Midweek Faith Lift
March 21, 2018
No Messing Around
Su Podraza-Nagle,
Licensed Unity Teacher
NO MESSING AROUND
Daily Word-Comfort: That inner feeling of freedom that expresses itself outwardly through peace of mind only comes from being fully aligned with the power of Spirit.
7th Commandment- You shall not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)
Oh boy, how many of us learned this one as meaning, “You shall not carry out, pledge, perpetrate, or bind, any altered, corrupt thoughts towards yourself or substance? No?
Let’s try this one:
Mixed thoughts, errors that have their existence in the unregenerated feelings; thoughts that have not come under the dominion of the I AM. (Revealing Word)
Hmmmm, haven’t heard that one either?
Sounds a lot different than what we may have understood or have learned in the past.
We are going to put on our etymologist hat on for a moment and examine the words in this small, but seemly powerful statement.
From Eric Butterworth’s book, Breaking the Ten Commandments, and Wikipedia.org it states:
The word adultery originates not from “adult”, as is commonly thought in English-speaking countries, but from the Late Latin word for “to alter, corrupt”: “adulterare”. “Adulterare” in turn is formed by the combination of “ad” (towards), and “alter” (other), together with the infinitive form “are” (making it a verb). (Wikipedia.org)
“But Su”, you may exclaim, “They didn’t speak Latin! The commandments were written in Hebrew!”
I’ve got it covered:
From the Hebrew root, adultery means “a total or complete abandoning of one’s principles.” The word is made up on the word ad, meaning “to ad” and the word ulter, meaning “other” It means “to add other” or dilute by adding something else to substance.
Interesting, yes?
Shaking things up a bit more, this is how Eric Butterworth breaks open this commandment with his statement…………..
“This seventh commandment articulates a law that is beautiful and wonderful. It is a tragedy that it has been so neglected and misunderstood. The emphasis has always been placed on the sin or the physical acts and personal relationships. The sin is not the act, but the thought that leads to the act, and the adulteration of pure thought implied.”
Take a moment to consider those words….
We commit adultery by corrupt thoughts, adding error thoughts to substance, not having dominion of our, trinity; the MIND, IDEA, EXPRESSION, Losing sight of the I AM consciousness; the Christ Expression, in us. That’s adultery.
This was explained very simply by Jesus in Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
He clearly put the responsibility of our thoughts and principles squarely where they start. Within us. Within our thoughts.
We can all recall a time when, in our mind, we created error thoughts, which in turn resulted in an error of action.
No? Can’t think of one? Let me help.
Driving along on the highway, traffic is light, we really want to get to our destination….we may even think we’re a little late…..speeding up……and the next thing you know, you’re on the side of the road “donating” to local law enforcement.
Yes, there you have it, “a total or complete abandoning of one’s principles.” Adultery has taken place. The speed limit is posted, there are even signs, which state, it’s radar enforced, or camera enforced but what do many of us do?
Need another one? There may be some of us who have never gotten a ticket for speeding.
Have you ever felt the need to tell a little white lie?
Put yourself down?
Exaggerated an event or personal story? (You Anglers know what I’m talking about.)
Judged by appearances the person standing near the exit ramp on the interstate holding a sign?
Ever stated, “Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time….” I have had many of those learning experiences.
Another one:
When have we affirmed in prayer our highest and greatest outcome and then ruminated in our heads, the what-ifs?
Tell the committee in your head, NO messing around!
Adultery starts up here! In the mind as a thought. As an idea! We begin to mess around, forget our Truth principles, and see ourselves less than the Christ in Expression that we are.
How do we stop? How do we commit to this commandment?
By making a choice. Choosing right thinking. Speaking with love and compassion. Seeing the Christ in others.
Butterworth states, “Make a new commitment to the flow of good. Determine that you will no longer pollute the atmosphere with the negatives.”
Retrain, recommit, to the peace of mind, which comes from being fully aligned with the power of Spirit.
And quit messing around!
Blessings on the Path,
With much gratitude to Su!
Rev. Deb