Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART LXVII

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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 missed posting a new essay yesterday as the rigors of moving and setting up a new household to their toll on the time and the energy and in the thought that we must get this done and finished. We are back today however and we are also closer to United Nations Day which is on the 24th of October. In our last essay we highlighted from the words of the Apostle Paul the idea of UNITY and brotherhood as he expressed them to the Epicureans, and Stoicks at Athens. It is this same sense of UNITY and of brotherhood that is taught us by the Christ and it is this same sense of Unity and brotherhood that is encapsulated in the United Nations Charter. The name of this organization itself is a testimony to its intent, an intent put into concrete form by the leading nations of the world at the close of the Great World War which, from the perspective of our reality, encompasses both World War ONE and World War TWO. The United Nations is the successor of the League of Nations that was organized at the end of the first part of the Great World War in 1919 but, because of the nature of the minds of the men at the time, it had not the power to act independently. While it did act to resolve the many disputes in the years after this first part of the Great War, it could not prevent the escalation of hostilities which ultimately resulted in the second part. Today, the United Nations has considerably more power that did the predecessor organization but it still relies heavily on the cooperation the the member states who at times are only concerned with their own self interests.

In countries like the United States there is general disapproval with many of the actions of the United Nations as they are contrary to the vision of many in this country and this displeasure is generally found along American political lines. While we can ALL recognize that there are problems and issues with the United Nations, it is still mankind’s best hope for enduring world peace and we can see that as a world body, the United Nations is subjected to the political self interests of the larger and most powerful of countries who, while cooperative in many areas if interest, are still separated by the ‘cold war’ attitudes of days past. Seeing however that the United Nations IS MANKIND’S BEST HOPE FOR ENDURING WORLD PEACE, its promotion and support should be in the heart of ALL especially those who profess to be spiritually minded. Let us look again at the Preamble to the Charter. First we repeat the saying which is the motto of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization:

’Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed‘

The Preamble to the treaty reads as follows:

“We the peoples of the United Nations determined: to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, And for these ends: to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples, Have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims: Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.”

It is this UNITY and this brotherhood that is expressed by Paul and taught by the Christ that gives hope to ALL from the perspective of the man in form and, although many live by the thought of “let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32), there is a deep rooted understanding of Life that most cannot express but which energizes us with the hope of eternal Life. This deep rooted understanding is from the realm of the Soul and it transcends the mind and the emotions which, being of the personality, at times rail against it. This is the illusion and the glamour of the world in which we live and to which we are subjected and it is these forces that cloud the mind which can not see through the fog and glimpse the reality of the Soul, yet the sense of it is there for most of us and this sense is a part of the prompting of the Soul to focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True which IS the Life of the Soul. The UNESCO motto tells us this from the perspective of the man in form and the mind that is of the personality in the world, a personality that seeks its own comfort and leads men to the horrors of war. Do we think that if men Truly believed that this Life in form was the only Life that they would be so willing to give up that Life for causes or in allegiances to country or leaders that are temporal or, can we see in this reality of Life in form a man’s sensing of this deep rooted understanding of Life which emanates from and IS this Life of the Soul in form? The entirety of man’s objective in Life is to express ever more of this understanding of the reality of Life through form and in this reality IS the righteousness of discipleship.

Our banner from United Nations day 2011 included our own dynamic ideal that is also the context of Paul’s thoughts from his words to the Epicureans, and Stoicks and which, without mention of God or religion, is the context of the United Nations Charter as well.:

One World, One Humanity, One God

We should understand here however that although the United Nations Preamble does not include reference to God, this is more to do with the intent to keep the Preamble and the Charter free from religion and the divisiveness of religion so that the reality of these words from Article One can be True: The Purposes of the United Nations are:…3. To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and…. . We should understand here that even without expressing any relationship to God that there is a fundamental inclusion from the right understanding of the Master’s words that we recently discussed saying:

“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:34-40).

The reality here and the extension of the Master’s words to the United Nations is of course in the last verse where we should try to see these very ideas within the scope and the intent of the Preamble and the Charter of the United Nations. In this we have the inclusion of God in the Preamble and the Charter of the United Nations and, with the right support of the world of men, we can together make this a reality. There should be no question in the Christian world of the intent of the Master in saying these words as He repeats them from the negative perspective and one MUST assume that this repetition is to tell us of the importance of this point that is sorely missing in world and in personal affairs. Jesus goes on to say that:

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying , Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:41-45).

The above is a guiding principal for discipleship and for being accounted worthy of His Kingdom and it is a guiding principal of the work of the United Nations as well and it is here in these words that we find God without the baggage of religion and we are hard pressed to identify a True religion in which this guiding principal is not an inherent part. Why the is this ALL so difficult? Simply because men in form do not see the Light of the Soul as the Master teaches but they are rather mired in the illusion and the glamour of Life in the world of things where the self is the primary concern and for many the only concern. The Master’s words above are our key to freedom, freedom from the bondage that holds us captive; free from what Paul calls vanity and which we KNOW as illusion and glamour. Could we but do as the Master says above, we could change the world and in short time, but we must not see these words as meaning just what Jesus uses as example; it is not just feeding and clothing and visiting but it is rather each man doing for the least of His brethren, a phrase that per force covers the entirety of humanity, what one would have others do for him which is of course the reality of the Golden Rule. And the heart of this is Love, progressive Love, active Love which is GoodWill.

Our Quote of the Day has not changed now for many days and in these sayings on Love we find the key to ALL things spiritual and it is this Love that sees one’s brother in distress from halfway around the world and steps out to help him in his travail. We as individuals cannot fulfill these needs of our brothers and we likely would not even KNOW nor recognize his plight. In organization however we can and this is the role of the United Nations; it is an organization that is built on a worldwide foundation of GoodWill which we also KNOW as Love in Action. Here in the United Nations we have this expression of GoodWill apart from religion and, at the same time, across ALL religions. While there is no religious requirement the work goes on and the GoodWill that is necessary to accomplish the words of the Master as they appear below in our Quote of the Day are expressed by many who call themselves Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish or any of the other religions of the world, and, they are expressed without evangelizing and they are free from ALL attempts at conversion making the effort of GoodWill by the United Nations of a Truer and more dynamic spiritual enterprise that the sometimes self-aggrandizing efforts of the religions of the world.

We close today with this group of sayings on peace and allied matters from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which I stumbled upon while looking for some additional information on UNESCO. Dr. King said:

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear…

That old law about “an eye for an eye” leaves everybody blind…

The time is always right to do the right thing…

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

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

We will continue with  our thoughts in the next post.

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’

• ⁴          Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• **     United Nations Website: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview.html
• ***   Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,