Three Simple Rules
Many of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that appear in Exodus, the second book of the Bible, written some thirty-three hundred years ago. What do these commandments say? The first four have to do with a god and the Sabbath. The remaining six are about behavior. We are told to honor our parents and to not murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, or covet.
We would all agree that we have learned a few things in the last thirty-three hundred years. It may be that instead of the Ten Commandments, we require just three simple rules for living that say and do more than these ten. If we followed these three simple rules-seven words-we would eliminate the majority of problems and suffering in our world (problems that the Ten Commandments don’t even address). It’s of interest to note that none of these three rules appear in the Ten Commandments.
The first is be healthy. We are, each of us, like a cell in the body of humanity. The health of all of us taken together determines the health of our species and civilization. These bodies and minds in which we live may be the most exquisite “machines” on the planet. We abuse them in ways we wouldn’t dream of doing to our material possessions like our cars, computers, or our homes. Yet, our bodies and minds are our homes. Perhaps the reason that we don’t value them more is that we get them for free. We are given these most prized possessions at birth. By the time we realize their value, for many of us, it is very late if not too late. Be healthy. When we are, it is easier to follow the second simple rule.
The second rule is be kind. The Ten Commandments instruct us to honor our parents, which is fine. Aside from that they tell us not what to do but what not to do: thou shall not murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, or covet. In all our relationships, what we need to do is simply to be kind. We need to treat each other, our friends and neighbors, better. We must stop exploiting each other. It doesn’t matter how much money we have or earn, what size house we live in, what kind of car we drive, how many academic degrees we may have accumulated, what accomplishments we may have achieved, or what our title or position is. Nor does it matter what our gender, race, religion, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or political affiliation is. What matters is whether or not we are kind to one another.
The third simple rule is respect the environment. In every conceivable way, we are linked to our environment. We evolved from it. Everything comes from our environment. If we destroy our environment, we destroy ourselves. Ecological systems will regenerate but we will be gone. Nature, which couldn’t care less about us, will have eliminated us. It’s that simple.
Three rules, seven words. If we follow them, our lives will change. As many of our lives change our world changes. Be healthy. Be kind. Respect the environment. If you wish to astonish the whole world, tell people that – the simple truth.
…to be continued.
Filed under: Earth and Life, environmental crisis, global remedies, overpopulation, prosperity, quality of life, religion, sustainability
“Thou shalt not kill.” For those of us who are open-minded, this commandment includes much more than physically killing another human being. It includes respecting all forms of life and acknowledging that God is the sole author and authorIZER of life (Respect the environment). I must therefore respect my body as a creation of God and treat it as such, taking care to avoid things that do it harm (Be healthy). Number three: Be kind, eh? Anyone that believes that “being kind” is not included in the Ten Commandments should probably take more than just a fleeting glance at Christianity. When asked by the letter-of-the-law-loving Pharisees “which is the great commandment in the law?, Jesus said unto him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40). This over-arching commandment along with the last 6 commandments deal with how we should treat others (Be kind). Even though the Ten Commandments were given as a strict, straight-forward guide specifically to God’s children in the time when they were given, they still apply to us today. But thanks to the coming of Jesus Christ, we have been shown the deeper meanings behind these ten mantras. I hope we can understand each other now.
Thank you. That is a fine interpretation of writing from the infancy of our intelligence. Contrived gods? There are many. Religions? The same. It has all served not to bring us together but to divide us. We no longer require “gods” or “religions” to explain life. We are past that. “Be healthy. Be kind. Respect the environment.” What more could any god of any belief system anywhere ask of us? Again, thank you.