Recently I came across an excerpt in a book I am reading called Original Intent-The Courts, The Constitution, & Religion. This excerpt had me wanting to seek deeper truths, as my mind immediately applied it to where we are today in regards to religion, government, education, and law. The excerpt is by John Dickinson-signer of the Constitution “Nothing is more certain than that the forms of liberty may be retained when the substance is gone. In government, as well as in religion, “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life”~ 2 Corinthians 3:6”. Have we not actually done this? Removed the spirit from all of these? Are we not trying to live strictly by the letter? I could be wrong and/or we could still be in the process. All I know is it sure seems like we are heading in that direction; to the letter as opposed to the spirit.
Now the religious may say we are losing liberty because we are removing God from government, and every place else, and they may have a point. As 2 Corinthians 3:17 says “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. But, is it possible that this all may be happening because of them or us, if I include myself? I say this because the excerpt from Corinthians above is used in the context of the sufficiency of ministering. It says that the sufficiency does not come in the ministering of the letter on tablets of stone. Because just doing this has produced some really big atrocities, all done in the name of God. But, that sufficiency comes in the ministering in the Spirit of the heart; in the Spirit of love. Maybe if we would do more of this, love thy neighbor as thyself, than fewer people would stray away from his light.
Take for instance someone recently quoted as saying “This feels like the moment in our democracy when people have to make uncomfortable actions and decisions to uphold their morals”. I ask what their morals are. Never in my life has doing the right, the moral, the just, or the good thing made me feel uncomfortable. How can showing love be uncomfortable? Unless of course what you are doing is not upholding your morals, not living them, and not showing love. It is no longer good enough to say we love, we must start showing love if there is any hope for us. Zephaniah Swift, Author of America’s First Legal Text so eloquently put it “Jesus Christ has in the clearest manner inculcated those DUTIES which are productive of the highest moral felicity and consistent with all the innocent enjoyments, to which we are impelled by the dictates of nature. Religion, when fairly considered in its genuine simplicity and uncorrupted state, is the source of endless rapture and delight”.
So here is where I find myself, trying to define love. Is love completely removing myself from the situation and not returning the evil? Is love actually showing kindness in the face of the ugly that is presented to me? Is love taking the time to look at the entirety of the situation and then acting accordingly? And there in lies the struggle of all mankind, in my opinion. How does one protect themselves from the evils that exist in this world, while at the same time loving their neighbor, if their neighbor is the one presenting such evil? I am finding that in order to protect myself, this may vary, according to my strength, resolve, and situation at the time. The one thing I am not doing, however, is presenting evil to the evil. Or maybe I should say trying not to do. In my awareness, if I find myself spewing the same evil, or acting the same evil, as quickly as possible, I am asking for forgiveness from them, from myself, and from my God.
In my quest to becoming a more loving, more educated, more transformed human being, I am realizing that much of what I have been taught in my life, from all these places, has been the literal of things and from a very narrow perspective. What happened to the Spirit of it all? What happened to the why’s, who’s, and what’s of it all? As Aristotle said “Educating the mind, without educating the heart, in not educating at all”. I am finding that when I put the Spirit of love into looking at the entirety of both sides of the coin, then it is far easier for me to see the evil and where it exits. And it is far easier for me to act accordingly. I am making the choice to talk the talk and walk the walk. We all have choices to make, and you, and everyone else must find your own path to love and light. I am just here to sow seeds, and begin a garden of love, light, faith, and hopefully truths. I hope you will join me in the planting, the watering, and the growing.