Following the Lord Made Simple

     There are two paths we can follow in life.  In the Bible it's called the Golden Rule, which basically states, "Do unto others as you would do to yourself, for this is the law and the prophets" Matt. 7:12.  Like in everything of light there is a counterfeit of darkness.  The golden rule of the Satanism is this "Do whatever thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," by Aleister Crowley.  Two paths, one of actions in consideration of others, of light, and actions in consideration of only the self, of darkness. 
     When we do unto others as we would do to ourselves we focus on our actions and how they affect others.  Each action of every day, each decision we make, is influenced by our world view, our beliefs.  Do we believe we are the center of the world and therefore can do whatever we want, or do we believe others are also in the world and therefore we must be concerned about the course we take?  When we drop our actions into the pool of the cosmos they have the affect of a pebble dropped into a pond, the water ripples.  Whether we admit it or not, so it is with our actions whether good or evil.  For example, the woman who chooses to say yes at work to the advances of her boss and has an affair.  The wife of this boss than becomes depressed knowing her husband is up to no good, she may even think of suicide, or just decide to kick him out, then they both live in lonliness if things so progress that way.  The adulteress is also not making out on the deal, her heart is broken that the boss never seems to keep his promises, never really loves her, leaves his supposedly "unhappy" home for her.  The original desire was correct, the desire to be loved, but the actions and therefore the outcome were not, they resulted in isolation, pain, and loneliness.
     The same can be said about actions taken on behalf of others, for example, the proverbial random act of kindness, which seems so popular lately, yet rare enough to need a catagory;)  A woman decides she is lonely, and instead of sleeping with the boss who is flirting with her she writes that loneliness on a God note, and ties a ten dollar bill to it.  She decides to leave her desires to the Lord and her money on the side of the city street.  She has successfully this day escaped temptation, followed the Bible by "praying about all things," submitted to God's control of her life, and made a strangers day.  Perhaps, this stranger needed to see love from another, maybe they were down to their last dime and praised the Lord for the gift.  Like in science each action has a reaction.  We are the original cause of the action.  We have free will.  The choice to set our own chain reaction in life, one for the path of the Light, or the path of darkness.
     The Bible says the Devil came to "steal, kill, and destroy."  Is this not what doing "whatever thou wilt" causes?  Destruction of the self, destruction of others, and ultimately destroys the soul to its eternal reward, hell.  And what is hell?  But the ultimate place of the self, a place of eternal regret for the course of ones actions and how they affected others, isolation and loneliness from total separation from God.  A loss of loved ones, regret, fear, isolation, that is hell, that is the hell we create on earth when we follow each day "do what thou wilt."  The opposite is also true, a slice of heaven on earth in a day is to "love others as the self."  For example, giving flowers to your spouse creates joy which reflects through the home, the children see their parents kindness, they in-turn grow up to be children who are kind to their spouses, etc.  What is created through this other focus is community, love, compassion, joy, God's pleasure in our deeds, His daily presence in our lives, everything heaven is. 
     The walk of the Christian faith is a daily walk.  The apostle Paul says,"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rules of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places," Eph. 6:12.  How do we wrestle against these things?  We wrestle on a daily basis, each action, each decision we think of others or only ourselves.  Whether we know it or not, if we only had the blinders off, we could see the spiritual battle over that moment, over each moment, each decision.  We are not alone, God has not left us without an advocate, through prayer, give your decisions over to God, and try to follow what you believe He would want, than in that moment you have won the victory, resisted temptation to just think of yourself, and loved your neighbour, in a nutshell "followed the Lord."