Conversations with God about his Decalogue

The Fifth and Sixth Commandments

The ways of God cannot be understood by mere mortals.
I woke this morning to find him sitting on the edge of my bed. I gasped. He laughed and told me to sit up. I slowly worked my aging bones up into a sitting position with my back to the wall. Suddenly a lap table materialized over my legs with a bowl of Muesli, fresh bananas, strawberries, whole milk and a large room-temperature glass of freshly squeezed mixed orange and tangerine juice.
As I began to eat, He asked me if I thought the next commandment was unclear. I started to reach for the tape recorder on the bed stand however a huge yawn made me stop to put my hand over my mouth.

GOD: You won´t need that. You will remember every word perfectly when you write this later.
TED: OK. Do you mind if I eat while we talk?
GOD: I mind if you don´t.
TED: (Eating) I feel as if I died and went to heaven.
GOD: How little you know!
TED: Right. Ah, so then, I think the fifth commandment is pretty clearly stated but I do have some reservations.
GOD: Why honor such imperfect beings, right?
TED: Well, I mean that most parents are probably deserving of honor from their children most of the time. I guess mine were. But what about those Fathers and Mothers who abuse, torture, even kill their young?
GOD: Suppose we avoid a long philosophical/ ethical discussion by defining a parent as one who not only sires or gives birth but who also nutures, raises and protects.
TED: So, we only honor those who are parents in practice as well as by biology? (God nods) Perfect. I think we can leave this one alone. Unless, perhaps we could add just a little descriptive such as, “Honor your loving Father and Mother.”
GOD: Not bad! Your feeling for poetry is improving.
TED: (Drinking the last of the juice) Thanks. Now comes the hard part, right?
GOD: Really?
TED: (A pungently steaming cup of fresh coffee with cream appeared on my lap table.) Whew. I must have done something right?
GOD: Because I am not capable of unconditional generosity?
TED: Well, it isn´t your most obvious trait in the testaments.
GOD: Have you read Book 1, Chapter 1?
TED: Of course! We owe it all to you, don´t we? I guess I am not fully awake yet.
GOD: Some excuse for being ungrateful.
TED: Right, right. I am sorry, truly.
GOD: You meant that so I accept your apology. Now, have you distracted yourself from the `hard part` long enough?
TED: (Sipping my coffee) Yeah. OK. So, it sounds simple, “You shall not kill” but what constitutes killing.
GOD: Taking a life.
TED: Under any circumstances?
GOD: Yes. It is that simple.
TED: So, how do I eat? Even plants are alive.
GOD: Thou shall not kill.
TED: But then I kill myself by not eating. So, I am damned either way.
GOD: Thou shall not kill.
TED: Hmmm… I must be missing something. I know it is killing to murder another person. I take his life. But when I eat a carrot, I take its life. I can´t quite see that both aren´t killing.
GOD: Is there no difference at all between eating a carrot and murdering a person?
TED: Well, I suppose a person could be said to be sentient and there is little evidence that a carrot is.
GOD: Aren´t you quibbling?
TED: Yeah. Ok, how about this. When I kill a carrot, I do it in order to sustain my life. So, by eating what I have killed, it sort of balances out, right? But if I kill a lion or shoot a person, it doesn´t balance because I don´t eat them.
GOD: Are you suggesting that I would approve of canabalism?
TED: Sheesh! This is difficult.
GOD: Want a hint?
TED: No! (Long pause as I finish my coffee which then disappears along with the bedtable.) OK. (Getting out of bed and starting to dress.) I´ll try a different approach. One step at a time.
GOD: Twenty Questions?
TED: Sort of. So, it isn´t any loss of life that constitutes killing. If I am playing baseball and run into another player who falls and hits his head on a rock, You don´t consider that killing, right? So, accidents aren´t killing? Even if a person is directly involved. Right?
GOD: OK.
TED: You sound uncertain. (Looking up at him as I slip my socks on. He shakes his head, `No`) Hmm... So, I also assume that you don´t consider it killing when I eat that carrot?
GOD: That´s right.
TED: And therefore, while I am intentionally taking another life, not by an accident, it isn´t… it´s… it’s… (Frustrated) Damn! Oops, sorry, sorry!
