Preface
Nothing unites us like love but against our enemies, nothing like hatred. We are witnessing the results of it as history repeats itself again – threats from the experts at hating their enemies right before our eyes, from autocratic leaders to rageful neighbors.
Hate unites because it kills the conscience with the mindless anger needed to do what cannot or should not be done with a conscience. But is it that loving an enemy makes us too weak to do what we think must be done to survive or does it show us what we really need to do but we refuse? This is not a religious discussion, even though Jesus taught it, but he also told his followers to buy swords to defend themselves. It is just that nations have a long history of defending themselves out of hatred not love.
Where are the voices today guiding us to love Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-un, or should there be? We will take a close look at Jesus’ teaching on this matter, but this is not a religious book. For looking at this teaching only religiously has been part of the problem.
To confront autocracy and rageful neighbors or at least live with them, the kind of love he taught would have to have an anger all its own that unites us. Not just to protect, it must be an anger that allows us to see enemies as equals, not inhuman as the anger of hatred makes us do. The anger of love fights nobly rather than inhumanely, for it is mindful anger. But what is the methodology behind it? Without allowing us to lose our conscience, it comes from the mind of the heart.
We cannot be united through it though if it depends on everyone being Christian. Thinking that we must comes from looking at his teaching only through religious eyes. Jesus said that if we do not believe in him, we should at least believe his works. Teaching us to love our enemies was his greatest work for all humanity, believers and nonbelievers alike.
First, we must be able to look at this teaching without any beliefs associated with it, to just focus on the deeper method he taught behind it. If we are Christians or of any other religion, we can do both but should not let our beliefs interfere with the reasoning. Autocracy and rageful neighbors are betting we cannot unite around it, but when approached this way, it does not require a miracle.
To accommodate all readers, I equate the word God with life, the essence of life as a given without reference to any deity behind it. And I propose that life as a whole be given a name, for as offspring of life, each of us has one. And likewise, since each of us produces words, life produces words. Rather than giving life a personal name, I call it Name and its one offspring Word, both without any reference to deity.
At the same time, for Christians, God is the Name and Jesus is the Word, so I refer to God and Jesus as Name and Word also, applicable to all other religions interpreted your own way. I use a story about Name and Word with both symbolic meaning about life and spiritual meaning about God. Either way, those who love life or “Name will dwell in it,”[1] and handle “the Word of life”.[2]
Typically, stories are created on the stage of the heart or the mind. This one is written as a screenplay for the mind of the heart. The end notes are not essential to the story and, in fact, being nearly as long, distract from it. So, I recommend reading them and the Indices of Hebrew and Greek after the story, except for the pronunciation of a handful of new words in the indices and possibly end note 1, for it explains the method I use in interpretation and translation of Hebrew and Greek.
The story about Name and Word begins after my autobiography, which is brief but sets the stage due to controversies in my life. They appear to revolve around a surface conflict between cultural traditions, while the real conflict is between those who favor the pluralistic nature of democracy in both cultures and those in both who favor the non-pluralistic nature of autocracy. I use the name Abram and adopt other names for those in my life, except for my brother Terry.
1 - Psalm 69:36, 2 - 1 John 1:1
Contents
Title
Copyright
Contents
Preface
ACT I – Autobiography
SCENE 1 – Eleven Years Old
SCENE 2 – Thirty-Six Years Old
SCENE 3 – Marriage
SCENE 4 – Denial
SCENE 5 – The Trial
SCENE 6 – Relief from the Court
SCENE 7 – Sixty-Seven Years Old
ACT II.a – The World is Blind
MAIN SET – The Vision-Street
SCENE 1 – Insight
SCENE 2 – Group Insight
SCENE 3 – Insight of the Blind
ACT II.b – The Light of Knowledge
SCENE 1 – The Court of Light
SCENE 2 – A Dispute in the Light
SCENE 3 – The Lineage of the Reborn
SCENE 4 – The First Role of Women
SCENE 5 – The Present Light of Democracies
ACT III – Word-Visions of Names
SCENE 1 – Imprisoning the Light
SCENE 2 – Judging the Light
SCENE 3 – Sentencing the Light
SCENE 4 – The Golden Transparency and Democracy
SCENE 5 – Vision-Fields of Freedom
SCENE 6 – We Were All There
SCENE 7 – Image-Sacrifice
SCENE 8 – The Plan
SCENE 9 – The Mode of Life
SCENE 10 – The Mind of the Heart of Abraham
Appendix A – The Shachaqs
Appendix B – Full Knowledge
Appendix C – Hebrew Names
Bibliography
Index of Sacred Hebrew Words
Index of Sacred Greek Words
Index of Scripture References
Index of Scripture Links
End Notes
Permissions
Copyright Page
The Mind of the Heart
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Library of Congress Control Number: TXu 2-354-935
Digital Edition ISBN:
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