DAILY Not to stand against men, or the men who wrote the biblical original ten. Not to declare myself as only a feminist. But what if the foundational ten had been written by a woman, actually it probably would have been, ‘women.’ Women tend to act from consensus rather than decree. They tend to listen first, declare after. And there might be more than one or two commandments ending in question marks.
Here are ten, not from any consensus, nor from listening to ought by my own voice, and none question my right to ‘command.’ Enough said.
I am the lord your god, you may have no other gods, and by the way, don’t take my name lightly. Spend time with me. This covers the first four edicts. What if it had been written, ‘all gods are good. Some are better than others. the one that lives in your heart is the most powerful. Listen to that voice, and take time to make it sacred with your love.
Honor your father and mother. It’s amazing, considering the times, that mom was even mentioned. Had she written this she might have said, “Your parents make big mistakes. The family is a stinky compost pile out of which you might grow as a rose. Honor your gifts, despite how we gave them to you.”
You shall not murder. This is a biggie by anyone’s standards, though countries encourage it. The positive aspect of murder is it teaches heaviness. Without that weight, we cannot know flight. We cannot be glorious if we don’t know wretchedness. And murder has remained wretched through every society, except TV’s, where we bow at its altar.
You shall not commit adultery. Had women written this, retribution would have come with a knife, along with a visual cringe. Instead she might have asked (the question!) “Why do you do such harm to yourself? Adultery merely disappoints me, but do you not realize it rapes your heart?
No stealing. No stealing unless you are Robin Hood, in which case go for it. No stealing unless you are in a desert and someone else has all the water. Steal if you must, but its reason must be for the greatest good, not Madof-ien.
No gossiping, better known as bearing false witness. This commandment needs dusting off. Perhaps if it were more poetically written? ‘Listen to heaven, then write letters about your neighbor.’ Best is, ’I am my neighbor. Do I love this gossip about me, or what?
The last one covers a multitude of coveting, in other words wanting it all. (We should have remembered this in the late 90’s before we coveted, pillaged, and assumed ‘I deserve.’) Instead, covet what you can create, Covet not your neighbor’s ass, but your own after 12 weeks of training. Covet who you are. (Is this possible?)
Then women, being women, would have taken time to rest; Savassana first, then celebration.
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