It's me, mike hillebrecht

In the last posting I stated that the first three creation narratives are entirely for the people of Israel. It was their definition, or response, to the question, “Who am I and who is our G-d”as they saw themselves in a time of deep distress during the the years of captivity in Babylon. When the Church elected to adopt the Hebrew scripture into their writings, people began to believe how the stories described in the Genesis accounts no longer were exclusively Israel’s but were inclusive of the entire human race.

However, if you’ll recall, I claimed that the bible has four creation narrative. The three in Genesis are exclusively for Israel, but if you’re looking for an inclusively good story, the fourth narrative is where you need to be looking. Unlike the prior three which are conveniently sequenced together, the fourth one is dispersed about the New Testament. The opening line for this narrative will be found in the fourth gospel (fitting isn’t it?) which declares:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

Let’s consider for a moment how this text is describing something, which like the first narrative, is in a land which has a unique manner in defining their cosmology. The English translation appears to us as “Word,” which has a completely different set of pictorials attached to it in our culture today than from what it meant in the Greek culture of its origin where it reads as “logos.” In the Greek mindset, “logos” was first and foremost a divine organizing power responsible for every creative action which dominates the universe. The simplicity of a “word” castrates the fullness of its intention. As an example of this claim consider this part from the narrative:

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being. (John 1:3)

This entire writing has been leading up to this moment: What is being? Nothing exists without Him, the “logos.” But what type of being is it, human or spiritual? We need to read on further, since this part of the narrative which goes from verse 1 to verse 14 is a start, it is not the entire narrative. What it does provide us with though is a clue on what to look for. Since the opening, “In the beginning…” is similar to the first narrative, we simply need to find anything that references that period or anything which relates to the thought of “through Him” from the verse above. Colossians 1:16-17 is a good starting place:

For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist. (Col 1:16-17)

From this we begin to see that there are structures which we can’t readily see which also have their being in the “logos.” Ephesians 1:3-4 and 2 Timothy 1:9 provides us with the next vital elements to our story.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; according as he has chosen us in him before the world’s foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love; (Eph 1:3-4)

Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal, (2Ti 1:9)

“Before the world’s foundation… before times eternal…” Each phrase speaks of a moment outside of time and matter. Notice there is a divine purpose at work in this space. We – all created things which have being through the logos – are loved and blameless before him. Who is “we” if time hasn’t been created? Are we spirit or matter? Also, notice when grace appears. The concept of time hasn’t been created, but grace is present. Doesn’t this kinda mess up what you have thought grace was really for? You thought it was something you received because of some nefarious act you did in time; grace is something that would save your backside from experiencing the heat of hell. What do you think of your stop-gap measure now?

I hope you can see that the fourth narrative is much more broad in scope and its impact on the entire planet versus those found in the Hebrew scripture. Don’t get me wrong here thinking I’m saying there is a superiority in the New Testament writings over the Hebrew writings. That is not the case at all. Matter of fact, there is this passage found in Jeremiah which is right in line with what being is all about.

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou came forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jer 1:5)

Ponder this for a moment and you’ll see that it goes right back to the question I asked earlier, who is “we” if time hasn’t been created? God knew me before I was formed? In Hebrew the word we recognize as “knew” has the meaning of sharing a deep, intense romantic relationship. God “knew” you, me, we before we were formed. We (whatever that means) had our “being” in this deep, intense romantic relationship before time, before creation, before…

I stated in the last post that I would be entering into the spiritual arena to begin our journey into who we are. While there are a number of sources to pull from I will start from the primary source recognized in the West – the bible. Now I recognize that this will create a number of issues which will need to be addressed, something which I will attempt to do within the text as it proceeds. However, I need to address an important aspect from the context of what the bible’s purpose meant to the children of Israel.

The Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, are the foundation of all Hebrew thought. They are recognized as the books of Moses. In the west, we have interpreted this to mean that Moses wrote them. Historical biblical research has demonstrated repeatedly that this is not factual. The dating of these books appears to be around the time when Israel was in exile in Babylon.

