livin' the ten in ten

or: "is anybody really out there? does anybody really care?"

so i had this vaguely weird idea of trying to live the ten commandments as i see that they apply to me for ten days. let me backtrack:

while i am not really sure exactly what i believe (i am a seeker), i can say that i am pretty sure that i remain unconvinced that the bible is the one and only true word of God with a capital G. no offense to readers who believe otherwise, but this is my personal belief or lack thereof.

anyhoo, somehow i got the hair-brained idea that while i DO believe that the bible is perhaps inspired by god and divine in the same way that so many other books are divine, i decided to try to embark upon this little experiment. of course, this required brushing up on what the ten commandments ARE (as i am a little rusty). according to different parts of the bible, there may be some requirements that should be pretty easy to live with, such as "You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk." (exodus 34:26). the verses of deuteronomy from which the ten commandments are partially derived are also not doing such a hot job of convincing me that they are not simply a work of, to put it kindly, inspired fiction and without any bearing whatsoever on my life or that of anyone i know.

but faith is the belief in things unseen, so in a nutshell, let's take a look at the challenge set before me (and we'll add in a couple from the qur'an which i think are important and timely):


1) I am the Lord your God-- You shall have no other gods before me-- while i can't say that i believe that there is one true way with 100% certainty, i will do my best to not join any wiccan covens over the next ten days

2) You shall not make for yourself an idol-- this may present a challenge. i think i will need to abstain from reading trashy celebrity crap for the next ten days, which will do me nothing but good, for sure. i will also try not to put those i love and care about up on a pedestal of unreasonable expectations.

3) You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God-- this will be a challenge for me. maybe it will keep me mindful of...something.

4) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy-- in this day and age, i read this commandment as honoring one's need to take a break once a week. honor your self with that much.

5) Honor your father and mother-- i fall short with this a lot. patience, patience, patience.

6) You shall not murder-- easy. and remember people-- meat is murder.

7) You shall not commit adultery-- easy, but i will add flirting to the mix (though i don't really flirt much, truth be told). i will also try to limit the number of impure thoughts i have involving don draper from mad men.

8) You shall not steal-- not a problem. i will include sleep from my husband as well as his thunder under this category.

9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor-- as in lying?

10) You shall not covet your neighbor's wife/ You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor-- easier said than done in new york. we are very much a culture of have's and have not's.

additionally, from the qur'an:

"And make not Allah's (name) an excuse in your oaths against doing good, or acting rightly, or making peace between persons; for Allah is One Who heareth and knoweth all things."

love this. LOVE IT. this, to me, is truly using the lord's name in vain.

-Be neither miserly nor wasteful in one's expenditure-- very important.
-Keep one's promises
-Do not be arrogant in one's claims or beliefs

so let's see how this goes. ten days of not wishing i was kelly osborne on dancing with the stars (have you checked out her moves?), of not being jealous that people like jenna bush will never have to worry about whether they can make their rent or bills, or send their child to a decent school. ten days of keeping my promises, of keeping my arrogance in check. of eliminating even white lies. of being kind and compassionate to my mom and dad.

let's see what we're up against.