I don't think I've ever mentioned it, but I am one of the happiest little Presbyterians in the world. I wasn't raised Presbyterian, I adopted them in adulthood. My mother thinks I've joined a cult, if that tells you anything about how I was raised. But they are, from what I can tell, a "live and let live" bunch and they think that God loves us and that He wants us to be happy. And I can obviously get behind that.
Given that I am a Christian, and a lawyer, I don't think it would be wrong for me to tell you at this point that I think the Ten Commandments are a fine piece of work.
Our law here in the Western world, is, for the most part, directly derived from the Ten Commandments and I think they are remarkable both for their brevity as well as for their comprehensive scope. If nothing else, they are, even if you don't believe, a short guide to a happy life.
I think that one of the best, most unappreciated and subtle of the commandments is the tenth one: "Thou shalt not covet..."
When I was little, not coveting was the one commandment that I just didn't get. I mean, when you really get down to it, the other nine commandments fall, roughly, into three easily understandable categories if you're a kid (or an adult clinging to small mindedness): Honor God, Mind Your Parents and Stuff You Go To Jail For. The issue of coveting doesn't fit into any of these categories and was always sort of glossed over in Sunday School and tacked on to the end as an afterthought.
As in: "don't steal, don't kill people and oh, yeah, don't covet."
I remember asking my Sunday School teacher what "covet" was and she told me it meant not to want to take things that didn't belong to me. Then she changed the subject and we moved on to coloring the picture of Moses in our little "Ten Commandments Bible Lesson" paper. Coveting just didn't get much play. Looking back, I think that God's inclusion of the proviso about not "coveting your neighbor's wife ... or his ass" sort of gave this commandment a sexual overtone that made it uncomfortable to discuss in the average West Virginia Sunday School, but that is neither here nor there. The point is, we didn't talk about coveting very much and I think that's a shame.
Now, when I think about it, I just have to give it up for God, because practicing the tenth commandment is, I think, the easiest way to avoid what I call garden variety unhappiness. I mean, you won't go to jail for coveting, but it sure can make your everyday life pretty miserable. And God knows that.
In my opinion, peace and contentment come from looking at what you have and being thankful for it. Unhappiness comes when, instead of focusing on what you do have, you spend all your time lusting for what you don't have. You know, coveting. And then nothing is ever good enough, or pretty enough. You're never skinny enough or rich enough or .... whatever enough. When you covet, you always loose.
And I just can't help but think how cool it was for God to know that and for it to be so important to Him that He included it as one of the top ten things He really wanted us to know.
I think that God loves us. I think He really wants us to be happy in this life.
So the next time you find yourself comparing your thighs unfavorably to the thighs of Charlize Theron or the workout slut at the gym, remember this and be happy that you have thighs, and that they are strong enough to carry you around and be thankful for them. And then take the opportunity to get on the stairmaster and work on making them better and know that even if you'll never have Charlize's thighs, yours will serve you just fine.
Image: Covet by Alicia Bock
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