The Evangelical Universalist Forum

GEORGE'S GEMS

It sounds like George MacDonald wanted glory for himself. But Jesus said:

I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ~~ John 8:50

God gives us a glory when we don’t seek it for ourselves. We seek the glory of God. God isn’t selfish for seeking His glory for He is the greatest most glorious being in the universe. Moreover, in seeking His glory He breaks the bondage to the idol of self in His creatures. Therefore this is an act of love on God’s part. Not selfishness. He knows we won’t be complete until we give Him the glory. The glory the creature receives is in humility. In giving God the glory we receive a glory. We keep it by giving it away. My main motive for loving and being kind to others is to glorify God.

When we seek our own glory (self-esteem) we become aggressive bullying and egotistical. George MacDonald was verbally abusive to people (Calvinists) and he hated God because of His wrath. George MacDonald didn’t love his enemies. But Jesus did and he commanded us to. This is what happens when you seek your own glory. It leads to ego. For me it even lead to megalomania. This is from my book called “The Wisdom To Know the Difference” by the psychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Mississippi. It’s under the section called “The Self-Esteem Myth”

The book was published in 2012

C.S. Lewis was correct. Pride is the root of all other sins.

According to Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergo in "Humility of Heart:

The teacher of Pope John Paul II:

George MacDonald died in 1905, and so had died prior to the Communist revolution in Russia. However, communist thinking existed long before the revolution. Here are GMD’s thoughts:

Perhaps had he lived in our day, GMD might have said:

How you arrived at that conclusion from the GMD quote, is beyond me. If you ever have the privilege of reading his biography, you will know that he was quite the opposite in every aspect of his life. He was a servant of God and a servant of people. He loved even those who hated him for his Godly life, and when cruel words were directed against him, he never retaliated in like manner.

Well put, Paidion. Few men have lived as holy a life as George MacDonald. He is easily my favorite religious writer who wasn’t a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Self that annihilates itself leaves the dried ashes of self. Self that dissolves before the glory of God is death swallowed up in victory, Christ in you- the hope of glory.

“St Paul would be wretched before the throne of God, if he thought there was one man beyond the pale of his mercy, and that as much for God’s glory as for the man’s sake.”- a gem by george

Eaglesway,

The Bible flat out contradicts George MacDonald:

For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great ~~ Psalms 25:11

It’s for God’s glory alone that we receive mercy. We receive a glory but it is in humility. We keep it by giving it away. It’s more blessed to give than receive. God gives the grace and He gets the glory. In this we are glorified. Just as Christ emptied Himself and became nothing before God we are to do likewise. This is being in union with Christ. We will be crowned with a different degree of glory in heaven. But we empty ourselves for the wind of the spirit to blow through. It comes from God and goes back to God. God alone is intrinsically glorious:

When we try to exalt ourselves to the throne it leads to ego. This is what happened to Satan. And George MacDonald was verbally abusive to Calvinists and hated God because of His wrath. Jesus gave us the example of loving our enemies. For He did not seek His own glory but gave it to God. Vengeance is Mine says God. If your enemy is hungry feed him.

Dumbfounded by the conclusion saint m has on GMD…

Me too.

Okay Paidion. I just ordered “The Gospel in George MacDonald: Selections from His Novels, Fairy Tales, and Spiritual Writings”. I’m looking into him. I see that he was Scottish. I’m Irish on my mother’s side. The “Browns” and the “Bryants”. Anyway, I see he also influenced G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolken. I read a sampling and it didn’t look all that bad. The book will be here tomorrow. Give me a little time and I’ll give you an update.

My favorite song from Celtic music:

Here’s union Paidion

“Love is one, and love is changeless.

For love loves unto purity. Love has ever in view the absolute loveliness of that which it beholds. Where loveliness is incomplete, and love cannot love its fill of loving, it spends itself to make more lovely, that it may love more; it strives for perfection, even that itself may be perfected–not in itself, but in the object. As it was love that first created humanity, so even human love, in proportion to its divinity, will go on creating the beautiful for its own outpouring. There is nothing eternal but that which loves and can be loved, and love is ever climbing towards the consummation when such shall be the universe, imperishable, divine.

Therefore all that is not beautiful in the beloved, all that comes between and is not of love’s kind, must be destroyed.

And our God is a consuming fire.”

― George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons: Series I, II, III

“I do not say we are called upon to dispute and defend the truth with logic and argument, but we are called upon to show by our lives that we stand on the side of truth. But when i say truth, I do not mean opinion. To treat opinion as if that were truth is grievously to wrong the truth. The soul that loves the truth and tries to be true will know when to speak and when to be silent.”

― George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons: Series I, II, III

“Jesus tells us we must leave the self altogether-yield it, deny it, refuse it, lose it. Thus only shall we save it… The self is given us that we may sacrifice it. It is ours in order that we, like Christ, may have something to offer- not that we should torment it, but that we should deny it; not that we should cross it, but that we should abandon it utterly.”

― George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons: Series I, II, III

Amazing truth:

The true question is forgotten: “Have I left all to follow Him?” The important thing is whether we are letting God have His own way with us, following where He leads, learning the lessons He gives us. ~~ George MacDonald

I like George MacDonald’s remedy here for deflating the ego or as he says getting out of the “false self”. “Tomorrow hasn’t arrived” he says. Indeed God hold’s the future in His hands and He’s a God of love. I have all the reason to have hope and not let the “youthful dreams slip”. This shouldn’t make one inactive though. MacDonald speaks here of doing God’s will and being of service. Getting out of yourself by doing the will of God helps when things are gloomy. And keeping away from sin and you won’t be shameful or depressed. Even exercise helps. I walk around an outdoor track where there is beautiful scenery of ponds, fountains, ducks. I try to go at sunset or sunrise so that the beauty helps cleanse my mind and thought. Stilling my thoughts while walking is like a meditation but an active meditation. Doing God’s will doesn’t have to be volunteering to help the homeless but it can. Simply working around the house doing yard work of helping someone at A.A. Hard work helps relieve depression as you get out of yourself. And don’t let the false self take control. As George MacDonald says in the same book quoted above on union:

This is taken from the Novel by MacDonald “What’s Mine is Mine”. It’s about a woman named Christiana as she is falling in love with another man.

To save man or woman, the next thing to the love of God is the love of man or woman; only let no man or woman mistake the love of love for love!

Here MacDonald is describing love of God as being in love with love. God is love. And the closest thing to love of love is the love between a man and woman. We are not to mistake the love of love with the love between man and woman. It’s the same thing Rumi is talking about:

I Am In Love With Love

I am in love with love
love is in love with me
my body fell in love
with my soul
and my soul fell in love
with me
we take turns in loving
we take turns in being loved

Rumi

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That is a wonderful and wise quote.

Also: Beuchner:

If theres no room for doubt, theres no room for me.

  • originally published in The Alphabet of Grace