ON LOVE; PART DCXLVIII
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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 discussed how that it can be seen that the Apostle James IS speaking to us regarding the relationship with one’s own Soul as he tells us to “call for the elders of the church” as a remedy for the weakness that the aspirant and the disciple may encounter in resisting the temptations that could draw him back into a focus upon the things of the world. We noted that the only time that the man who Truly strives toward the Kingdom was likely to be able to find an elder that sees Life in the same view as the apostle, which view IS easily discerned from his writing, IS before the sense of doctrine overwhelmed the Truth of the Master’w words. In our view this same difficulty is a part of the fabric of James’ writing which we can see in his misunderstood words on teaching and on the reality of Wisdom from above to name just two. We can see in the totality of the apostle’s words that there IS also his view of the nature of duality, the nature of the double minded man, and the cautions that one must maintain his focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, upon the things of God.
While the words become more muddy from this perspective than they DO appear in the view that the elder is an outside person, we should note that the very words that are used in translation are meant to lean one’s understanding to this doctrinal idea and that much of the meaning of the Greek words IS based upon the perceived meaning in its usage and that this perceived meaning IS the translators own doctrinal bent. In this light we should see the ideas behind the words that we discussed at the end of the last essay, the words that are rendered as “one another” which can have very different meanings; and this IS NOT limited to this word but afflicts our understanding of many words, and especially James’ choice of many of the more obscure Greek words and phrases. There IS a large difference in one’s understanding of an idea when the different choices of rendering are used; here in our subject phrase we have this same Greek word allelon rendered as: one another 76, themselves 12, yourselves 3, miscellaneous 9 2. Our point here IS that we are pointed to a particular understanding by the ideas of the translators or by the doctrinal bent of the translation team and this IS made most difficult by the addition of the idea that much of what the Master and His apostles tell us IS parabolic and spiritual while much of the translation IS literal and carnal.
And in a way we too are guilty of this same thing, that we interpret the words to show what we believe IS the intent of the writer; it IS because of this factor in ALL interpretations of scripture the reader must ever be careful regarding what to believe; and, in this we should see the deeper reality of the apostle’s words on the Wisdom from above. Here in these sayings we see the spiritual reality of this working in patience for the “coming of the Lord” as the reality of the fullness of the God Within coming into one’s Life as this IS what the aspirant and the disciple ARE working toward; we DO NOT see the eschatological ideas of the ‘end times’ nor the death of the man as these would be illogical in our view and of no help to the man struggling in duality. We should see this idea of patience in a similar way to these words that we often read from the Apostle Paul who tells us that:
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For 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 8:19-23).
The words are different and Paul DOES NOT use the idea of patience other than to imply it in the waiting and we should see that his intent is that we can see the idea of our own work of salvation as what it IS that the aspirant and the disciple DO while they wait for the fullness of Sons of God in the Earth; the union that IS represented by the idea of adoption where these sons Truly become One with God. The doctrinal view of these ideas IS varied and according to the various doctrines espoused by the churches. We have discussed these words many times and for us these are simply the way of Life in this world, that the incarnating Souls ARE subjected to this vanity, this separation from God; this vanity which Vincent tells us should be seen as it is: the reference is to a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends 4. It IS this vanity that we see as the illusion and the glamour of Life in form which causes men to see this Earth existence as the Truth of Life while we see that the reality of Life IS found in the right discernment of the words of scripture. Doctrine converts much of what we see as the active participation of man in his own True journey toward the Kingdom into the greater obscurity of the ‘end times’.
And this IS our perspective, that James’ words, more than the words of any other apostle, ARE intended to show a man how that he should live and act in the world in much the same way as the instructions of the Master. It IS in these instructions from Jesus and James that a man can Truly enter into that strait gate in the ‘here and now’ of his Life and while the Master gives us the specific ideas that will take us on that journey, James shows us how it IS that these work out in the world of illusion and glamour and in our own sense of duality. Repeating our current selection again:
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold , the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation. Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed . The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:7-16).
As we have discussed, the ideas of afflicted and of being merry, as well as the idea of being sick which IS better understood as weak, ARE intended to be instructive tools for our use in overcoming whatsoever temptation we may face. We explained our thoughts on these tools two posts back as we began to contemplate the Truth that for the man who sees the words of the Master with clarity, the man who sees the Truth of Love and the reality of the journey to the Kingdom over doctrine, CAN NOT find the help of elders in the most general way that the apostle presents this. It IS in this realization that we must see the underlying Truth that we begin above, that the apostle DID NOT mean us to see this ONLY in regard to the chance that there would be others of like direction, aspirants and disciples of like mind, available to help; he meant for us to see the deeper spiritual values found in our focus upon the things of God. In our ideas above we can see the divide between our view and the doctrinal view that has been a great part of the nurturing of so many through the centuries. We see the prospect of the Kingdom of God ‘here and now’ and this IS how we see this presented to us in the words of the Master and His apostles; doctrine sees the reward of the Kingdom in some ‘end time’ that is NOT defined nor understood or in the time of the death of a person. Neither of these ideas IS Truly presented in the words of the Master NOR IS there any agreement on the presentation of this among the thousands of denominations and sects of Christianity.
And so our premise here that James IS speaking to both sides of this issue of weakness; that if there be such men, such elders, who can help, that the troubled and weak man should call upon them; and, that if there IS NOT as we understand this today, that one should rely upon his own Inner self, the elder in his own Life, his own Soul. Here, in the idea of “Confess your faults” we can see the more spiritual idea of the admission of one’s own trespasses, one’s own sense of sin and loss of focus, to himself as a realization of his True place upon the Path to the Kingdom. It IS in this way that a man can help himself to resolve the duality that IS inherent in his being the aspirant and the disciple and we should try to see here that in the complexities of Life in the world men can and DO hide things from themselves. This IS a part of the deception that the apostle teaches us of in that most profound saying that we should: “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
Here, if we can see past the translated words that say “one another” and see the alternate ideas of yourselves and themselves, we can see our point most clearly and understand that perhaps the selection of this phrasing by the apostle IS intended to show both sides of this. While we CAN NOT KNOW this, it would be our view that the latter idea was intended throughout as the prospect of elders was always lost in the natural ways of men in the world and this IS True even under the cover of doctrine. The other choice here IS that James could not foresee the ways that doctrines would change the Truth of the Lord and how that the many denominations and sects would dilute the reality of His words. in this the idea of elders would be what it literally IS. But James IS NOT naive as we can see in his straightforward and blunt assessment of the turn of some who had been committed to their striving back into the ways of the world; and we should see that it IS these who have turned back in some part of their view of Truth that the apostle IS addressing with these very words.
Here, while we may NOT be accurate in our assessment of the apostle’s intent, we ARE sure that in the search for Truth that one MUST go to another who has such Truth for there to be any help. We can see then that if it IS some specific doctrinal Truth, one should go to the elders in that doctrine and if one IS seeking the Universal Truth of God as James presents, one must go to another who would have such Truth. In this view we are again led to the words of the Apostle John which offer us the reality of who has this Truth; we read: “ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things” and in these words that are intentionally obscure and addressed to the same aspirant and disciple, we should see the reality of anointing, and in anointing we should see the Christ Within. Here again the reader must discern the meaning of the words offered; this the word rendered as unction IS the same as that rendered as anointing and, as we have discussed, the related Greek word christos which IS always rendered as Christ, IS also defined as this same idea of anointed. Hence we discern the relationship of chirstos, the Christ or anointed as an adjective, and the chrisma, the anointing as a noun.
We should see here as well that if the standard definition of this word chrisma IS as the lexicon shows us; as: anything smeared on, unguent, ointment, usually prepared by the Hebrews from oil and aromatic herbs. Anointing was the inaugural ceremony for priests 2, that this saying has NO meaning in reality. Vincent helps us here a bit as he tells us that: An unction (χρίσμα); The word means that with which the anointing is performed – the unguent or ointment. In the New Testament only here and 1 John 2:27. Rev., an anointing. The root of this word and of Χριστός , Christ, is the same. See on Matthew 1:1. The anointing is from the Anointed 4. Should we beleive that this unction which allows us to “know all things” IS an ointment? Or can we see the idea that this IS the Christ Within, the Soul, which DOES “know all things“? The latter IS of course the reality and IS similar the the doctrinal understanding although doctrine DOES NOT see the reality of the Soul as the Christ Within. A bit of this from John Gill will shows the doctrinal idea as: But ye have an unction from the Holy One; Meaning the Spirit, and his graces, with which Christ, the head, is anointed without measure, and his members in measure; from whence he is called Christ, and they Christians. These were really the Lord’s anointed ones; they were true believers; were the wise virgins who had oil in their vessels with their lamps, which would never go out. The grace of the Spirit is called a chrism, or an ointment, or an anointing, in allusion to the anointing oil under the law 8.
We should see in this that it is the carnal man in the world who Mr. Gill sees as anointed by the idea of Christianity and we are saying the same thing but on a much deeper level that sees the Truth of the Christian as the man who keeps His words and strives toward the Kingdom of God. Our reality IS that ALL have this anointing as men in this world and this anointing IS the Life and the consciousness that the Soul imparts to each man and which IS ONLY Truly realized by the man whose focus IS NOT on the carnal self and the self’s interests in the world. Here we see that the Soul, the anointing, the Christ Within, KNOWS ALL things as an inherent part of his divine nature and here Mr. Gill tells us that: and ye know all things; for this anointing is a teaching one; it makes persons of quick understanding; it enlightens their understandings, refreshes their memories, and strengthens all the powers and faculties of the soul; it leads into the knowledge of all spiritual things, into all the mysteries of grace, and truths of the Gospel, into all things necessary for salvation; for these words are not to be taken in the largest sense, in which they are only applicable to the omniscient God, but to be restrained to the subject matter treated of, and to those things chiefly in which the antichrists and deceivers cited; and regard not a perfect knowledge, for those that know most of these things, under the influence of this unction, know but in part 8.
We should see here how that Mr. Gill’s doctrinal understanding undercuts the reality of John’s words to the satisfaction of the doctrines while we expand the ideas to our Truth of the Soul and the Inner Life of the man that can instill this KNOWING ALL things in the carnal Life as the man in the world. It IS to each of us to discern our own understanding of the Truth in the Light of this unction of which the apostle also tells us “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). In this we should see the reality of James’ Wisdom from above and our own encouragement and hope to extend our patience and focus upon the things of God; that this IS the greater reality of the help that we can receive from the elders, the divine Souls that ARE the essence of Truth.
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.
Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
- 2 New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
- 8 Bible commentaries on BibleStudyTools.com
