Myopically Misled by Appearances

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Thanks to Barbara Baty.
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A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment in to the Harvard University President's outer office.

The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge.

"We'd like to see the president," the man said softly.
"He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait," the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said to him!

He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, and he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted to ward the couple.
The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The president wasn't touched. He was shocked. "Madam," he said, gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady began quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them.

--A TRUE STORY By Malcolm Forbes

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People will forget what you said,
People will forget what you did.
But people will never forget how you made them feel!
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Movie Review: "Save Me"

This wonderfully touching story, produced in twenty-oh-seven, is a deep, tender, and honest psychological and psychospiritual study. It concerns a couple, Ted and Gail, who have opened a "half-way house" for male homosexuals. They call their project by the elegant Greek name "Genesis."
Ted and especially Gail are traditional Christians. Therefore, they make the serious but ubiquitous error of mistaking the ancient Hebrew god Jehovah/Yahweh for the Christian God of pure Love. This virtually ruins any chance of real success: They see male-homosexuals as having a "disease," and in need of a "cure."
Ted seems to have, and to express, more Love; but Gail is still too hung up on laws, legalism, and prohibitions found in the Hebrew Scriptures really to allow herself to love. A choice is presented throughout this movie: We all must choose either Love or religion; Gail makes the wrong choice.
Because of this ignorance, she had kicked her own gay son out of her house; and that was the last she saw of him; he died shortly thereafter. But even this death did not penetrate the thick ignorance that caused Gail to continue to judge.
In one tragic scene, the father of one gay man is on his deathbed. His final words were those of Leviticus in the Hebrew Scriptures, condemning homosexuality. He had never managed to "forgive" his gay son, breaking the son's heart. But later, a gay man points out that many of the laws of the Hebrew Scriptures are ignored, including the approved stoning (tortuous murder) of rebellious children.
So, this man ended his life with damnation rather than Love. Sure enough, he quoted the Hebrew Scriptures as the basis for this absence of human feeling. His Biblical legalism had transformed this man into a heartless monster.
Two of the gay men fall deeply in Love. While nongay people might never be able to understand fully gay-psychology, we can at least permit them to love in their own way, without the obstacles and tribulations of added burdens of damnation. As one of the gays points out, Jesus said nothing about gays; and the other main character read the Canticle of Love from First Corinthians 13.
This is a very moving and touching movie, especially for anyone from a traditional "Christian" background. It relentlessly begs for understanding, acceptance, and non-judgment in this matter. It has many valuable lessons to teach our society and our world.
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Salvation and Love

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We all always need to be "saved"-- from ignorance and arrogance, as early gnostic Christians pointed out, and from the falsehoods and dangers of the lower nature (the humanimal mind and the animal mind).

The "quickest and easiest" Way to salvation is through Love-- through Love-immersion. This means that we think almost continuously about Love and its many flowers or "fruits," such as kindness, reason, goodness, generosity, and wisdom. We must never forget the poor and the disadvantaged among us. When we can afford it, we even give money to those who need it. We can do this through recognized charities, but, since a high percentage of their funds often goes for administration, often, we are better off just giving to a person whom we know to be in need.

Love is also expressed as tolerance and patience. Recognizing that we do have forever, the humanitarian Lover is not always rushing around, or rushing others. She is a being of patience. Because of her Love, she tolerates diversity-- in lifestyle, sexual preferences, politics, and religion. This does not imply that the person of Love must be indecisive, a wishy-washy type who says that nothing really matters. That is not deep spirituality, but one of its opposites-- apathy or complacency.

The spiritual being might know with solid and total firmness what she believes, and might even share it. But she will do so only educationally; the spiritual being does not make "converts." For God is continually "converting" the heart from within, and conversion is Her job, not that of the human being.

Love, in this kind of world, must be not only relentless, but continuous. We must often try to love the being (Soul) beneath the person (mask). The person might be ignorant, arrogant, and even repulsive. But it is up to the enlightened to see beneath the surface, to see that tiny "spark" of the "sun of God" that dwells within every person. Thus, we can never "damn" anyone, which is the "judgment" prohibited by the Master. (Mt. 7:1)

To love endlessly, tirelessly, universally, consistently, and unconditionally is the Way to salvation. This includes the three subpaths of real spirituality: 1) love everyone, 2) serve everyone, and 3) forgive everyone.

No amount of "Bible-study," no giving of sermons, no Bible-thumping, no "gift of the Spirit" is worth anything without accompanying Love. So, if you had all of these, without Love, they would all be worthless. Joining any particular church or religion is also useless, if it does not create or stimulate Love in the heart. Joining any group that damns others is sin. But if you have Love alone, without any of these, you are blessed beyond imagining. (Compare the "Canticle of Love," in First Corinthians,
chapter 13.)

Some preachers and ministers do not know this, and so, they emphasize the wrong things-- actions that eclipse Love in the heart. We must be careful never to become followers of incompetent and ignorant human beings. Why should we? For we have the Master of Love, living entirely in each and every heart.
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