The Ten Commandments covers it all!

I was fascinated to come across Carl Sanburg's comparison to life as an onion. It's interesting from the perspective of self examination to continually ask the questions, "Who am I?" and "How does God see me?" The nearer I draw to Him, the more I will know myself.

I'm reading the section in the Catechism of the Council of Trent on the Ten Commandments. It pretty much encompasses and summarizes the entire law of God which Jesus further expounded on in His sermons. The fifth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," rendered more accurately as "Thou shalt not murder." also forbids hatred and acts that injure others or oneself. As Jesus says:

You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And whosoever shall say, Thou Fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. [Matt 5: 22-23]

The original Catholic Encyclopedia published in 1907 says this about the decalogue:

This legislation expresses not only the Maker’s positive will, but the voice of nature as well—the laws which govern our being and are written more or less clearly in every human heart. The necessity of the written law is explained by the obscuring of the unwritten in men’s souls by sin. These Divine mandates are regarded as binding on every human creature, and their violation, with sufficient reflection and consent of the will, if the matter be grave, is considered a grievous or mortal offense against God. They have always been esteemed as the most precious rules of life and are the basis of all Christian legislation.

The highlighted sentence above fascinated me. We need the "written" law as a continuous reminder. God didn't just speak to Moses. He wrote in stone - a little hard to obliterate, change with a click of the keyboard, or drop down the memory hole. God's law is set in a firm foundation and we are obligated by our relationship as His creatures to study it and obey. 

If I want a reality check on how I'm doing on my spiritual journey, I start with the Ten Commandments. It's a great examination of conscience:

• Do I put God first in my life? 
• Do I pray to Him every day and seek to know and do His will? 
• Do I frequently ask, "What do You want of me, Lord?" 
• Do I seek His help before I make serious decisions or is my will paramount?
• Do I really want God's will or do I want Him to agree with my will?
• Do I blame Him when my evil or imprudent choices lead to bad outcomes?

And that's just the first commandment!

I keep a prayer journal and usually begin my morning by just trying to listen in the stillness. If a thought comes to me, I write it down. Recently, I was lamenting a challenging situation and the thought came:

I was an outcast too. Can you not be grateful to share in My cross? Trust in Me and my Divine Providence. Suffering accepted can lead to salvation.

Suffering is the lot of us all in this valley of tears. Practically speaking, we might as well do something positive with suffering since we can't avoid it. 

I once had a friend who was suffering from serious depression. I was going through cancer and chemo at the time and he called me almost every day to ask how I was doing.  It was a sweet and much appreciated gesture. He was the Good Samaritan, but we were both the wounded Jew.  I hope those phone calls helped him as much as they helped me. He's gone now and I often pray for him in gratitude for his generous kindness.

Is obeying God's law really that difficult? The fact of the matter is that conforming our wills to His is the surest route to the peace that passes understanding. And in that peace is the fullest measure of happiness we can experience in the dark valley.

So I will continue reading the catechism's entry on the Ten Commandments and beg the Lord to help me obey His law better and better. What do I have to lose except another layer of sin in the onion of my soul.