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Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exodus 20:7 KJV)
My brothers and sisters, above all, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Don’t use the name of heaven, earth, or anything else to prove what you say. When you mean yes, say only yes, and when you mean no, say only no so you will not be judged guilty. (James 5:12 NCV)

I think the third commandment is the most misunderstood of all ten. I grew up afraid God would strike me down for saying Gosh or Darn much less swearing “real” swear words. Don’t get me wrong. There is way too much profanity across the airwaves, in the workplace and on the playground. I get weary of the “F” word lacing through everyday conversation. But profanity has little or nothing to do with the third commandment given to us by God through Moses.

This commandment is about the power of the God’s name and not misusing that power. The simple example of this would be praying to win the lottery or the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstake. And I have to admit that sometimes in jest I pray that God will wipe out the fat calories in something I should not eat. I should not pray this way but I’m counting on God’s sense of humor….perhaps it’s time to stop that one. Another way God’s name is taken in vain is when we lightly claim what Jesus would or would not do when our New Testament gives no evidence that our opinion is that of Jesus the Christ.

On the flip side, to pray in the name of Jesus Christ is to pray with power and authority. It is not something to be done thoughtlessly or as if we are just signing off before we say “Amen”. When we pray in Jesus name, we are calling on the forces of Heaven to make so what we have asked. So let us be careful and deliberate in what we ask for in prayer. And let us not be casual about assuming we know what Jesus would or would not due. This is far more important than the occasional profanity that might cross our lips. Pray as though your prayers have power and importance rather than in vain.

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

— St. Teresa of Avila
 

 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;

if I go to the west, I do not find him. 

 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 

 But he knows the way that I take;

when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 

 My feet have closely followed his steps;

I have kept to his way without turning aside. (Job 23:4-11 NIV84)

I’ve been watching the beautiful colors of Autumn disappear outside my windows. The comforting fire crackles in the fireplace and the politicians are silenced with a light touch on the off button. Ahhhh! Such sweet silence! But somedays God too seems silent. There is an old adage that I despise that says: “if God seems far away, guess who moved?” This is supposed to make one feel even worse, the lowliest of the low, if one is in a time of spiritual drought. Not helpful. Not at all. These are the words of Job’s comforters whom God resoundly denounced as liars. Let these words of Job quoted above comfort you. It is only when God seems far away that we are required to flex our spiritual muscles. If God always carried us like a baby through times of trouble, then we would never learn to walk by faith, trusting in God’s unfelt presence, patiently waiting God’s warm embrace, accepting that our life is always lived in God’s presence.
These are dark days as the sunlight disappears with the falling leaves. These are dark days as we listen to news on any station or check our pockets for loose change or our retirement accounts if we are fortunate to have them. These are the days that require our faith, trust, patience and self-acceptance in order to have the inner strength of God within us. Let not your hearts be troubled.

The terms “Right” and “Left” came from the Estates General in France. It’s interesting that we now use them as our basic political terms. On the left sat the ordinary people, on the right sat the nobility and the clergy! (What were the clergy doing over there?!) I think you see the pattern, despite Jesus’ clear and consistent identification with the outsiders and the poor.

In most of history you will invariably have these two movements, because we didn’t have the phenomenon of the middle class until very recently. The vast majority of people in all of human history have been poor, as it was in Jesus’ time. Yet the people who wrote books and controlled the institutions have almost always been on the Right. Much of history has been read and interpreted from the side of the “winners,” or the Right, except for the unique revelation called the Bible, which is an alternative history from the side of the enslaved, the dominated, the oppressed, and the poor, leading up to the totally scapegoated Jesus himself. He tries to put inside and outside together, but is killed by those entrapped and privileged on the inside.

Adapted from the CAC Foundation Set: Gospel Call to Compassionate Action
(Bias from the Bottom) and Contemplative Prayer (CD, DVD, MP3)

I did not know that! And I always wondered where the terms left and right came from. Good to know God is the creator of us all.

From the Book of Proverbs
22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold
22:2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
22:8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
22:9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
22:22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
22:23 for the LORD pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.

In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. (Psalm 127:2 NIV84)

Sleep is vastly under-rated in our culture. Working ourselves or others to death, either a physical or spiritual death, has become the norm for the vast majority. I did this to myself a decade or so ago. It cost me my job and eventually most everything I owned. And it has taken me all those years to catch up on my sleep.

I felt so guilty about this need for sleep! What use was I to anyone as I slept 12 hours a day? But then I wasn’t use to anyone when I didn’t. This need for excessive sleep has finally come back to normal. And truly, God gives to me, his beloved, sleep.

Two of our grandchildren just spent a week with us all by themselves. What a total delight! Oh my, the energy they have! It’s been less than 24 hours and we already miss them terribly. The sweet sound of their laughter, the joy of play, the incessant “Grandma? Grandpa?” and thier delight in catching frogs…it’s too quiet now! But I have to say the sleep we got last night was one of the most restorative ever. May God bless every parent everywhere with his beloved sleep

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! (Psalm 84:1 NIV84)

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV84)

I have heard so often, more often than not, that people find it difficult to meditate. Some even say things like: “I am no good at meditating!”. Or “I tried and tried but I just can’t do that. In my experience, the reason most people have these issues is because they are trying!
Now hear me out! Meditating is not something that has to be worked on. In fact, we can’t actually meditate on our own. It is something God does within us. In fact, God meditates us! If we will let God just be with us. It is a matter of receiving rather than giving. It is a feminine response, if you will.
What we give is simply our time. Sounds too easy, doesn’t it? Here are some suggestions:
1) play a piece of music that is only instrumental. I particularly like the Timeless Motion CD by Daniel Kobiaka. Don’t choose an instrumental of hymns you know. If you do, you will try to remember the words and be distracted.
2) choose a place that you can sit to meditate and not use for any other purpose if possible. If this is not possible, choose a shawl or prayer beads or anything that represents prayers to you. The purpose of this is to train your body to relax in God’s presence. Over time, these symbols will trigger your mind with memories of meditation.
3) start with 5 minutes and increase over time. The use of a CD will provide a natural beginning and ending for your time of meditation.
4) choose a name for God from scripture such as Abba Father, or Lord Jesus Christ, or Spirit of God. As you think the first half of the name, breath in then breath out as you think the second half. Do this at least three times.
5) Just rest now knowing that God dwells in you. It may help to keep your attention on your heart as you simply relax into God’s presence.

Like a child resting in his Mother’s lap or sleeping on her Father’s shoulder, so is the blessing of simply resting into God’s presence.