GOD: Try deep breathing.
TED: (Taking a couple of even deep breaths.) OK. Let´s come at it from the other side. If I intentionally shoot a man it is murder, that’s clear, I think. And if I kill a lion? (Pause) And put its head on my wall? Murder?
GOD: You bet.
TED: How about if the man or lion is trying to kill me? (Putting on a shirt) Then if I intentionally shoot it, that is not murder?
GOD: Sometimes.
TED: What!!! What the…
GOD: Breathe.
TED: Sometimes? Sometimes? Oh boy! And you said it was simple.
GOD: Yes. Thou shall not kill. Simple.
TED: If I can´t define kill, how can it be simple? It is like saying ´thou shall not boobeedoo.´
GOD: You believe I speak nonsense?
TED: No. No, of course not. I really don´t.
GOD: No. I know you don´t.
TED: Let me try again. Sometimes it can be killing to shoot a lion that is attacking me and sometimes it isn´t. Is that right?
GOD: Yep.
TED: So, what variable are there? My reason? No. I am doing it to protect myself. The circumstances? Hmmm… the circumstances. My responsibility for the event? It has something to do with my responsibility! Right?
GOD: (Smiling) Simple?
TED: Let´s see. If I was hunting the lion and he attacked me, then I am responsible for the killing! If I was simply out looking for berries to eat and he attacked then I was not responsible? Even if I knew he might attack, if my intention was simply to gather berries then it is not killing. Except… Oh no. What if I am hunting a rabbit and the lion attacks? I didn´t intend to kill a lion, so that isn´t my responsibility, but what about the rabbit. Wait! My intention is to eat the rabbit. Oh, sugar! I am back to suggesting canabalism would excuse killing.
GOD: Shall we go for a walk?
TED: Yes. Good idea. I am stuck.
At this point we left the house and walked down the narrow alley beside my building toward the little town square which sits directly along the ocean. As we came into the warm morning sunshine that filled the square I felt a profound sense of peace. Why not, after all, look at who was out for a stroll with me!
TED: Perhaps I am making this too difficult. You did say it was simple?
GOD: Thou shall not kill.
TED: Yeah. And I don´t think I ever have. Except, maybe that one time. I was about ten years old and my Dad gave me a twenty-two rifle for my birthday. He told me it was a great responsibility. A tool not a toy. It should only be used to hunt for food or for serious practice. Never for play. (Sitting on a stone wall edging the sea.) I did practice a little. I set up cans in the woods and shot at them. Then a few days later, I decided to go hunting. I quietly stalked through the woods and nearby meadows all afternoon. Then, around dusk, I saw a rabbit. I took very careful and quiet aim and shot it. I can´t explain how I felt. It was a mix of fear, excitement and something else? Horror, maybe? Yeah, something like that. Well, I brught it home and when I showed my Father, he said, “OK. Now skin it, so your Mom can cook it.” I couldn´t believe it. I got my scout knife and took the skin off. My hands were all bloody. I felt sick. Later, when my Mother put the cooked rabbit on the table I took a small piece but couldn´t eat more than one bite. Then I had to leave the table. I had bad dreams that night. Even today, I can still feel like I killed something that I shouldn´t have. But why? I have since fished many times and eaten them without any qualms at all. Maybe, maybe I should just trust that feeling. Actually, I don´t fish much anymore. Mainly because I don´t like to eat fish that often. And it still bothers me to pull a hook from the mouth of a trout and put it back in the stream all bloody.
GOD: Thou shall not kill. (At which point he actually put a hand on my shoulder! And I started crying.)
TED: What is this? Why am I crying?
GOD: Never apologise for feeling remorse. Maybe that should be one of the new commandments.
TED: What if…
GOD: Go on.
TED: What if someone doesn´t feel so… isn´t as sensitive about it?
GOD: We are each according to our nature. (Long pause)
TED: I think I get it. It is pretty simple.
Suddenly, I was alone on the wall looking out at a calm blue sea under a sky with a few small very white clouds. I cried for a little longer. Then I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants and went wading.