John Killinger tells a story...
Illustration
John Killinger tells a story in To My People with Love. A Boy Scout troop held its weekly meetings in a Sunday school classroom which was dominated by a large picture of Moses raising up the tablets of the Ten Commandments over his head before he hurled them down on the disobedient people at Mount Sinai. The picture made a deep impression on Sam. One day he rushed up to a fellow scout, all excited. "Look, I've invented a new knot!" "That's really neat," said his friend. "What will you call it?" Looking over his shoulder to the threatening picture behind him, Sam replied, "I think I'll call it the Thou Shalt Not Knot."
Sometimes we think of the Ten Commandments as being entirely negative or threatening -- as an angry list of ten "nots." But we really ought to be grateful for them. They are blessings. Few of us would want to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, 220 feet in the air, in the far outside lane, without guardrails along the edge of the roadway for guidance. Just so, the Ten Commandments are necessary guidelines for living whole and wholesome lives. Freedom and safety come from learning to stay within the lines.
Sometimes we think of the Ten Commandments as being entirely negative or threatening -- as an angry list of ten "nots." But we really ought to be grateful for them. They are blessings. Few of us would want to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge, 220 feet in the air, in the far outside lane, without guardrails along the edge of the roadway for guidance. Just so, the Ten Commandments are necessary guidelines for living whole and wholesome lives. Freedom and safety come from learning to stay within the lines.
