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Monday, June 1, 2015

Moses's Ordeal with the Ten Commandments (An Excerpt)






After God gave Moses the commandments, he asked him to deliver it to the people who would be the most willing to spread these divine laws to the rest of humanity.  So Moses set about his mission, knowing that it would be a difficult task to accomplish.
     First, he stopped at India and asked the people there if they could be the custodians of divine commandments.
     “What's a commandment?” a respected guru asked him after confiding with the other elders in his group.
     “The commandments is God Almighty’s tablet of rules to be strictly observed by those who pledge their allegiance to the directives, especially if they want the blessings of God Almighty.”
     “Could you read them out, please?” The Indians asked Moses.
     Moses did without batting an eye all the way to the last commandment.
     “Mr. Moses,” the guru told the prophet, “the laws are great, but if your God can change the first commandment allowing for multiple Gods, then we are ready to take it.”
     “That cannot be done. It is a package deal.” Moses told them.
     “We are sorry. We cannot put the destiny of all our people into the hands of a single God. We think he would be overwhelmed by the challenges of running this world, and that would be bad for us. If our many Gods cannot solve all of our problems, how do you expect us to believe that your God whom we cannot see can regulate our lives and the lives of all the other peoples of this world?      “
     Moses persisted in his attempt to convince the Indian people, but then finally realized that they could not be converted. That was why he bowed his head and left, satisfied that he had given it his best shot. Still, he was undaunted. He slept that night and dreamed of a rugged people inhabiting a distant island. So he woke up the next morning convinced that he had just had a vision. Without reflecting deeply on it, he set sail that same day with a determination to find the people who would act as the custodians of the Ten Commandments.  When he arrived in the south of the British Isles in what is today England and received warm greetings from the people he met onshore, he thought he had come to the right place.
     Over a mouthful of beef, George, the ruler of the tribe asked in a gruff voice, “What did you say you have that would interest us?”
     “Divine laws that would make you the greatest people on earth if you accept them, integrate the commandments into your lives and convince others to abide by them.”
     “Tell us about these laws?” the guy growled this time around.
     Moses did.
     “What was the last one?” the fellow asked with a stutter.
     “‘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.’” Moses told George and his advisers.
     “Oh, oh, oh, Mr. Moses! One of my seers told us that the children of this island shall one day control the world, so that the sun would never set in our empire. He also prophesied that our descendants shall come up with an idea that would convert the sweat of others to our profit, making us the wealthiest people on earth. How can we realize those prophecies without coveting the things that others possess?”
     “You can do it. It is simple. All you have to do is—”
     “Uh, uh! Don’t waste your breath, Mr. Moses. Tell your God to remove that particular commandment and we shall take his laws to all the lands that our future political, economic and financial empire shall control.”
     “George! That cannot be done. It is a package deal.” Moses told the ruler in a voice laced with exasperation.
     “Then I am sorry to tell you that we have no other option but to decline your God’s commandments. Do not be disheartened, poor chap! I am sure our rivals across the channel would be interested in what you are offering.” George told Moses.
     “Thanks for the piece of information. I must leave you right away, “Moses told his host, shook hands with him and his men, and then left the place with his things.
     He arrived at his destination a week after and met with the representatives of the Gauls, progenitors of the French. Charles, their ruler treated him to a sumptuous dinner saturated by wine.
     “I was told you brought something that would make us more cultured and powerful,” Charles said, and then smacked the retreating derriere of the young woman who just replenished their cups of more wine...

                                                                                     

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