The vital aspect to this is how the people, prisoners in a land not their own, took the oral history of their community and shaped it to create a narrative to give themselves an identity. “Who are we and how is God working with us in this place of captivity?” is the over-arching theme they work from as the writers begin to define and distinguish themselves from the other tribes who occupied the places they resided in. It is from this platform that the creation of their being as individuals and a nation springs forth.

Biblically, there are four creation narratives which explore how all things came into being. The first one is found in Genesis 1:1 which declares, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Much to the chagrin of a number of fundamentalist types, the second narrative starts at the next verse, Genesis 1:2, with, “And the earth was without form, and void…” Since the adoption of the Hebrew canon into the New Testament writings, people have been trying to group these two verses into one and the same narrative. Biblical scholars have produced massive works showing that these are in fact two separate accounts describing two separate events. So, I have neither time, space nor the inclination to rehash their findings and just ask that you take what I’ve said on “faith” until you’ve got the gumption to investigate it yourself.

This second narrative begins at verse 2 and runs straight through to Genesis 2:3. It explains the entire cosmology of Earth as understood by the scribes of the day of the Babylonian exile. (Scholars play havoc on fundamentalist traditions again!) Contained within this narrative is the proclamation made over mankind:

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Gen 1:26-27)

From this text we have the first indication of how mankind came into being. Molded into the image of the divine, mankind was created. The “likeness” element of the divine proclamation would have to be something that humanity would be responsible to accomplish, not God.

(If you take exception with this reading, please remember this one thing: Long before you snotted and bawled, puked and pooped your britches, humanity took these texts as absolutes and around them crafted the world we now occupy, whether right or wrong to your liking. Your opinion against the backdrop of such an endeavor of humanity, well I think you get the picture of how they feel about you too.)

The third narrative will be found beginning at Genesis 2:4 and running through verse 25. There are a number of items which fall out of sequence from this last narrative and offer a different perspective on the involvement of mankind within the place known as The Garden of Eden. This story, as in the second, displays elements from Babylonian culture which were incorporated in the story of Israel. (Oh, you thought that this was original? Scholars and historians strike again. How is your faith doing?)

As I said, these narratives, all three of them, are about Israel. They have nothing to do with the rest of the world. These are the stories that they created to define themselves, to make a desolate and destitute people back into a nation with a common identity despite being exiles from their own land. The Hebrew people understand this. Christians take exception to it simply because they believe that by adopting the Hebrew canon into theirs, somehow, the narrative is theirs too. If you don’t have a drop of Hebrew blood in you, the story is…well, just a story about a small group of people on this planet. So much for an inclusive gospel, right?

The prevalent doctrine of mankind is that we are tripartite, comprised of three elements: The body, the spirit and the soul. The body, often referred to as “the flesh” in the New Testament writings, is the meat sack we all hoist about in our daily meanderings. Organs and blood vessels surrounded by, and moving through, muscles and ligaments which are wrapped around bones enveloped in flesh all of which is working in harmony through a fascinatingly intricate network of nerves activated by electrical impulses originating in the brain. This description, modestly simple, is common for all human and terrestrial animal life forms on this planet. The spirit (pneuma in Greek and rūaḥ in Hebrew) is the breath, or wind, which animates the flesh, human and beast alike.

The distinguishing factor which defines humans from beasts is the soul (Psuche in Greek and nephesh In Hebrew). The soul is where our personality, our ego, our sense of self resides and operates from. Despite what someone might have claimed about you, it is not possible for any human to live without a soul. As long as the body is breathing the soul is functioning, even in a vegetative state. I’ll discuss more on the daily issues of the soul in a latter posting but for the present I need to make this inter-working more understandable.

