ON LOVE; PART DCLI
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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).
We ended the last post with some ideas on the Apostle James’ reference to the Prophet Elijah which comes after what we see as the apostle’s closing statement as he closes out his remarks about the Way of the disciple in an instruction on working patience and the last remedies available for the man who IS afflicted, the man who may have succumbed to some form of temptation and the man who finds himself weak in the face of temptation. ALL of these things that the apostle speaks on, the affliction, the weakness and the potential merriment that a man may find in some worldly benefit gained, should be seen as that these can happen to the same man and even at the same time; and that these are the result of the focus of the aspirant and the disciple upon the self and the things of the self instead of the things of God. These ideas can be seen in the reversion of the man who strives and whose focus IS on the Truth of God, finding his place in the ‘if the shoe fits’ world of James realities of the sins of men; this man would be afflicted by the ongoing sense of temptation, he may find some temporal joy in such things that he may DO, and he may suffer in that weakness, or better that sense of weakness, in which he can see himself succumbing to yet other carnal things that would take his attention away from his spiritual goals.
We must remember here that there ARE degrees involved in ALL things and that the ‘severity’ of those things that may take one’s attention will vary with the aspirants progress upon the Path and the disciples place. The closer to the goal, the greater the effect of the things of lesser apparent significance and we can perhaps see this in the example that IS set for us in the Life of the Apostle Peter. Peter is continually reproached, if we can use that word in this context, for things that we, as yet more carnally grounded men, CAN NOT understand as being wrong but which to the Master ARE Peter’s sin. We should try to understand here that the goal IS union of the Soul and the Life of the man in the world; that the fullness of his divine expression become the totality of one’s Life; from this perspective most anything that IS carnally focused IS sin. Perhaps we can see in this some added meaning to the Master oft repeated words that “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath” (Matthew 13:12) when we view this in the Light of His other saying that: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). This same Life “more abundantly” IS in the Love and the Power of the Soul, the Christ Within, and it IS this that IS one’s divine expression will bring to bear on the Life of the man in the world.
In the end it IS the fullness of divine expression that IS the objective of every Soul that incarnates in this world and it IS in this fullness that one can Truly realize the precepts of the First Great Commandment that we carry at the head of our daily essays’ that: “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“. In the Truth and in the reality of this saying there IS NO room left for aught that has its basis in the self and in the world. And this IS likely a scary endeavor and one that IS difficult to see oneself in. It IS for this reason that Life, especially spiritual Life, works out by degree, that we can grow into this awesome accomplishment in small steps that build upon each other. Here however we must understand that the foundation IS Love and that this Love, or the understanding of it and commitment to it, IS the essence of His words and the essence of one’s striving toward the Kingdom of God. It IS in the reality of striving and of degree of accomplishment that we should try to see the Master’s parables on the growth of the Kingdom of God; in the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Leaven we should see this idea of the growth of the Kingdom Within. While doctrine paints this quite differently, it IS in this idea of growth that our degree of both striving and communion increase and the greater one’s sense of these things, the greater their abundance and the more intent one’s striving and communion become; and this IS in accordance with the Master’s words above.
And this IS the point of James’ reference to Elijah as he IS in those days the picture of the man who has achieved that spiritual union, that spiritual expression in the world of men. Today the example would be in the lives of Peter and of Paul as these are the most complete pictures that we have but in James’ day and for James’ audience of Jew’s who had glimpsed the Light and who had broken away from the national climate of Jewish doctrine, Elijah IS the choice. While we DO KNOW very little of Elijah, we DO KNOW that he is among the very few who were ‘translated’, the very few who had overcome the world and had become the fullness of the expression of the Love and the Power of the Soul. In Elijah’s ‘translation’ we should see the reality of Redemption and the greater understanding of Transfiguration. Here, while the story IS clouded by the human interpretations of what has happened, we should be able to see that in the fullness of his expression of the Light, Love and Power of his own divine self, that the body which he used becomes expendable in much the same way as we see the body of the Master at His own Transfiguration. For the Master we should understand the Transfiguration as a display of the Light, Love and Power that He had always possessed in His Life as Jesus while in the Life of Elijah, we should see this as an accomplishment. The rules, if we can use that word here, ARE however the same; just as the Master could change His appearance at will and appear and disappear, so Elijah could DO as is written:
“And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee” This same scene plays out three times as they travel from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho and then to Jordan. “And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went , and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together , and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over , that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said , I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 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. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more…..He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said , Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go , we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not” (2 Kings 1:17).
This story IS told in the interpretations and the superstitions of those days and it IS left to us to discern the meaning of many parts including the idea of the whirlwind and the “chariot of fire“. In the Hebrew word that IS rendered as whirlwind we should see the idea of a storm and in this many believe that the body of Elijah IS transported into heaven. This IS of course a doctrinal view that IS based in the assumption that heaven IS a place and here, it IS a place in the sky. When we are able to understand the nature of these stories, that they are composed for the understanding of these men more than 2500 years ago, perhaps we will see the greater Truths. And what DO we suppose IS the nature of the chariots and the “horses of fire“; can we see some relationship here to the ways that the Transfiguration of the Lord is expressed by the gospel writers? We read these accounts of the Transfiguration of the Master:
- According to Matthew: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him” (Matthew 17:2-3).
- According to Mark: “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining , exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus” (Mark 9:2-4).
- According to Luke: “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:28-31).
In ALL of these the common parts are that there were James and John and Peter with Jesus and that there was the appearance of Moses and Elias who IS Elijah. The accounts of the Master’s Transfiguration all differ somewhat but in the brightness of the glow and the nature of the Master’s countenance which Matthew tells us is that “his face did shine as the sun“, we should be able to see the idea of fire? We should also be able to see what happens to Elijah in more modern terms and away from the superstition that abounded when the story IS told in Elijah’s day. Our point here IS that this IS the Elijah that the Jews in James’ day KNOW and it is for this reason that he IS used as the example to the apostle’s audience of the man of God and his power. In the story of Elijah that James shares with us and his further commentary which we read as:
“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (James 5:17-20).
We should see a picture of the Power of God working through the True disciple and this IS NOT unlike the Power of Peter and Paul which may well be happening at this time when James IS writing his words. It IS against the fact that King Ahab “did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (1 Kings 16:33) that the Prophet acted as the hand of God in disciplining the Nation of Israel through the use of this drought. Here we should see the point that this prayer IS not the words asking for intercession but this IS the Power of God focused through the man Elijah who IS in communion by this idea of prayer with his own Soul, his own God Within. This IS the Power to move the mountain and this comes ONLY to the man who has overcome the trials and the tribulations and the temptations and the sense of self of and in this world.
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 Chris.t |
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.
This Quote of the Day is the antithesis of glamour and illusion. In this mantram are the thoughts about ourselves and our brothers in the world that can diffuse those forces that hold a man in the world of things and prevent his spiritual progress.
Mantram of Unification
The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.
Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.
Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.
The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.
