A little bit of hunger makes me enjoy eating. Being thirsty makes drinking water wonderful. Sitting in a good conversation with friends and family where we see what we are missing, or even getting wrong, is first uncomfortable and then a great pleasure.
We learn, we change, but only when we see our problem! A good party will often include spiritual hunger, a lack, that leads to satisfaction! A good holiday season will include thinking, physical pleasures, and spiritual growth. It will leave us better off that we were. The cosmos is one (almost) unlimited party.
The Light comes in the darkness and dazzles us. As Plato points out (Republic VII), the impact is painful. Such goodness is hard to stand, but then God helps us adjust. We see. We hear. We go to the stable and worship the King. Glorious!
God created a cosmos where humankind could do (almost) anything without breaking His creation. God gave us liberty and yet once humanity decided to misuse that liberty, we kept making certain mistakes. People are broken, but that is not the end of it. God comes and helps us get closer to what we should be.
Atheism can only try to cheer you up with what “is” is not so bad. That is miserable and if you live long enough, entraps you into justifying any number of bad moves. We know that what is in our lives is not what should be. Every time I was selfish and angry with my kids, I was wrong and that wrong had consequences. I am sorry, but sorry is not enough.
I need to realize my brokenness, ask God and my children for forgiveness, and get help to do better. Sometimes this will be human help, a psychologist, pastor, or friend. Other times the problem can be mastered by letting God work in me and making moral progress.
A weird thing about this particular American cultural moment is that we do not like being “preached to.” Most sane cultures cultivate a taste for a good sermon, because sermons are good for us and what is good for us should and can be enjoyable. American newspapers used to publish the best sermons and it is sad that they have ceased to do so. It is also sad that many pastors confuse their role with that of a professor or psychologist and never preach an actual sermon!
We need some moral clarity or passions will cause us to mess up what should be good. Thankfully, if you are not lucky enough to hear weekly from Father Richard (who actually preaches!), then you have the Bible.
Here are the Ten:
- I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me (Ex. 20:2–3).
- You shall not make for yourselves a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them (20:4–5).
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain (20:7).
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work (20:8–10).
- Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you (20:12).
- You shall not kill (20:13).
- You shall not commit adultery (20:14).
- You shall not steal (20:15).
- You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (20:16).
- You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s (20:17).
Here on the Tenth Day of Christmas, we should meditate on the Commandments, discuss them, and enjoy them. They will (almost surely) make us uncomfortable, but a degree of discomfort is generally part of a good party. We are made uncomfortable (hungry!) in order to enjoy being filled. We see our error in a good discussion . . . and then have the joy of moving forward.
Why?
The revelation of our error comes with the solution. We have made a mistake, but the correction is before us. Let’s be basic. The first four commandments tell us how to relate to Father God. There is only one, because logically there can be only one all powerful being! He is the only being worthy of worship . . .everyone else can only earn respect.
His one command of us? We recognize reality and do not set up false images of God and we rest. This should be easy, but it is not.
Why?
We like our idols, because idols are in our control. We make other gods hoping to become god. Since we cannot become totally Other Than (as the One God is), then we must create superhumans or find super beings and call them gods. The confusion isn’t only unhelpful, but depressing. It is so depressing that it can drive a person persistent in the error down to Hell.
People are harder than God, at least in terms of our desires, and so we get six commandments for our fellow people. We are not to treat them as objects, ever. We are to give them the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of their own property. People must treat people as people.
Not so surprisingly, Jesus sums it up best:
“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
That is merry indeed. Blessed Ten on this one day, the Tenth Day of Christmas.
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The War on Christmas began in churches that allowed a twelve day celebration of Jesus to be truncated to one day. Don’t fall for the trap. Enjoy each day, especially Twelfth Night, that moves us to another huge Christian holiday: Epiphany. Jesus is born and revealed!
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