The Higher Powers of Mind and SpiritTrine, Ralph Waldo
Religion
The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit
Trine, Ralph Waldo
Mind and body; New Thought
In connection with this great truth he brought a new standard by virtue
of the logic of his revelation. "Ye have heard that it hath been said,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you,
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."
Struggling for recognition all through the Old Testament scriptures, and
breaking through partially at least in places, was this conception which
is at the very basis of all man's relationship with man.
And finally through this supreme Master of life it did break through,
with a wonderful newborn consciousness.
The old dispensation, with its legal formalism, was an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth. The new dispensation was--"But I say unto you,
Love your enemies." Enmity begets enmity. It is as senseless as it is
godless. It runs through all his teachings and through every act of his
life. If fundamentally you do not have the love of your fellow-man in
your hearts, you do not have the love of God in your hearts and you
cannot have.
And that this fundamental revelation be not misunderstood, near the
close of his life he said: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye
love one another." No man could be, can be his disciple, his follower,
and fail in the realisation of this fundamental teaching. "By this shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another." And
going back again to his ministry we find that it breathes through every
teaching that he gave. It breathes through that short memorable prayer
which we call the Lord's Prayer. It permeates the Sermon on the Mount.
It is the very essence of his summing up of this discourse. We call it
the Golden Rule. "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them." Not that it was original with Jesus; other teachers
sent of God had given it before to other peoples--God's other children;
but he gave it a new emphasis, a new setting. _He made it fundamental._
So a man who is gripped at all vitally by Jesus' teaching of the
personal fatherhood of God, and the personal brotherhood of man, simply
can't help but make this the basic rule of his life--and moreover find
joy in so making it. A man who really comprehends this fundamental
teaching can't be crafty, sneaking, dishonest, or dishonourable, in his
business, or in any phase of his personal life. He never hogs the
penny--in other words, he never seeks to gain his own advantage to the
disadvantage of another. He may be long-headed; he may be able to size
up and seize conditions; but he seeks no advantage for himself to the
detriment of his fellow, to the detriment of his community, or to the
detriment of his extended community, the nation or the world. He is
thoughtful, considerate, open, frank; and, moreover, he finds great joy
in being so.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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