Throughout the bible there is a mixing of the use of the terms spirit and soul. It matters not whether it is in the Hebrew or Greek scriptures, these two terms almost take on the same meaning on many occasions. This presents a problem in trying to clarify the “spiritual” condition of a person because there are times when the term “soul” is used in a “spiritual” context and “spirit” is used in bodily context. This leads many to wonder according to the body, which came first, the spirit or the soul?

For my purposes here, I am going to make the following distinction the norm. The spirit, the breath addresses the functions related to our body. You don’t breathe, you’re dead and dead people have no use for breath. The soul is the eternal element of who are; your body dies, your soul doesn’t. In this distinction your soul is more “spiritual” than your breath.

Now I understand that many of you will balk at this claim citing that the bible says, yada, yada, yada. (As a side note here, the actual spelling of this word is yadah, which in Hebrew means to extend your hands in praise. Obviously, this is what you meant, right?) I’m going to have to defer to the experts in this area by claiming that the bible doesn’t have the language to accurately articulate the spirit/soul connection in a true spiritual context.

Who, you might ask, are these experts? They are those rare individuals who have a qualified story from a near death experience (NDE). The qualification is simply that they have had a cardiac arrest, flat-lined, and were subsequently brought back to life by doctors. Those who have conveyed their experience in the after-life are in mutual agreement that it is the soul, not the breath, which leaves the body and is beckoned to cross into the light. This is where they meet other souls who have gone before them. They also agree that is the soul which returns back into the body when they are resuscitated and begin to breath again.

Taking their testimonies as authorized accounts, I stand by my distinction. Later you will come to recognize the significance of making this distinction as I address more of the soul issues in our life and how “spiritual” the soul truly is.

Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher is credited with saying:

If you don’t realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow.  When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.

When you look around the world, you can see that there are many who appear to be living in an utter state of confusion and sorrow. Tolerance seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur because of this. Far too many haven’t a clue about where they originated from and so they grasp at the wind trying to hold onto any wisp which confirms their identity.

When you know your origin, people and their situations don’t have the resources to influence you. As nasty as this might appear, you don’t really have an interest in their junk and often it becomes amusing just watching them try to work through it. It’s kinda like watching videos of people trying to walk across icy pavement which is inclined. You know they are going to fail and fall hard, but it’s the joy set before you that keeps you watching.

After a time of maturing in understanding the nuances of your source, there will arise within you a kindness to those who are still searching for their well-spring of identity. The guide posts from your journey, and those which you have encountered with others, will be able to be communicated with the grace of a royal wisdom. This will endear the hearts of many towards you and elevate you to an elder statesman position within your community.

Lao Tzu spoke this in an era when mankind held a high regard for the divine mystery of purpose and one’s belief in guidance from a source outside of themselves. Today, those who don’t have a belief system rely on science to give them the answers of how the universe, and their place in it, works. Nikola Tesla, famed scientist of the early 1900’s has stated:

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

This was spoken at a time when the quantum concepts and string theory hadn’t even been considered. Yet today, science has determined that everything in the universe is energy, operating at a particular frequency and vibrational pattern. Albert Einstein stated years after Tesla:

“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help be get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”

But how does this even apply to the nature of being? Pierre Teilhard de Chardin is known for asking the timeless question of all people: Are you a human being having a spiritual experience, or, are you a spiritual being having a human experience? The duality of this either/or question has perplexed many over the ages. When trying to solve this question, the fly in the ointment becomes Jesus, who Christians have declared being equally both divine (spiritual) and human.

For those who have difficulty accepting the religious perspective in defining the human condition, let me start with the scientific explanation offered also by Albert Einstein:

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

Notice that he begins by establishing our relationship to a greater collective, the universe. Then he declares our egoic tendencies which blind us to the universe around us. Finally, he offers us a picture of our purpose, to love all things and people in the universe. As noble as this is, the question which it produces is: Is this humanly possible? In the next posting I will consider this question by stepping into the spiritual realm where this is already a way of existence.

“I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you what first?”

