By Curtis Aiken.

Recently when I was watching Wayne Dyer presenting in his DVD called “Wishes Fulfilled”, a question came to me. Wayne talks of a story in the Bible about how Moses comes across a burning bush. Moses is spoken to through a voice booming from the burning bush that gives some instructions and a message to relay to Moses’ people. When Moses asked who he should say gave him the message, the voice said, “I am who I am” or “I am that I am” depending on the translation you are reading.

For those who don’t know, Moses is the guy in Bible who delivered The Ten Commandments to the world. A little later in the Bible, God said in one of His commandments, “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” I was raised to believe that this meant we should not say the following names out of context: ‘Jesus’, ‘Jesus Christ’, ‘oh my God’, etc. Then, using phrases such as ