult to discern Jesus’ intent here we should try to connect it to the previous ideas, to the previous comparisons of the Kingdom. Continuing in this vein can lead us to a better understanding of the Master’s final words in this segment of discussion. Thayer’s offers us an additional view as part of their defining ideas for aion; they say at the beginning of their article that based in the Greek usage of aion that this word is: so connected with ἄημι to breathe, blow, as to denote properly that which causes life, vital force ⁹. Can we see how that this can be in reference to one’s individual Life as well as the whole population? While this seems then to also reference one’s death as well the ‘end times’ several other conclusions can be drawn as we relate these words to Jesus’ final words in this parabolic saying: “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52). We must begin here with our own view of the idea of judgement, that there IS NOT a God on a throne judging men and we should note that were this True most everyman would be cast “into the furnace of fire” for most everyman fails against the commandments of the Lord. That doctrines teach men that by their faith and believing, by their accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior or through some sacraments, that they ARE saved from this judgement IS but a part of the great illusion created in vanity and exacerbated by men’s blind following of their choice of doctrinal precepts. The essence of judgement IS a purely personal thing; ONLY a man KNOWS his own heart. If we can see the idea of the angel as a man’s Soul, as the messenger that brings the Truth into his form Life in this world, we can then begin to decrypt those cryptic passages regarding the end and better understand the Master’s parables and His parabolic way of teaching. We should remember that most ALL things spiritual must be discerned by the man based upon his own revelations of Truth; revelations that flow from the Soul. It IS the Soul, referred to by some as the solar angel, that judges the ‘quality’ of His Life in this world and we should understand that it IS in this world that a Soul progresses toward that ultimate goal of Transfiguration through which he IS freed from the cycle of Life in form in this world scheme. The Transfiguration of the Master IS a sign of our own potential and here we reflect again on the words of the Apostle John who tells us that “as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). We should remember as well Jesus’ own words that tell us clearly that “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). We should NOT be fooled by these words as many Christians ARE. This idea of “believing on” Him IS NOT that nebulous sense of ‘believing‘ taught by doctrines but rather the reality of KNOWING Him. Here again John’s words can help us to see what this means as he tells us “hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (1 John 2:3-5). And Vincent helps us to see this Truth as he writes that to believe on the Christ IS: to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life ⁴.

Transfiguration IS among those “greater works” and it IS a part of who and what Jesus IS and through this “so are we in this world“. That the church DOES NOT see this IS a conscious decision based in the same motivations that created their doctrinal approaches to God….an ardent desire to continue as men in this world. Pursuit of a spiritual Life IS a pursuit of the unknown and while this IS likely True for ALL at the outset, the sense of fear attached to the spiritual unknown dissipates in proportion to one’s revelations of Truth. We should understand that this sense of fear IS a part of the vanity into which ALL men ARE cast as Souls but it IS our escape from this that IS the objective of the Life of everyman, an escape that begins in Repentance, continues in our Transformation and ends in our Redemption, our “adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body“. This Union with the Truth, this Union with the Godhead, IS the Union of the Soul with his expression in this world as they become One and it IS here that the fullness of the Transfiguration IS possible. The body, the whole of the form Life, becomes what it IS intended to be: the tool by which the Soul can express the Truth and the Love that IS the Lord. In this Transfiguration the body becomes superfluous in a way and it IS this that Jesus shows us before and after His resurrection as He can appear and disappear and appear in a different form; the Transfiguration changes the Redeemed body in ways that we CAN NOT comprehend in our finite minds any better than we can understand eternity and infinity. The Old testament references to Enoch and Elijah, the way that they ARE taken away from Earthly existance. Of Enoch we read that “Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Genesis 5:24) and the writer of Hebrews understanding of this as he tells us that “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). Of Elijah we read that “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). Can we see the point here? Can we see how that for both the body became superfluous, an unnecessary appendage? We should understand here that these ARE but examples of the effect of Transfiguration and that there ARE many over the ages that accomplished this, the goal of ALL Souls. We should try to see also that the spiritually enabled, those with some measure of expression of Truth and agape, DO NOT broadcast their discipleship but maintain a measured response to a world of men that would NOT understand such “greater things“. That the Baptist and the Master DID broadcast their expressions of Truth and agape, they DID so with purpose and with a Plan and here we should look also to another example of Truth that IS shown to us amidst the bible stories and prophecies. The Prophet Malachi, who lived some five centuries after Elijah and four centuries before the birth of the Baptist, prophesied, saying as the Lord, that: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5). In this we have the promise that a Soul, a Great Soul that was translated away from physical form, would return to assist the Master in His most necessary endeavor. As John the Baptist the Spirit of Elijah IS born again into this world; we read in Luke’s Gospel that the angel’s words to the Baptist’s father replicate Malachi’s prophecy saying: “he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:15-17). The point here IS to show deeper the continuation of Life, not as men but as Souls, as Spirit, that willingly reenter the circle of Life to accomplish some necessary work according to the Plan. If we can see this idea of willful reentering in the lives of the apostles and ALL those that play instrumental roles in the success of Jesus’ most essential mission, we can likely begin to understand much. And while the idea that Elijah and the Baptist ARE the same IS rejected by many for lack of understanding, Jesus Himself tells us of the Truth saying of John the Baptist “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:11-15).

Again, the church DOES NOT accept the ideas presented as literal statements of Truth and this because of a seemingly universal disdain for the ideas of reincarnation and rebirth. They soundly reject the whole premise which IS, again, based in their ardent desire to continue as men in their current personality, even after the death of the body. We should note that much of the world believes in the concept of reincarnation but we should understand here that their beliefs ARE based in the several doctrines that teach their various doctrinal ideas and NOT the unknown Truth. While the idea of the transmigration of Souls into animals can definitely play a part in the Christian disdain for the idea of reincarnation, this IS but a doctrinal approach that IS NOT based in Truth. Doctrines treat every religion the same way and while there may be different reasons, most ALL have diluted and changed the Truth to suit the psyche of men. The Christian has little to hold onto in the argument however as they lean on a singular saying from the Book of Hebrews saying “as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), a saying that IS taken out of context and misapplied to the doctrinal view of Life. From the perspective of the man in this world, they DO die but once; when considered from the perspective of the Soul however, this argument fails. In the end we DO NOT KNOW what happens when people die but there ARE pointed stories and historical realities which DO show us the reality of this concept of reincarnation and if we attach a spiritual value to the idea, we can easily see past the doctrinal versions. In the above we should be able to see that Enoch, Elijah and Jesus ARE similarly accomplished Souls; at the same time however we should remember of Jesus that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). For us this sets Jesus apart from Enoch and Elijah as Jesus IS the Master of all the Masters, and the Teacher alike of angels and of men** as He IS understood esoterically. We should understand here that it IS the Christ Principle that teaches men and it IS this principal that IS found in its fullness in the Life of the Master Jesus. We should try to see through the words of John regarding the unction, the anointing to be more clear, that it IS this integral part of everyman, his Soul, that ultimately conveys into the finite mind a sense of the infinite, allowing him to see Cosmic realities that the average man CAN NOT even imagine. These realities ARE “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations” which the Apostle Paul simplifies for us as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:26, 27). By relating the words here to their literal interpretations we should try to see how that christos which IS always rendered as Christ, as the person of Jesus if you will, means the anointed. If we can connect the dots that the doctrinal thinker refuses to connect we should be able to understand that the unction, which means anointing from the Greek word chrisma, will make everyman who has revelation of this Truth also anointed according to John’s words saying “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things“. The apostle continues saying that “the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:20, 27).

John’s intent IS NOT that the casual believer, the believer in their choice of nebulous doctrinal precepts, has this unction working in his Life, the apostle never says that. What he says to those who he presumes ARE the True followers of the Lord IS that while ALL men may have this anointing as their spiritual driver, NOT ALL have it active in their lives. It IS to this end that John calls us liars who DO NOT keep His words and continually shows us that it IS agape that brings men to the Lord’s table. And it IS NOT ONLY John that shows us these things; it IS ALL the apostles and the Master’s words that ARE shown us in the Gospels. This brings us again to the ideas of the Kingdom of God that ARE presented to us by the Master in His comparisons to ordinary things. It IS this simplicity that He wants men to see and NOT the made up ideas based in fables and the inventions of men. Paul shows us this in his letter to Titus saying that “there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers” and that those that he teaches should be “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth“. Of course the doctrinal thinker DOES NOT see himself as one given to such fables; the doctrinal thinker ever sees the other man, the other religion, the other culture, as heeding such carnal ideas. He IS blinded by the church that should have been heeding Paul’s instructions to Titus but which instead replaces the “sound doctrine” (Titus 10, 14, 9) of the Master with the essence of their vanity, and this according to the Master’s cry against the Jews saying “Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7). And such ARE the doctrinal views of men regarding the Kingdom of God which they teach with NO True scriptural reference; teachings that they insist ARE “sound doctrine” while in reality they ARE a much varied array of carnal ideas which ARE but the “commandments of men“. It IS “sound doctrine” that IS the words of the Master, words that expand and enhance the ideas of the law presented by Moses and made carnal by the Jews interpretations and traditions. It IS these interpretations, this mitzvah if you will, that Jesus rails against in His discourse with the Jews and it IS this same human tendency that Paul IS instructing Titus in. Here we should try to see how that in the first four of the Master’s comparisons regarding the Kingdom of God there IS such “sound doctrine” as we learn first the importance of the Kingdom to us here and now and second how that the intent IS that once a man glimpses the Kingdom that he will pursue it vigorously.

Whether we consider the planting of the “mustard seed“, the Kingdom which a man has glimpsed, into his Life or we ARE seeing the Kingdom as leaven and applying it to one’s Life here and now, the idea IS the same. The KEY IS ever to incorporate the Kingdom into Life and, if we look back at Jesus’ words from our trifecta, this incorporation IS that we “doeth will of my Father which is in heaven“. Similarly if we can recognize the Kingdom as a treasure or as a “pearl of great price“, we can then recognize as well the need to forsake our carnal existance and pursue the Truth, and to posses the Kingdom here and now. The point here IS that these instructions clearly show us that the Kingdom IS NOT some far off place and time where we ‘live’ eternally in a nebulous and illusory state after death. The point here IS that to work religiously in the nebulous ideas of the doctrines of men in order to achieve some level of contentment based in a belief that we will achieve heaven when we die, IS but a chimera. Here we should try to see that this idea of chimera IS NOT some grotesque monster but rather: a vain or idle fancy; a creature of the imagination, composed of contradictions or absurdities, that can have no existence except in thought ¹ as Webster’s 1828 dictionary shows us.

While we have drifted off of our main topic of agape as shown us in our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Corinthians. This essay’s topics ARE of course connected as ARE ALL things spiritual and we should note here that the Master IS instructing us in the importance of attaining the Kingdom and how that we must move past ALL carnal pursuits to gain the Kingdom here and now. This IS the ONLY True Way to be “born again” which IS the gateway to being able to “see the kingdom of God” (John 3:6, 3). In this we should see the Master’s words on the Kingdom saying that “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” and understand this as keeping His words through the singular idea of agape of which Paul tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 54:14). We close today with our selection from Paul’s epistle and a note that we have yet to finish our commentary on the Master’s final words from our selection of His comparisons of the Kingdom to carnal things that we can understand. Repeating Paul’s most important words we read:

“covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. 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. Charity Agape suffereth long, and is kind; charity agape envieth not; charity agape vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity Agape never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity” (1Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13).

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913 from https://1828.mshaffer.com/
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
• ⁹ Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
• ** Esoteric Psychology Vol. 2 by Alice A Bailey © 1942 by Lucis Trust

Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.

Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher