Monthly Archives: February 2013

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CLXIV

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

GoodWill IS Love in Action

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:1-15).

In the last post we finished with our list of sayings by the Master that we see as being rather clear in their presentation to us. These same sayings are misunderstood by much of the world or else they are ignored, diluted or changed by the doctrines of the church and the teachings thereof. Our basic understanding of this phenomenon of not seeing the reality in the Master’s words is intimately tied to the illusion and the glamour which beset mankind and which cause him to seek out ways of dealing with spiritual things through the eyes of the carnal man and this he does despite the cautions and the warnings that he receives from the Master, His apostles and from the impulses of his own Soul. We should understand that there is a reality of Life involved in these ideas that is difficult to overcome and, as the Master tells us, there are but few who can overcome. From the perspective of man, the church and its doctrines and the overall realty of Life in the world, we can readily understand why there is such dilution and change to the Truths that are written for us; we can see and understand this reality because we are a part of it with the only difference being that we KNOW that the seemingly realities of Life to be illusion from the perspective of the Soul, the True man, the Christ Within.

Seeing the unreal as the real from the perspective of the man in form causes what we can call a mediation of the Truths so that they allow for the ‘normal’ and ‘average’ Life of a man in the world, a Life that is rather free from the requirements of True repentance, a freedom that is based solely upon the misplaced perception that this Life in the world is of importance, that this is the True Life. In this illusory reality man defines those seemingly difficult sayings of the Master and His apostles so as to fit into the Life of this ‘normal’ and ‘average’ man and the ways of this Life in the world; it is in this defining that we find the dilution of the Master’s words, the ignoring of complete concepts and the changing of words and sayings to meet the spiritual need of the times. It is this that we find in the general understanding of the verses that are at the top of our essay where being born again is not seen as the Master intends which is to do “the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21) but rather as the emotional effect of certain affirmations and confessions and perhaps baptism dependent upon the particular doctrine to which one subscribes. This way of seeing scripture is carried across a multiplicity of the sayings of  Jesus and His apostles and we have covered many of these in the last posts which included our look at the Master’s sayings regarding a man’s entry into the Kingdom as well as those of the last few days that we see as clear but which are diluted, changed and ignored by the ‘normal’ and ‘average’ man and this whether he be in the church or not. 

And it is in this phenomenon that we ourselves find difficulty saying ‘how can it be that those millions of rather educated and intelligent people do not agree with what I see…..surely I must be the one that is wrong‘ or other similar attacks upon our own sense of reality. It is likely this phenomenon that prevents many from heeding the impulsive call of their own Souls to the Good, the Beautiful and the True as this is so radically different than what it is that we see in most all others that we KNOW. Perhaps we can see in the world as three camps that are aligned along rather broad lines of demarcation:

• In the first we have the majority of people who have no inclination toward the spiritual Life either because they are not yet ready as Souls expressing through form or because they have not yet found that spiritual way with which they can agree or which motivates them to change. In this group many are members of the various churches and many are members of none but for both subgroups there is no real interest to pursue the heavenly and their sole focus is upon their Life in this world. Those in this group who are members of a church or group tend not to participate and tend to just go along with the teachings and practices as they have little or no investment in them.
• In the next group we find the second largest group of those who do have an inclination toward the spiritual Life and it is these that move headlong into the various doctrines that have crossed their paths. These are rather convinced of the reality of the divine Life and struggle with it as they live according to the interpreted doctrines that they KNOW. In this group there are members of the various churches and of the various religions as well as the esoteric and occult disciplines and each is convinced by their doctrines of what is important and what is for them True. Of the more involved members of this group, the leaders and the staunch believers in each discipline, there is a steady belief in the particular teaching that they espouse and this belief is often unmovable and these more staunch believers profess their own beliefs above ALL others, considering theirs as right and others as wrong. It is in this group with its multiplicity of denominations and religions and sects and doctrines that we find the phenomenon of changing, diluting and ignoring the various scriptures with which they are involved. It is here also the rites and the ceremonies have been devised as the way to help to mitigate the Truth of a matter against the practical application of it. For the most part the focus of this group is still upon the things of the world and their Life in it as they see, through their interpretation of scripture, that this Life in the world is the true Life of a man. And while some may see that the pleasures of this Life is their reward, others will see the humble Life in the way of their doctrine but for both their successes and failures are based upon the ways and the things of the world.
• The last group is by far the smallest and is comprised of those who are Truly seeking, those who are striving toward their own individual understanding of God and the spiritual Life. It is these that cannot find in themselves the ability to accept any of the denominational doctrines nor the full scope of the precepts of any single religion or spiritual discipline. Many here are so confused by what they see and hear that they seem to be of the first group above who have no spiritual impulse; here however there is the recognized impulse of the Inner Man but no sure channel for its expression. There are many in this group also that may seem to be in the second group; they are participating in the doctrinal approach of the denomination, religion or sect with which the affiliate but do not fully accept it as the Truth nor as the final word and so they continue to seek and to search developing their own individual doctrine along the way. It is in this group that we find the man that is convicted of his actions in the world and who, seeing the greater Truth in the totality of scripture, continually strives toward that greater realization of himself and of God. It is here also that we find those that can recognize the vanity of Life, the illusion and the glamour of the world; even when they cannot see these as concepts, they can see their effect on themselves and others. It is in this group that we find ourselves and although we may seemingly move at times to and through the other groups, we are, by the fact of our realization of these things, ever placed in this group of those who are striving toward the strait gate and the Kingdom of God. Confused at times and bewildered at others we can at times even doubt our own sensibilities and it is to those here in this predicament that that the Apostle Paul speaks when he tells us to stand. We are not to fight nor to hide but to stand; the apostle tells us this in many ways but none so profound as this:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God“

We should not see our groups as the last word on these realities by rather as a broad sectioning of mankind and our objective here is to try to answer our own questioning of our selves when, comparing our approach to the many others that exist in the world which have great foundations and participation, we become confused and bewildered by our approach and even at times tend toward doubt. We should see as well that the words of the apostle above are to us who strive while living in this world of men subjected to the all to familiar remnants of the illusion and the glamour that tend to keep us back. It is this illusion and this glamour that ARE what we must stand against; these are “the wiles of the devil“, these are the principalities and the powers and “the rulers of the darkness of this world“…. all these are the apostles names for what we call illusion and glamour and which he himself calls vanity. And it is these that are the cause of and the effect of “spiritual wickedness in high places” which we discuss in greater detail in earlier essays (In the Words of Jesus parts 78 and 509). Today our theme is to stand and this is as we say a message that we can and should take personally and, losing any reliance upon the parts of armor as they are offered, we should try to see the tools, the defensive weapons that we have in our arsenal.

• We have Truth; a Truth that we find in the words of the Master as they resonate in our consciousness through their agreement with the Wisdom from above in which we are focused. Remembering Paul’s words on the fruit of the Spirit, that “…the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth“.
• We have righteousness; a righteousness that can only come from our focus upon the things of God and a righteousness that is tested according to James’ words on the Wisdom from above and Paul’s words on the fruit of the Spirit and of which the apostle tells us “…the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9).
• And we are prepared with the “gospel of peace” which is to say that we are ready to understand our brothers in the world, understand their plight and to live harmoniously with they with whom we cannot agree. We should note again that this idea of peace is found in the fruit of the Spirit as Paul tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). This peace is also found in the Wisdom from above of which James’ tells us IS “first pure , then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). There is little that we can individually do to change the attitude toward peace in the world but we can, as a defensive weapon in our arsenal, follow these other words from the apostle that tell us to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15) and this is that peace that flows through the personality of the man in form from the Soul, from the Christ Within, as his expression of Love and Power to the world of men.
• We have also then the “shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” and this faith is our KNOWING that it is in Truth and in Love and in righteousness that we find the strength to stand. KNOWING is the hallmark of faith, KNOWING is our surety and our certainty and KNOWING is what gets us through those periods of confusion and bewilderment and KNOWING is what brings us back from the brink of doubt. These “fiery darts of the wicked” are but the ways of the world that encroach upon our ability to focus on the Good, the Beautiful and the True; they are the sometimes continual pangs of desire from our own personality that is ever seeking to reclaim control of the Life and to move the focus of the Life back onto the seemingly easier and  more pleasurable ways of the world.
• The last two tools that the apostle tells us are available to us and which help us to stand are salvation and the word of God. In another place this idea of salvation is worded a bit differently; here we have the “helmet of salvation” and there we have “for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8). As we have discussed in regard to other sayings that include the sense of God, the idea of hope here is expectation and this we understand from the apostle’s words when, speaking of God, he tells us of our being subjected by God to this vanity in hope. Understanding that God should hope for some eventuality is for us nonsensical and in this same Light we extend this thinking to the Soul who, expressing through from, does not hope but expects and here that expectation is salvation; here the True man, working through the consciousness, expects his own salvation and KNOWS of it for it is his realization of the Kingdom of God. This salvation IS our deliverance “from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21) as there is really no other. And the “word of God” is that tool that we ever have; this is not necessarily the spoken word or even the written word and it is not that Word, that Logos, that we call the Christ either. This word is as Paul frames it elsewhere saying “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is , the word of faith, which we preach” (Romans 10:8). In this we should understand this word as our KNOWING, that KNOWING that flows through our Life as the Wisdom from above, as the fruit of the Spirit, that KNOWING that is seeking full possession of the consciousness, the heart, of every one who is striving toward the Kingdom. This KNOWING is the meaning and the intent of the Master’s teachings and not merely the words that we hear and read; it is this KNOWING that casts the Light of the Soul onto to the personality in form, a Light in which we can stand.

