What Is The Golden Mean?

What does this mean: God Devotion (Great Commandment) + Mutual Friendship (The Golden Rule)?

• “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." God Devotion What does 'your heart' mean? What does 'your soul' mean? What does 'your mind' mean? What makes them separate things? Could Jesus mean meditation? Is Jesus a Buddhist talking about enlightenment? ‘You must love your neighbour as yourself.’ Mutual Friendship Does 'neighbour' mean everyone in this biblical context? How do you 'love yourself'? What if you hate yourself, should you start hating everyone? Could Jesus mean altruism (helping for the sake of it) or commensalism (one benefits, the other gets nothing)? OR Could he mean mutual help OR symbiosis (both parties receive a benefit) ? Please answer within the framework, in which: "God exists" For the moment, for the sake of argument, lets assume that "God exists", even if the evidence is zero of that front, for the sake of arguing on principles. I shall allow atheists to give a humanistic version, like this 1. Meditate on all strata of a mind and awareness (mind, soul, heart) 2. Kindness and consideration unto all human beings (learn to empathize with others who may oppose you [Love your enemy]) What do you think of my humanist version of Jesus Christ's message, could an atheist follow it?

• Answer:

  Your loving Father in Heaven created you for the very purpose of responding to Him. Like a beloved friend or parent, He delights, longs to hear from you! He is not some distant Being too busy to be concerned with you. He who created the heavens and earth certainly can hear your voice, as if you were the only one He made. He is sovereign – absolutely in control of all the intimate details of your life, and nearly 7 billion other people as well, and it is easy for Him! It is not difficult for Him! He invites you to quiet your racing mind from the distractions that incessantly consume your heart; humbly seek Him and let Him quiet you, like a feverish child, with His love. Before you call, He will answer, if you will look upon times of prayer as simply talking to the Friend and Lover of your soul. Turn away from foolishly demanding the Almighty Creator fulfill your every selfish wish as if He was your servant. His ear is ever inclined to hear and you may pray boldly with full assurance, whenever you pray according to His will clearly revealed in His word and by His Spirit. He does not obligate Himself, however to listen to the prayers of those who continue to offend Him by persisting in their sins. If your prayers seem to always go unanswered, perhaps it is because you still need to confess your sins to Him, truly sorry from your heart and ask His forgiveness. Turn from your sins and self-obsession! Trust Jesus’ death on the cross took the punishment your sins deserved. Then seek Him diligently with your whole heart and discover that your All-Providing Father in Heaven welcomes you to bring Him your needs! He has provided for your greatest need – eternal life! He will certainly provide for your earthly needs! He waits for you to respond to Him as a child to a loving parent. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17