How many times have you made this claim, or had it made to you? Too many times to count probably. Have you ever considered that the evaluation of good/bad is on the person giving the news? We rely on their, or our, interpretation of what is deemed to be good/bad to and for us.

I recall a time at work when someone came to me with this statement. I said, which I often do, give me the good news first. Their response was, “I don’t have to be here tomorrow.” Now to me, this was not good news because I would then have pick up their load, along with mine, for the day. Begrudgingly I then asked what the bad news was, from which they responded, “I’ve been fired!” At this precise moment I had to make a very important decision: Rejoice that this nut-case was finally out of my life or act solemn in the misery this person was feeling. Perspectives on good/bad news have many twists.

The Gospels, we are told, are the good news of Jesus’s life and death. Okay, I can see the life part being good for him, the disciples and his followers, but for the religious folks who felt threatened by his work, they possibly viewed this as bad news whenever Jesus showed up.

Conversely, the death of Jesus can be registered as bad news for him, the disciples and his followers, while the religious folks rejoiced at squelching a potential rebellion which would exact a terrible toll on their relationship with the Roman government.

However, the resurrection of Jesus from the bounds of death is good news to the disciples and his followers, while it would be bad news for the religious and governing folks who now face the real possibility of being exposed, defamed and publicly accused for the death of an innocent man. This is a real first where the man confirmed to be dead is alive to confronts those who killed him!

Yet, the forgiveness which Jesus displays by not vindicating himself before the religious and governing folks is good news to them since they won’t have to endure any public repercussions for their actions, while it will make it difficult to the disciples and his followers to rightfully standup to attempts to keep them from telling everyone what occurred.

This scenario of good news/bad news can keep playing on and on without ever ending simply because there will always be at least two sides to the narrative which can be told and affect someone’s sense of morality. Duality does that, always.

Over the course of two millennium the church has had to redefine the good news of Jesus to meet the expectations of empire and doctrine. We, the church, still might not have it exact, but maybe we’re not suppose to. Paul claimed that this entire production is a mystery which must be revealed. Generations have had to look into what’s so good about the singular execution of a Hebrew teacher in the midst of a Roman occupation. It certainly confounds the mind, but isn’t that the manner all mysteries follow?

The next time you seek to divulge the Good News from rote, take the time for a moment to consider from whose perspective this news is being told and received. And in this moment also seek to instill the sense of mystery which draws people to inquire for further insight rather than just dismiss the whole thing as an outlandish myth, which makes it bad news in a world already bereft with an abundance of bad news.

Recently my family and I traveled to the Tetons in Wyoming for a camping vacation. It is amazing how being in the presence of such natural grandeur- massive crags of geological projections softened by a carpet of wildflowers scattered among the pines and aspen – causes you to stop and reflect on how your very essence is but a minute part of a much grander scheme. Many were the occasions during this trip where I experienced the fullness of a Creator who wished to express His love through the very matter which surrounded me, and I was emotionally overcome by the offer. It often seemed at times that His presence in the abundance of creation was merely the vehicle to announce my being upon a platform which no other entity could occupy. Deep spiritual stuff, right? Maybe.

There is a passage in the book of Mark where Jesus is dealing with the exorcism of a demon from a young boy which could not be handled by his disciples. The father of the boy asks Jesus, if it was possible, could he help. The response that occurred at this moment from Jesus is, “‘If I possibly can!'” replied Jesus; “why, everything is possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe: strengthen my weak faith.”(Mark 9:23-24)

This is the story of every one of us. We know all things are possible with God, but our life definitely does not portray this. We simply ask for God to supplement our weak faith so that we may believe. What surprises most people is knowing that the word which the bible uses for faith and belief is the same word, Pistis. Most have thought to believe is something different from having faith; however, it is the same thing. Statements like, “I believe less today than I ever have,” or “My faith today is greater than it has ever been,” are using the same word to describe the nature of the exact same things: the hope of things which can’t be seen.

Today, at this stage in my life I have come to believe in really two things found in the Bible: that God is love, and that Jesus died on the cross. Everything else, all the stories, doctrines and dogmas they have subsequently created, they are part of the faith journey I’m on. Yes, I recognize that from the previous paragraph I have employed the same word to describe two very unique conditions.

From my point of view, a belief can be validated, it has real hard material evidence. I know that God is love simple because in the depth of my deepest, darkest moment of despair, when all hope had vanished, when there was no faith to be seen, felt or even considered, He reached down and covered me in His pure golden liquid honey of love. That is my evidence which no one will ever be able to deny or take away from me. That experience has become a vital aspect of my very being, my essence.

The evidence of Jesus dying on the cross is likewise validated by multiple witnesses across a broad spectrum of society from that day. This makes it an important event even though there were a multitude of crucifixions conducted during the life of Jesus. His however, was acknowledge by others who weren’t even his disciples. Therefore, I can believe this event happened; the evidence supports it. This belief too, is a vital aspect of my being.

As I’ve stated the rest, in my opinion, requires faith to apprehend it. Don’t get me wrong here, I’ve taken my long draughts from the well of many a doctrine and dogma. They are, regrettably, in my opinion, too much work to maintain. I haven’t dismissed any of them, yet I feel more confident recognizing that I just can’t see it, so faith is what it must be. When it is revealed to me, then I can fully believe it. Maybe, like the father who came to Jesus, I can proclaim what I strongly believe and accept in some areas my faith is weak. Either way, I know that God is pleased with me – a fact which some of those doctrines and dogmas are hard pressed to accept.

What if the grace message, and its present manifestation as a movement, isn’t for the world? What if it is only for the church? Absurd? Consider before you dismiss.

What do you know about grace? It is the power of a gift which enables us to be in the presence of God despite all that we have done to keep ourselves away from Him. It is what keeps us from the fires of an eternal conscious torment. It is what has bought our very being from the masters of our demise, the tortures of our soul. It is what turned our lives from the curse of a living hell into the eternal blessing of divine love. Grace is the reward of a sacrifice we couldn’t make but were willing to commit to defend our image of a God who punishes any who claim to be in the image and likeness of His glory. It is unmerited, unfathomable, undeniable, unlimited, and unifying.

Stop now, for a moment, drop whatever additional superlatives you might seek to add to my description and ask yourself this: Where did I hear or learn about this?

I am very certain none of this language, metaphorical overtones or symbology originated in the daily world you inhabit. The “world” which the church is so eager to profess they are not part of, that environment which God so loved that He sent his only begotten Son into, quite possibly doesn’t give a care to your thoughts about grace simply because they’ve been living in it a whole lot better than the cloistered folks of the church have.

What if the message of grace is intended to get you off your bigger-than-life ego and into the enormous process of being divine? How would you function in a world which thinks nothing of God and everything of living in the gift of the creation He offers them moment by moment?

Consider the mind set which thinks how we must bring people into our environment to convey to them how they aren’t worthy to be in the presence of God except for the grace He offers them; even still, how now they may be in the presence of people who understand this claim to be true about everyone. How do you handle the type of person who has never felt they weren’t in the presence of God all the while being apart from the people of God?

The church likes to think that they are the only ones who know the secret handshake, the hidden sayings, and the proper protocol to entertain the Creator on a day of rest. In this manner they view themselves as the 1% crowd who possess the riches of the world. Rarely do we realize the poverty of our neglectful interactions with the 99% who are grateful without regard, unencumbered by ceremony and liberated from tradition.

The church has embellished grace as the blessing of God without considering how you only thought it so in the curse of your living. Yet, it took a church to tell you your life was a curse first so you could distinguish the blessing grace offered you. How is it we never understood that grace has always been part and parcel of living? There isn’t a grace for the world which is any different than a grace for the church.

