Thoughts on Life and Religion: An Aftermath from the Writings of The Right Honourable Professor Max MüllerMüller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Religion
Thoughts on Life and Religion: An Aftermath from the Writings of The Right Honourable Professor Max Müller
Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Life; Philosophy; Religion; Theology
Would not the carrying out of one single commandment of Christ,
'Love one another,' change the whole aspect of the world, and sweep
away prisons and workhouses, and envying and strife, and all the
strongholds of the devil? Two thousand years have nearly passed, and
people have not yet understood that one single command of Christ,
'Love one another'! We are as perfect heathens in that one respect
as it is possible to be. No, this world might be heaven on earth, if
we would but carry out God's work and God's commandments, and so it
will be hereafter.
_Life._
If we do a thing because we think it is our duty, we generally fail;
that is the old law which makes slaves of us. The real spring of our
life, and of our work in life, must be love--true, deep love--not
love of this or that person, or for this or that reason, but deep
human love, devotion of soul to soul, love of God realised where
alone it can be, in love of those whom He loves. Everything else
is weak, passes away; that love alone supports us, makes life
tolerable, binds the present together with the past and future, and
is, we may trust, imperishable.
_Life._
Love which seems so unselfish may become very selfish if we are
not on our guard. Do not shut your eyes to what is dark in others,
but do not dwell on it except so far as it helps to bring out more
strongly what is bright in them, lovely, and unselfish. The true
happiness of true love is self-forgetfulness and trust.
_Life._
There is nothing in life like a mother's love, though children
often do not find it out till it is too late. If you want to be
really happy in life, love your mother with all your heart; it is a
blessing to feel that you belong to her, and that through her you
are connected by an unbroken chain with the highest source of our
being.
_MS._
Is there such a thing as a Lost Love? I do not believe it. Nothing
that is true and great is ever lost on earth, though its fulfilment
may be deferred beyond this short life.... Love is eternal, and
all the more so if it does not meet with its fulfilment on earth.
If once we know that our lives are in the hands of God, and that
nothing can happen to us without His Will, we are thankful for
the trials which He sends us. Is there any one who loves us more
than God? any one who knows better what is for our real good than
God? This little artificial and complicated society of ours may
sometimes seem to be outside His control, but if we think so it is
our own fault, and we have to suffer for it. We blame our friends,
we mistrust ourselves, and all this because our wild hearts will not
be quiet in that narrow cage in which they must be kept to prevent
mischief.
_Life._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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