THE SIMPLICITY OF THE HEART

“Teach that man’s whole duty is summed up in this one commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your mind and soul and your neighbor as yourself. (This they were to teach as man’s whole duty in place of the 613 rules of living expounded by the Pharisees.) [UB Paper 163, 4:7]

Thought Adjuster: “Let us reflect on the above send-off statement of Jesus to the 70 about to depart on their first mission. Truth is simple and to the point; it does not require wordy dissertations that only dilute its content and confuse the audience.

“In a stroke of divinely-inspired genius, Jesus’ succinctly bundled into one the ten mosaic commandments and the 613 rules of ‘exemplary’ conduct preconized by the Pharisees. He clearly articulated the single rule of ‘godly’ living that He exemplified through His life. The deep love He felt for both His Heavenly Father and His human ‘siblings’ dictated His actions. His ‘impeccable’ love encompassed all the attributes of Love in Action.

“As reported in Genesis: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”—the “Word,” not the “Words.” What does it tell you about the creative force unleashed by the spoken word? A word, encrypted with meanings and underlying intentions, amounts to much more than a sound. The Divine Word set in motion the wisely and lovingly ‘premeditated’ Creative Process.

“Take the time to ponder this fact and apply it to your own spoken words. Aim for simplicity, rather than trying to impress others with your oratory skills. Indeed, in the ‘simplicity of the heart,’ the sign language of loving gestures has a much more significant impact than any lengthy discourse—heartfelt or not.”