According to God’s way of looking at things, you might say that the world is more in tune with what church should be than what church attempts to portray. And portray is the proper term because it denotes to perform an act or dramatization, that when finished, allows the performers to remove their masks and return to their routines in living until the next performance. Church folks will never agree with Shakespeare that all the world is a stage, simply because they need a break from the masks.

Instead of proclaiming that there is a world out there for grace to affect, why not return to a world in which grace is the effect.

It’s the story of your life, right? Voices. Lots of voices, telling you do this, don’t do that. Who can you trust and who do you put a ten-foot pole in front of before you even get them to say something, anything, remotely nice?

In the Hebrew creation narrative of the man and woman in the garden, there is an interesting thought which pertains to this posting. You might recall how the couple ate the fruit which they had been commanded not to eat and then hid themselves in the garden when the presence of God came on His daily walk. God asks why they were hiding, and the man says it was because they were naked. God’s response to them is, “Who said that you were naked?”

Man, woman, and God. That is all who, according to the story, reside in this world. Let me put this in a different manner: Man is made in the image and likeness of God; woman is crafted from man, therefore, is also in the image and likeness of God. As far as God is concerned, the only being residing in the garden is…

With God there is no other, literally. I’m not say that there is no other god. I’m simply stating a fact: God doesn’t see an “other.” Sure, you can look out your window and see “others” moving in this world, but who said they are “other?” Not God!

Let’s face it, we have an “other” issue which, when boiled down, is narrated in a me-versus-them mentality. Racial, gender, sexual preference, income status, political bias, nationality, and so many supplementary divides permeate our world for what reason? To declare “other?” Or, is it to define our perceived vulnerability?

How many voices daily do you hear correcting your actions, preventing you from expressing your true nature, enflaming your wrath for a past injury to your emotional well-being? How many of these voices are merely from your past, people you don’t even see anymore, voices that only spoke to you once?

Furthermore, how many voices tell you should act now before it’s too late; tell you that you’re not beautiful enough unless you use their (fill in the blank); tell you that you’re not sexy, affluent, mature, carefree, studious, hungry, too hungry, tired, sick, awake, feeling right, or anything else advertising wants you to hear about your lack which only their product can fulfill?

In that garden, God only sees his reflection. There is no other to give voice to that image. Silence. Who broke the silence of being?

Silence is a big deal these days, primary because we can’t seem to find it, or once found, we can’t accept it. Contemplation, the art of shutting up to hear a real voice, confounds most. It’s art simply because it develops mental muscle to recognize all the voices we hear in our head and give priority to. It confounds simply because we’ve been so saturated with stuff which we thought was us, that when the realization of outside influences are exposed, we feel tainted.

Elijah experienced this. After dispatching the prophets of Baal, he high-tailed it to the wilderness to escape the threats of Jezebel. Finding himself in a cave, he hears a voice simply ask, “Why are you here?” Have you ever heard that voice of question in the deep, dark place of your hiding? If you have, you probably did the exact same thing Elijah did – justify your actions. But to what end?

In Elijah’s case it produced first a mighty strong wind which ripped the mountains apart; followed by an earthquake and then a firestorm – manifestations of self-made god. Whenever we try to justify ourselves, the wind of our voice will rip through what we possess tossing everybody into the maelstrom it creates. This will shake the very foundations of the belief people have in us and will cause passions to rise until nothing recognizable remains in the smoldering ashes of our intent. Then, after the carnage and purifying it requires has happened, we will, just as Elijah experienced, hear the still small voice of the gardener call us out of the depths of our self-imposed darkness.

Note to self: self-imposed is the “other” you are not.

Joh 17:22 And the glory which you have given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one.

It takes time and humility to turn away the voices of our own discourse in order to reveal the voice of a true calling we been placed upon the planet to complete. We’ve endured many good stories about our successes and failures; rights and their weather-worn glories; injustices and the stale prejudices they promote. There have been stories told of adventures, disappointments, regrets and cherished moments all of which puncture the still mundane routine of life. Each has a voice, a narrator, a director and script writer embellishing the prosaic life we lead. Rarely, are we able to stop with the edits long enough to listen to the voice of the gardener quietly ask, “Who said why are you here?”

