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Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as for civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.” With each passing generation there is a renewed emphasis on such growth together with what favors it and what constricts it. Likewise, our concept of God has unfolded over time.
While God the Father is unchanging, our own understanding of him has grown steadily through a palette of mental filters, from conflicting ideas about an offended monarch to the ideal of a loving Father. In our human conception, his domain has expanded from that of a tribal Deity to the Creator, Controller and Upholder of the Universe of Universes. Throughout this time, and not withstanding the periodic and sometimes defamatory caricatures of him, Our Devoted Father has made his unifying and unfailing goodness available for the asking.
Even our concept of faithfulness has grown. A mature response to fraternal devotion is more than the passive assent to fleeting standards. It encourages continued growth. It encompasses relationships that endure. It operates eternally as well as temporally. It fosters courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, forgiving tolerance, enlightened honesty, confiding trust, even loving service.
It would seem, the primary ingredients of faith are loyalty and a devotion to duty that is intelligent, as well as wholehearted. While we recognize the indwelling Spirit, we may tend to usurp the authority, and interfere with the working of that Spirit by imposing our incomplete understanding and personal theology on others through an amateurish practice of psychology. It’s as if we think the Spirit is somehow weak and that we have some sort of monopoly on wisdom.
Human parents, teachers, counselors, mentors and other supporters must remain ever teachable. We must work in a coordinated way with Our Divine Parent throughout the process of child rearing and the act of befriending. It is not our mandate to draw others to ourselves, but rather to set them sure footed on the path to our Heavenly Father’s Divine Embrace.
The loyalty we speak of then, is devotion to the highest duty. The seed bearing fruit born of the Divine Spirit is incorruptible. And at some point we must accept the fact that God is in control. We must give up the tendency to micromanage as if the consequences were somehow ours, instead of His.
No one wants to be lied to, unless of course the question is; “Does this outfit make me look fat?” If, for most people of normal mind, Truth, Beauty and Goodness are to be preferred over deception, ugliness and foul intent; then it’s a good bet we have a built-in preference for those things that we tend to associate with our highest and best understanding of God. These values work much like the way the primary colors complement one another, combine to give us the whole spectrum. They emanate from God and they can be resolved as the will of God on the focal planes of the mind and heart.
Suppose you had printed the word Love in blue ink on a white piece of paper. If you then illuminated that paper, with only blue light, you wouldn’t be able to see the word, but it would still be there. Emotionally, if you were intent on feeling blue, you could be surrounded by the love of God and that of others without ever noticing. What if someone close to you is green with envy over the friendship you maintain with another? If the jealous person insists on nurturing resentment over any and all other competing influences, your love must reflect a reality far greater than the immediate context if it is ever to be truly appreciated.
Finally, think about a time when someone who cared deeply about you was so angry with you that their face turned red. Ask yourself: Does the “seeing red” metaphor mean that we filter out certain visual clues about how much we are loved? Is it at all possible that anger is often an expression of frustration on the part of one who feels unloved; and that it seems to them their feelings are not appreciated or respected?
When Jesus warned us concerning the folly of casting one’s pearls before swine, was it because the swine would disrespect our offering out of some deep seated resentment about the condition of his pen? Or is the swine simply incapable of perceiving the value of our offering? We must learn to discern just when someone is a teachable person, to correctly identify the teachable moment, Our service to the brotherhood and sisterhood of human kind is performed on God’s behalf. It should not be squandered and it is never a solo performance; for there is always a seraphic accompaniment, a spiritual choreography and a divine orchestration in all manifestations of faithful service.
There is much to be said for that loyalty that is sophistry proof. For it arises out of a pure heart and an immaculate mind. It is entirely focused on the best interests of those we serve in accordance with our highest and best understanding of just how God would have us serve. In the final analysis our devotion to others is inspired by the devotion God the Father has demonstrated throughout our lives. The essence of all that is true and beautiful is also the ancestor of all goodness. It is the love Jesus highlighted when he lived his God-revealing bestowal so that we might experience the God-knowing career.