Stop referring to rules put up on the wall - live them

So you want the ten commandments put up here and there - courthouse lawns - courtrooms - school hallways - or wherever else your here and there may be. To be quite frank, I'd like them all taken down. They do us no good hanging out in public as another attempt for one group or another to claim that a nation or a town or a city or a courtroom is somehow more religious or holy than another. The only thing religious about hanging the ten commandment out in public is the religious action of putting the ten commandments up in public. It does nothing. Just as sacrificing humans in tribal societies did nothing or sacrificing animals did nothing. Yet more and more - we want to do something - something to somehow make all things right and good - again - as though they were ever right and good. 

I'm not against the ten commandments. In fact, I refer to them quite frequently. I keep them close in mind as I walk through the day. I find the daily discipline of noting their fullest meaning to be inspiring. Within the freshness of a new moment comes the opportunity to live outside the norm of the world with a guiding light that keeps me honest - reveals my shortcomings - lifts up how creative the shalom of God's Reign is when these commandments come alive. No exercise of memorization can make the life that is nurtured in the ten commandments come alive. No posting of the ten commandments will transform the community. They must be made as real as human touch. That was their purpose - to bring forth life - new life - life that will draw the attention of others - like a light. This attention is not grabbed by reciting or reading or posting words and more words and more words about those ten commandments. The life that is revealed in the living of those people who display the ten commandments is that which attracts - grabs - inspires - amazes all who look on at a touchable life.

Where does the fullness of those ten commandments sit in your life? Embedded in the great acts and words of Scripture is the reminder that those words are best embedded in our hearts - our core - the life blood that shapes our actions. It will always be a life of unbounded love. That is easy to say. Just as it is easy to say or memorized a commandment like - you shall not kill. Yet as so many great teachers (read doers) of the commandments have noted and then demonstrated by their lives, this simple commandment - like all of them - draws us into the journey of seeking out the welfare of the lives of others. To obey this commandment - to live as though it is a well-spring of life coming up from our hearts - means the beginning of treating our neighbor - our enemy - the stranger - the outsider in such a way that they are given the opportunity to live again because of our action toward them and with them. All of the sudden, you shall not kill is a life journey - everyday - without condition or restriction. We are not invited to recite simple words like you shall not... We are invited to put to life words that will invite action that heals - creates opportunity - gives a place to all. This commandment draws us into a living creativity even when life has been hard for us - or even when we have been short changed - or even when we have not received what we think we should - even when they seem to have gotten a better break than me and my own. 

So, what of the ten commandments? Put them to life!  As that unfolds, it may be that the religious bigotry that never inspires the life of these commandments will be silenced and the peaceable Reign of God will become more and more apparent as something really quite alive. Remember, these commandments are not conditions that must be filled in order to get a prize - a place of honor - a reward. These are simply meant to bring life - here - now - with all. Some might say this in a more traditional way like  your kingdom come, your will be done - on earth as it is in heaven. To life!

TRRR