A while back, I
read an article that discussed which of the Ten Commandments was the hardest for
humans to keep. I believe that’s a valid
question. I suspect that all of us
violate two or three or more a day no matter how saintly we might think
ourselves to be.
Now, I’m not a
religious scholar, nor am I an expert on the Bible. I don’t quote scripture as part of my general
conversation, but I have experienced people who use scripture to validate their
comments or behavior. I’ve also
experienced those who use scripture to denounce the behavior or comments of
those with whom they disagree.
Well I’m going to take some poetic license
and paraphrase what I believe is the simplest, yet most powerful commandment
ever given: “Love ye one another, as I have loved you.”(John 13:34) The Master Spirit asks no more of us than to
Love each other. And yet this seems to
be the one commandment we have the most problem living up to.
Our society has
become so antagonistic that we have more and more difficulty being civil to one
another. We discriminate based on looks,
gender, race, lifestyle, income, education, neighborhood, size, and a whole lot
of other variables that make us unique as human beings. And there are those who use scripture to
validate their discrimination. It would
seem to me that the Master Spirit, who has created all of us, would never
condone any one of us purposely being cruel to another human being. Again, the commandment says, “Love ye one
another, as I have loved you.” And if you
question whether the Master Spirit loves you, look out the window.
While I’m at it,
I’m going to share another scripture that I’ve heard the preacher use. To paraphrase, the Master Spirit asks, “How
can you say you love me whom you’ve never seen, yet hate your brother who you
see everyday?”(1John 4:20) There are
those who continually proclaim that they “love the Lord”, yet they badmouth,
ridicule, and purposely deceive their neighbors everyday.
Back in 1972, Marvin Gaye sang a song
named “God is Love”. One of the lyrics
goes as follows: “Don’t go and talk
about my Father, God is my friend. He
made this world for us to live in, and gave us everything. And all he asks of us is to give each other
love.” Pretty simple. The Master Spirit will provide all of your
needs. All you need to do is love one
another. That’s a pretty good deal, if
you ask me.
S. A. Miller
