Monday, February 10, 2014

Way of Love


"Treat well those who are good," said the Ancient Sage
"Also treat well those who are not good;
Thus is goodness attained.
Be sincere to those who are sincere,
Also be sincere to those who are not sincere;
Thus is sincerity attained."
And the Way, when He became flesh, said:
"If you love those who love you, what thanks do you have?
For sinners also love those who love them.
If you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you have?
For sinners also do the same.
And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks do your have?
For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again."

On account of these five reasons do people love one another;
For the sake of the Way, as when the virtuous person lovers everyone;
Or for natural reasons, as parents love their children and children love their parents;
Or out of vainglory, as the one who is honored loves the one who honors him;
Or for avarice, as the one who loves a rich person for what he can get;
Or for pleasure, as the one who is enslaved to his fleshly desires.

The first of these is praise worthy,
the second neutral,
And the the rest belong to the passions.
From Christ the Eternal Tao, pp 170-171

The Orthodox Way leads us along a path of repentance where we learn, with the help of His grace, to control our passions, so we become capable of true love.  How does one do this?  Look here for the ten basic principles of the Orthodox Way of life

1 comment:

  1. Love the meaning of it. Thank you for sharing this wonderful blog "way of love". Great!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.