RBWords - Volume 18 - Number 7: July 2005
Something to Think About
The ten commandments have been much in the news of late. There has been litigation about displays of the ten commandments in public places and it reached the Supreme Court which gave an ambiguous ruling in a courtroom with a mural displaying something about the Ten Commandments! One wonders what all the fuss is about. It’s the first three that mention God. The next seven mention neighbor. Should we just display those seven since they’re things that even atheists might agree are ethically necessary for a basic society?
It seems to me that the very litigation of this issue is good for religion because it calls attention to a moral dimension of life that has its roots in faith. The objection by the ACLU appears to condemn the display concerning the commandments because they think it promotes religion. It seems more to me like such displays promote law and order. To what ultimate authority can we appeal if the very basis of our societal “rights” (which the ACLU believes itself to be protecting) comes from what the Declaration of Independence refers to as “nature’s God”? Shall we appeal to some vague utilitarian philosophy? Shall we burn incense to the U.S.Constitution? Or to the Congress of the United States? Or to the President or the Supreme Court? The efforts to ban the display of the Ten Commandments seem childish to me. Those commandments have done a lot more good than much of our legislative efforts. IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
It Has Been Said
It is hard to overestimate the importance of sharing with each other our struggles and pains. It is remarkable how much healing and courage we can derive from hearing someone else’s story. Anyone who deeply and honestly shares with us the struggles of her heart, her pains and fears, helps to make us more free. This is because her story is really, in some way, our story. It is everyone’s story. When someone lays bare her heart, we see more clearly our own heart with its pains and struggles. This is always, at least partially, a freeing experience, one that gives us greater insight into the depth and complexities of our own mysterious hearts.
From: THE RESTLESS HEART by Ronald Rolheiser, OMI