Warning! This post is about to make some claims that will be controversial bordering on heretical if you have any national patriotic leanings of a Judeo-Christian mindset.

Some of you reading that warning will immediately leave with a captivated mind. For those of you who decide to read on, I only request that you suspend your binary thinking for a moment and allow a new thought on an old pattern be introduced and considered. There will always be room and time for speculation, yet rarely do we give ourselves time to consider. Let’s begin.

I don’t believe in the Ten Commandments.

I told you it was going to be blistering. My reasons are many, none of which you might have thought of. But this is beside the point. So, let’s start out with the underlying reason: Israel never viewed them as commandments. Throughout the scope of Hebrew thought, the rabbis and greatest teachers of the Law referred to these as the Ten Sayings or Ten Words. Semantics doesn’t have a footing here. These people never associated them to the harsh reality of “Do or Die” which a commandment could produce. To paraphrase the words of Captain Barbossa of the Black Pearl, “The commandments are more guidelines than actual rules.”

My strongest reason however comes from a passage where Jesus claims a very important kingdom principle.

Mar 10:31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Now I’ll the first to admit that this verse has nothing to do with the sayings, yet as I stated, it does reveal a kingdom principle which I strongly believe has never been considered heretofore, particularly when dealing with a list generated by God Himself. I’m fairly certain that David Letterman is not God, however, it is quite possible that his ability to create and present a top ten list is a divine attribute which many should consider employing.

Here is my offering to you on this subject which, if you consider the sayings to be guidelines, and believe God has the best intentions in mind for all, might reveal to you a grace you never knew existed in these sayings. As a means to implement them together, I will offer this as a narrative which conveys the love Jehovah has for the children of Israel and the world.

Before you lies the Land I have promised as your inheritance. It is occupied by a people who I will give to you. You need to be aware of how you will conduct yourself in this land not only with strangers but with your own kin because there is a trap waiting for you in the very abundance the land offers. To avoid this trap, you need to not desire the house of your neighbor, or desire his wife, or his servants, or his livestock which provide transportation for him, or clothes and feeds his family. If you are able to do this, you will live and prosper mightily in the land.

However, if desire befalls you, beware, for it has a path which will lead you to destruction. It will cause you to lie and bear a false accusation against your neighbor in order to possess what you desire from him. You will steal, even kidnap, that which is not yours. This desire will cause you to commit adultery, even kill the one who holds what is not yours. These actions will not bring honor to your mother or father and will merely shorten your miserable life.

The drive to possess your desire will force you to work incessantly and not take a day of rest to restore yourself. Even I took a break when I created this world out of My desire for you. You, regrettably, will not be so charitable to yourself in creating your own world. In this wearied state you will begin to blame Me for your woes and sorrows which will force you to look toward other gods, images or systems of power who you believe will alleviate your misery simply by offering them tokens of your affection. Ultimately you will become dissatisfied with these and proclaim that you, and you alone, are supreme, thereby refusing to recognize that in your proclamation, you have once again returned to the bondage I just delivered you from.

I am, just saying, the choice is yours.

I don’t believe that God is a top-down deity, sitting on a throne of grace, acting like the great and mighty Oz, reminding people that he is God! The traditional reading of the Sayings would, however, lead you to believe this. No, I believe He is a bottom-up kind of deity who cares mightily about His creation and does all in His power to support its development and progression. He, like no one else, knows what we are like and what drives us. It simply makes sense that He would try to offer us His wisdom on how to navigate into and through unchartered territory. Trouble only arises when we don’t know how to read the map simply because our forefathers never taught us what the symbols meant (often because their’s never did the same to them).

