H. S. Lewis - Wisdom of the Sages - Thou shalt love thy fellow being for the love that God hath given
The eighth command of the decalogue is:
THOU SHALT LOVE THY FELLOW BEING FOR THE LOVE THAT GOD HATH GIVEN!
It may seem purely philosophical to say that all Love is of God. If we qualify the term Love and interpret it as being the principle of sympathetic or pleasurable attraction in sentient and thinking beings which is good, pure, free from sin and lust, and inspiring to nobleness and kindness,--then we may safely agree with the Mystic that Love is of God and is God in manifestation to us on earth.
With this Love from God--the Love that God hath given to and inspired in us--should we love our fellow beings.
The Mystic realizes, along with many other realizations of a similar nature, how impossible it is practically and in the circumstances of human weakness and frailties, to love his neighbor as himself. But it is possible, as the life and every act and thought of the true Mystic proves, to love his fellow man with that inspiration to be kind and tolerant, fair and considerate, tender and helpful, which each man expects God to manifest toward him, because of the Love that abides in God.
This is the essence, the seed, of the bond which makes for the great universal brotherhood existing between all true Mystics. To them there is no other need or necessity for the establishment of an universal brotherhood than the Love of God which is, potentially, in the heart of all humans. As the dawning of mystic consciousness comes to the neophyte mystic, there comes a realization, never to be altered or removed, that all mankind constitutes a human brotherhood divinely united by an infinite bond.
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