Eric Butterworth Metamorality: The Third Commandment

"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" (Exodus 20:7).

In a day when profanity and the use of the four-letter word have become almost a dialect of our language, it would seem that this commandment is timely and very much needed. However, though the use of God's name in profanity is considered immoral and blasphemous, the real problem goes much deeper. It would be good if people could learn to communicate without vulgarity; but it is much more important that they learn to communicate positively and creatively . . . which is what the third commandment is basically about.

The word vain is a mistranslation. The Aramaic root word is dagalootha, which means in falsehood. Thus the commandment should read, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God falsely." In other words, the divine name is the great positive, and it should never be used in ways that are negative.

As we have discovered, the name of the Lord is “I AM." Moses' commitment to law began with his personal revelation of the name of God . . . "I AM WHO I AM." More literally this means self-existent one, or the potential in infinite being to be a manifest form. The "I AM" is impersonal and universal, but we personalize it when we say, "I am me." At the heart and root of all biblical teaching is the strong inference that there is within every one of us an unborn possibility of limitless life, and that ours is the privilege, through the creative use of the "I AM," of giving birth to it.

Many important keys to personal power have been obscured in the Bible through mistranslation. For instance, in Genesis 4:26 (A.V.) we read: Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. Through modern scholarship we now know that this should be, "Then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord." What a difference! Where the old translation implied that they were begging help from an outside God, the great Truth that has been so long buried in dogma is that the people became aware of the "self-existent one" within themselves which they called into dynamic existence by speaking the great positive "I AM."

It is important that you catch the idea of the infinite supportiveness of the divine flow, and the inexorable function of spiritual law. There is no caprice involved in the third commandment. The Lord refers to "law." The commandment simply says that there is great power in the word of Truth, and that if you misuse the word or direct it in negative ways, you will have to “pay the piper."

It is strange how many persons feel that they can use formal prayers, partake of the rite of communion, and even voice affirmations and treatments, but that what they put into words at other times does not count. But there is no "king's X." Jesus said that we give account of every idle word. The subconscios mind does not discriminate. You may say, "But I didn't really mean that; I was just kidding." But the subconscious mind cannot take a joke. It does not know the difference between thoughts that are casual and those that are causal. What you voice in words reflects a state of consciousness, and consciousness is forever projecting itself into manifestation. It is a sobering thought. It is just not good sense to put into words something that you do not want to see manifest in your life.

Permissiveness is a word we hear much today . . . usually referring to treatment of young people. Certainly, much harm is done to children when we do not instill in them an awareness of and respect for spiritual and moral law. However, it may be of greater concern that the parents of these same children are all too permissive in their speech, which is far more dangerous-and destructive. Children may turn out all right anyway, because of their "imprisoned splendor" and the divine desire to unfold it. But verbal permissiveness is like playing Russian roulette.

It is an interesting commentary on the times when one who carefully weighs his words might be called a "bore" by the social set, while the one who can maintain a steady babble of nothings is considered a good conversationalist. This, even though what he articulates may be a senseless collection of clichés and banalities colored with a totally negative tone.

If everyone spoke only when he had something important to say, and then only if he could say it in a creative and constructive way, it might suddenly become a silent world. Coffee breaks would become times of solitude, and the cocktail party would lose its reason for being. A tourist, spending the night in a small New England village, joined some men sitting around the general store. He tried several times to start a conversation, without success. Finally he asked, "Is there a law against talking in this town?" One man said, "Nope, no law against it . . . but there is an understanding that no one's to speak unless he can improve upon the silence!"

Perhaps this is a little exaggerated, but it does point to the importance of control. We are verbal creatures, and things often need to be said. However, the person has a choice in what he says, and a responsibility to say it in ways that are positive. You are a child of God, which means you are a creature of the great I AM. But "death and life are in the power of the tongue." Your I AM power can lead you to greatness, or it can bind you in mediocrity. Positive speech will lead to power and achievement, while negative words about yourself and others will be like driving your car with the brakes on.

Paul voiced a great Truth when he said that your life can be changed by altering your thoughts. If you would like to change . . . really change . . . the best place to start is to brush up on your speech. Eliminate the negative clichés, the tendency toward self-effacement, the sharing of pessimistic proclamations. It may not make for good conversation, but it will surely lead to physical and financial conservation.