Throughout this land there are monuments to the ten commandments as the de facto basis for all justice. In my opinion, not that you care anyway, this is a blatant disregard for the wisdom they offer simply because they aren’t displayed properly. Far too many do not believe in God, particularly those who are facing prosecution. They have never possibly thought how their desires have placed them in the very condition they are trying desperately to get out of.

You can’t command someone to believe in God. You certain can show them how their actions have led them to believe there isn’t one and they have put themselves into that role of supreme being, even when they are in handcuffs.

No, I don’t believe in the Ten Commandments. I believe in the love and grace of a Creator who cares for me and how I represent His will when I look at my neighbor’s success. Just saying…

You ever wonder why after the resurrection of Jesus, and his forty days teaching the disciples about the kingdom, he tells them to go into Jerusalem and wait ten days for the promise to appear? As the messiah, wasn’t he the promise?

We know of course that by their waiting in the upper room, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in the tongues, or languages, of the multitude of people who had come into Jerusalem to participate in the second national religious celebration known as Shavout, the festival of weeks, what we call Pentecost. Regrettably, today most of the church doesn’t even have a clue to the importance of this celebration and the significance to which it plays in the birth and formation of the church. What makes this day so important?

You may have heard of the story of the children of Israel, slaves who resided in the land of Egypt, and how their leader, Moses, following the instructions of their God, Jehovah, were led out of the oppressive captivity of Pharaoh’s Egypt toward their own promised land. The night that this deliverance occurred would forever be memorialized as the Passover and later recognized as the first of three yearly national religious celebrations.

Over the course of the next several weeks, Israel would make their journey toward their promised land, eventually stopping at a place in the wilderness known as Mt. Sinai. At this very location the entire congregation of Israel was presented the opportunity to see and hear Jehovah. However, the sheer magnitude of Jehovah’s holiness and awesomeness overwhelmed the senses of the children of Israel and they insisted that Moses be their mediator before Jehovah and convey all that He wanted to tell them.

So, Moses ascended the mountain which was enveloped in rolling clouds which flashed with lightning and bellowed with thunder. Winds blew mightily about the mountain while tongues of flames rose high into the sky from the multiple lightning strikes which lit up the mountain. Many of the people cowered at the horns blasts which sounded in the heavens fearing that Moses could not possibly survive the tumult which they were witnessing and having been led into the wild, they now were without a leader.

Meanwhile, Moses eventually reached a spot where Jehovah had inscribed upon two stone tablets what the people of Israel would call The Ten Sayings. These sayings, which today the church calls commandments, would be the cornerstone to what would become known in Israel as The Law, 613 commandments which the children of Israel were required to observe as they entered the promised land. Two of these commandments were that the children of Israel were to yearly celebrate the Passover, and also the festival of weeks, Shavout, the day that Jehovah gave Israel the Ten Sayings and The Law.

Over the centuries since these events had occurred and leading up to the time of Jesus, stories were told among the teachers of The Law of how on the day of Shavout, Jehovah spoke out to all the people of the world in their own language asking who was worthy to receive the Ten Sayings and The Law. It is told that one by one each nation responded that they were unworthy to carrying such a great responsibility in the world. Finally, when the last nation had relinquished themselves, Israel arose and proclaimed that they would receive the Ten Sayings and The Law of Jehovah and present them throughout the world as a testimony to the goodness of God for all mankind. This would be their lasting and living heritage to humanity.

Take a moment now to reconsider what the narrative of the day of Pentecost is portraying from the book of Acts. Upper room, one accord, mighty rushing wind, tongues of fire, and speaking in multiple languages about the glory of God. This is the fulfillment of The Law by Jesus for the whole world to see. As for the Ten Sayings, well Jesus expounded upon them in his own sermon on the mount; but, it is possible that there exists a wisdom which hasn’t been expounded upon found in these saying, particularly addressing how a nation builds itself in a new land, or how a church operates in the world, or even how one person is to carry the responsibility of being a testimony of the goodness of God for all to see. As you might have guessed I have something to say about this too…