We are in this last group as aspirants and to us is given these tools of protection from continued focus upon the world and the things of the world and with this protection we stand. 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:

Emmet Fox, a New Thought Christian teacher, gives us his Fifteen Points teaching one of which we used to exemplify the Master’s intent in His teaching to us about the Golden Rule. All of these points are however forward looking from the perspective of the man who desires to advance spiritually and they are based upon the reality of the Master’s teachings on Love.

I Am Really In Truth: ‡

1. If – I always look for the best in each person, situation and thing.
2. If – I resolutely turn my back on the past, good or bad and live only in the present & future
3. If – I forgive everybody without exception, no matter what he may have done; and if I then forgive MYSELF whole-heartedly.

4. If – I regard my job as sacred and do my day’s work to the best of my ability (whether I like it or not).

5. If – I take every means to demonstrate a healthy body and harmonious surroundings for myself.

6. If – I endeavor to make my life of as much service to others as possible, without interfering or fussing.

7. If – I take every opportunity wisely to spread the knowledge of Truth to others.
8. If – I rigidly refrain from personal criticism, and neither speak nor listen to gossip.
9. If – I devote at least a quarter of an hour a day to prayer and meditation.
10. If – I read at least seven verses of the Bible everyday.
11. If – I specifically claim spiritual understanding of myself every day.
12. If – I train myself to give the first thought on waking to God.
13. If – I speak the Word for the whole world every day, say at noon.

14. If – I PRACTICE, the Golden Rule of Jesus instead of merely admiring it. He said, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” The important point about the Golden Rule is that I am to practice it whether the other fellow does so or not.

15. If – above all, I understand that whatever I see is but a picture which can be changed for the better by Scientific Prayer.

Repeating our text on this and Mr. Fox from a previous essay: Now we should understand that the above ideas are the doctrine that Mr. Fox taught and that like any doctrine it is based in what the man believes which is for most of us a revealer of the illusions that we are under. Much of these Fifteen Points are rather directly for the teachings of the Master. On the whole these are most all good and virtuous ideas but of the most importance insofar as the Master’s teachings are concerned are those points that give us some understanding of how a man should act in regard to others and the most profound is the simple wording of number fourteen. This teaching is given out for the use of the general Christian audience as Mr. Fox addresses people much like every other preacher or pastor albeit with his own doctrine and with a bit more emphasis on the Love that the Master taught. We should add here that many of the other Christian denominations do not agree with the teachings of the New Thought Movement nor Mr. Fox with some even referring to this teaching as cultish. We bring this out here not because we agree with their teachings but to show that there is some movement towards the teaching of Love by some newer parts of the church and the tell-all of this movement is in point fifteen which is outside of the teachings of the Master except one interpret His words in this way. This is doctrine and this is illusion from the perspective that these precepts are not in alignment with the words of the Master insofar as His ideas on discipleship and the hard line that is drawn for the actuality of being accounted worthy of His Kingdom. From our perspective these points are good and are most all worthwhile and they will lead people who can subscribe to them closer to the Master. This idea is true of most all denominations as they do attract people who can think and believe along certain lines and, as we have said before, it is better to believe in the doctrine of a denomination and to follow it as best one can than it is to flounder through Life with little or no direction at all.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ‡  From The Fifteen Points by Emmet Fox; © 1932 HarperCollins Publishers Inc