Overheard in a typical social gathering: "Oh, I feel simply terrible today. They say there is a bad virus going around, and I suppose I am coming down with it!" "I feel pretty horrible myself. It's the miserable job I am stuck with. You wouldn't believe the office politics. It will be the death of me yet!" And on and on ad nauseam.

Of course, we should be realistic about ourselves and life in general. There is little to be gained if we regularly sweep everything under the rug and refuse to face up to obvious problems that should be met. However, this is an important criterion in all verbal exchanges: Let something good be said! Remember the darkness is only dealt with positively if we bring a light. Even if criticism or correction may be called for, it can be done in a positive and loving manner. No matter what the problem, let something good be said! It is a very subtle and yet important aspect of metamorality.

Jesus realized the importance of directing the name of the Lord in righteous ways. He constantly called Himself by the name of the Lord, proclaiming the I AM of His nature. In John there are dozens of these "I AM" statements where He claims the Truth of Being: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life . . . I am the resurrection and the life . . . I am the good shepherd" (John 10, 11, 14), etc. The authorities did not understand. In fact, few of the disciples did. He was simply declaring for Himself that which all persons must ultimately declare for themselves. He did not set Himself up as the great exception, pointing to His divinity, but rather as the great example of the I AM in its clearest focus, and thus revealing the divinity of man . . . of you and me. The authorities were enraged, and when He was on the verge of being stoned, He asked, for which good work did they want to stone Him. They said: For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God (John 10:33 A.V.).

Eventually, Jesus was put out of the way as a dangerous heretic. His crime: breaking the commandments. And more particularly: taking the name of the Lord in vain. What the authorities did not see was that in breaking the commandments down to their basic essence, He was in fact fulfilling them; while in "keeping" them in crystallized form, they were in fact breaking them. He pointed out that while they kept the letter of the law, yet they "practiced the absence of God" by praying in vain repetitions, heaping up empty phrases, fasting to be seen of men, and preaching without practicing. They were concerned with morality and the letter; Jesus was concerned with metamorality and the Spirit.

Institutional religion, even today, puts chief emphasis on being good. But what is good? Obviously it is a judgment, and of course the judging is done by the clergy on the basis of scriptural law. But the shocking Truth is . . . this same scriptural law found Jesus lacking and crucified Him. Someone once knelt down before Him, saying, "Good Master." But He quickly demurred, saying, "Why callest thou me good? None is good save . . . God" (Luke 18:19 A.V.).

Theological "goodness" means "keeping" the commandments, going to services, and fulfilling the various religious codes. Obviously, this leaves many unanswered questions, for occasionally a pillar of the religious congregation experiences a tragic turn of events, and people cry out, "How could such a good religious person suffer so?" It is as if they are suddenly questioning the "system." And well they should! For it is not the caprice of God but the action of divine law. In terms of morality, the person may have been a model of goodness. But in the larger frame of metamorality, we must question the level of consciousness and the quality of the spoken word. One may be "good" and still be extremely negative. One may engage in services of adoration of God and yet be filled with feelings of self-hate. There are no experiences unrelated to consciousness and the process of "bodying" it forth through the spoken word. The law is, "As within so without."

There is great need today for a renaissance in the practice of religion. Services of worship are devoted to "keeping" the commandments and the codes and creeds intact. The religious experience is a performance and the communicants mere spectators. But the communion of oneness is rarely present. It is two-ness with the person worshiping God. The experience often leads to feelings of self-abasement (miserable sinners).

Perhaps we need a new kind of service with the descriptive term "an experience of creative worth-ship." The goal would be to heighten the consciousness of the person, to change his self-limiting attitudes to those that are more positive and loving. The liturgy would be devoted to a joyous celebration of the self as the focus of an infinite idea. The person should go forward with a new feeling of self-worth, a new commitment toward the process of calling himself by the name of the Lord, and keeping the high watch of positive thinking and the creative use of I AM-directed words.

The most widespread breach of the essence of the third commandment is in the practice of prayer. Much that passes for prayer is "the practice of the absence of God." There is a tendency to pray to God as if He were an absentee landlord of the universe. The prayer may begin with "Dear Lord . . ." and end with "Amen!" and still consist of an orgy of worry and self-pity in between. The invocation at a political convention might be just another political speech: "Thou knowest that this party is the salvation of the country!" But all this is to take the name of the Lord in vain, or to deal with the I AM falsely.

Jesus said: "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). How could we accept this concept and still assume that we must plead or intercede in order to receive help? Prayer should not be the attempt to turn on a light in God, but to turn on the light in us; and God is the light. It is not conditioning God to our needs, but conditioning our needs with the flow of God. It is not reaching for God, supplicating God, or in any way seeking help from God . . . for God knows . . . and God is. Prayer is a process of letting go of the human tendency to reach, resting quietly in the awareness that God is the answer even before we ask. Our need is to speak the word of Truth and let "Thy kingdom come . . . on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6 :10).

This may be an audacious and shocking statement, but perhaps it is a shock to which we all need to expose ourselves: Praying to God about things is taking the name of the Lord in vain. God is present as a Presence, and as the Word which is "very near you . . . that you can do it" (Deuteronomy 30:14). Pray not to God, but from the consciousness of God. God is present as the reality of you. There is nowhere to go, no one to reach for . . . only a Presence to experience and to feel at one with. The need is to be still and know that I AM.

In the Old Testament the "name of the Lord" is Jehovah, Yahweh, or, in the Hebrew, YHVH. This word is an acronym of four Hebrew letters: YOD, HE, VAU, and HE. It is said that the whole Hebrew alphabet is invested with the character of "YOD." The other letters are a combination of this initial form. YOD is the symbol of "first principle."

The YOD is suggested by the sound of indrawing your breath. Form the word on the lips and voice it as you inhale. Spirit means breath. There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding (Job 32:8 A.V.). A feeling of support and of guidance and light comes through the divine flow that can symbolically be experienced when you voice the YOD while inhaling. It is an excellent symbol for instant prayer: the quick inhalation of the breath. In any time of crisis, before you can even formulate any kind of prayer thought, just draw in your breath while voicing YOD. It can suggest a sense of oneness and protection.

Emerson says: Man is an inlet and may become an outlet to all there is in God. It is something you can practice . . . with great effect. Voice the word God on the in-breath, and then let it body-forth on the exhalation by whispering, "I am." "God" (inhale) and "I am" (exhale). The process involved is significant: First, you symbolically return to the beginning, oneness, wholeness, being. Then you call yourself by the name of the Lord by voicing the I AM.

Prayer power suddenly becomes apparent when you realize that you can couple this I AM energy with anything you desire: I am now being guided in right and wise ways; I am one with the flow of radiant healing life, and my body is renewed and made whole; I am prosperous and successful in everything I undertake.

It is important to remember that these affirmations are not magic formulas that dramatically make something happen. The words have power only when they are imbued with power, and that power flows forth from within. Jesus said: When thou prayest, enter into thy closet . . . (Matthew 6:6, A.V.), which is returning to the ground of being. It is turning from illness to allness, from weakness to strength, from insufficiency to all-sufficiency, from indecisiveness to guiding light.

Remember, too, that Jesus assured us that it is God's will to unfold His allness in us. No need for “vain repetitions" or pleading. Just say yes to the flow of life. This is what the I AM statement implies. It is the commitment of receptivity to divine “good pleasure."

To pray amiss is to take the name of the Lord in vain. Instead of praying for life or intelligence or love or substance, remember that you are God becoming life in you, becoming intelligence in you, becoming love in you. So your prayer becomes an affirmation in the name of the Lord: I AM life, I AM intelligence, I AM love, I AM substance.

The great thing about it all is that the I AM of you, your God self, is ever seeking to project itself into visibility as you. It is the very source of your desires at their highest level. What you want to be, you can be, for the desire is the intuitive awareness of your I AM. Thus you can affirm for yourself: I can be what I want to be, if I know that I AM.

Resolve to speak only words that you want to see manifest in your life; for by your words you are directing the creative power of Infinite Mind into positive or negative channels. Make a commitment to break through the third commandment and to call yourself by the name of the Lord in the right and wise and consistent use of I AM.