I guess many readers have read it at least several times over the past two years, and many will have studied it in detail as directed by the Directors of The Mother Church.
It is a wonderful message. So full of light and vigour and action and now-ness!
I love the emphasis on the Golden Rule and was pleased to see the following from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule:
The Golden Rule or ethic of reciprocity is a maxim,[1] ethical code or morality[2] that essentially states either of the following:
- One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (directive form).[1]
- One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (cautionary form, also known as the Silver Rule).[1]
This concept can be explained from the perspective of psychology, philosophy, sociology and religion. Psychologically, it involves a person empathizing with others. Philosophically, it involves a person perceiving their neighbor as also an "I" or "self".[3][4] Sociologically, this principle is applicable between individuals, between groups, and also between individuals and groups. (For example, a person living by this rule treats all people with consideration, not just members of his or her in-group.) Religions figure prominently in the history of this concept.[1][5]
As a concept, the Golden Rule has a history that long predates the term "Golden Rule", or "Golden law", as it was called from the 1670s in England and Europe.[1][6] As a concept of "the ethic of reciprocity," it has its roots in a wide range of world cultures, and is a standard way that different cultures use to resolve conflicts.[1][5] It has a long history, and a great number of prominent religious figures and philosophers have restated its reciprocal, "two-way" nature in various ways (not limited to the above forms).[1]
Rushworth Kidder notes that the Golden Rule can be found in the early contributions of Confucianism. Kidder notes that this concept's framework appears prominently in many religions, including "Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's major religions".[7] According to Greg M. Epstein, " 'do unto others' ... is a concept that essentially no religion misses entirely."[8] Simon Blackburn also states that the Golden Rule can be "found in some form in almost every ethical tradition".[9] All versions and forms of the proverbial Golden Rule have one aspect in common: they all demand that people treat others in a manner in which they themselves would like to be treated.
So this sentence from Eddy is startling: "When, by losing his faith in matter and sin, one finds the spirit of Truth, then he practices the Golden Rule spontaneously; and obedience to this rule spiritualizes man, for the world's nolens volens cannot enthrall it." (The First Church of Christ, Scientist p. 4). [The little phrase nolens volens was completely unfamiliar to me. Dictionaries have: willy-nilly, willing or not, whether a person wants or likes something or not...An example of nolens volens is a mother telling her children whether they want to or not, they're attending the family dinner.]
What a wonderful standard by which to guide our decision-making.
Julie Swannell
No comments:
Post a Comment