If the Ten Commandments are really about relationships rather than rules; if the Ten Commandments are actually an invitation to dialogue and discussion; if the Ten Commandments are about how we can connect with God, ourselves and others in concrete ways...well that WE have some work to do. We have some work to do as we sort out how we can authentically live these ten ways to life.
Last post I laid out the following understanding of the Ten Commandments:
1. Put God at the center
2. Don't try to confine God to the palm of your hand
3. Don't use God for your own agenda...one that lots of us struggle with today.
4. Keep the Sabbath...or as Barbara Brown Taylor says, "One day, you need to be good for nothing." Just be, rest in God and not in your accomplishments.
5. Honor parents...or better yet, honor all elders and those who have wisdom to offer.
6. Be careful with weapons and words, both can be used for violence that kills
7. Honor relationships, intimate and others too.
8. Honor other's possessions...we all learned that in kindergarten
9. Honor your own words...let them be authentic
10. Let your deepest desire be God, or put God at the center, so we come full circle.
Then, I asked you to come up with concrete ways; actually examples, and I would do the same. So, here are some thoughts:
1. Put God at the center ~ I try to start every day with prayer. I read a devotional, sit in silence, try to take deep, deep breathes, relax my shoulders, imagine handing my stress over to God, resist trying to take it right back from God. Yet, just a few minutes in the morning, rarely feels like enough. I have been trying this week to also spend time in the car in silence listening for God. I think as a church at meetings we need to stop filling the agenda with our voices and let God get a word in edgewise. Will some church members think this is a waste of time? Sure! But these are often the people who need to be still and listen.
4. Being good for nothing is the hardest for me. I have been working since I was 14 years old, before that I was responsible for making dinner and ironing! Working becomes part of your DNA, the way you understand yourself. However, when you live in Florida in the winter you have NO excuse not to get out and sit on the beach...and simply be. Be in God's presence knowing that you are enough, without needing to produce a single thing!
5. I have been thinking about who the elders or wisdom speakers in our world today? Which voices give me new insights, and which voices challenge me in good ways? I am still trying to comprise my list and will offer it in a future post.
10. Let your deep desire be God...we know that all religion rests in the heart and we cannot see/know what is in another person's heart. We know plenty of people who put on a facade and try to play the religious role. Other people eschew the church, but are incredibly faithful. So, actions and words are not some formula that we can determine what is going on inside someone. You have to get to know them. Many ways, I think we also need to get to know ourselves. What do you believe? And do your actions and words really match those convictions? That is the challenge. If the God of love is my deepest desire than love should be felt in my actions and words. Not all the time, of course. I am human, I get angry and tired and frustrated and say things I instantly want to rewind time to take back. But when I do the very things I don't want to do, I can spend time asking, "Why?" Why did I say that or do that, what is really at the heart of that action. The more I can probe to the deeper part, and not just blame others, I can get closer to living out the image of God invites each of us to embody completely.
I know I did not comment on all Ten...but this is a glance at what is going on in my mind and heart. How about yours?
Blessings ~
Then, I asked you to come up with concrete ways; actually examples, and I would do the same. So, here are some thoughts:
1. Put God at the center ~ I try to start every day with prayer. I read a devotional, sit in silence, try to take deep, deep breathes, relax my shoulders, imagine handing my stress over to God, resist trying to take it right back from God. Yet, just a few minutes in the morning, rarely feels like enough. I have been trying this week to also spend time in the car in silence listening for God. I think as a church at meetings we need to stop filling the agenda with our voices and let God get a word in edgewise. Will some church members think this is a waste of time? Sure! But these are often the people who need to be still and listen.
4. Being good for nothing is the hardest for me. I have been working since I was 14 years old, before that I was responsible for making dinner and ironing! Working becomes part of your DNA, the way you understand yourself. However, when you live in Florida in the winter you have NO excuse not to get out and sit on the beach...and simply be. Be in God's presence knowing that you are enough, without needing to produce a single thing!
5. I have been thinking about who the elders or wisdom speakers in our world today? Which voices give me new insights, and which voices challenge me in good ways? I am still trying to comprise my list and will offer it in a future post.
10. Let your deep desire be God...we know that all religion rests in the heart and we cannot see/know what is in another person's heart. We know plenty of people who put on a facade and try to play the religious role. Other people eschew the church, but are incredibly faithful. So, actions and words are not some formula that we can determine what is going on inside someone. You have to get to know them. Many ways, I think we also need to get to know ourselves. What do you believe? And do your actions and words really match those convictions? That is the challenge. If the God of love is my deepest desire than love should be felt in my actions and words. Not all the time, of course. I am human, I get angry and tired and frustrated and say things I instantly want to rewind time to take back. But when I do the very things I don't want to do, I can spend time asking, "Why?" Why did I say that or do that, what is really at the heart of that action. The more I can probe to the deeper part, and not just blame others, I can get closer to living out the image of God invites each of us to embody completely.
I know I did not comment on all Ten...but this is a glance at what is going on in my mind and heart. How about yours?
Blessings ~
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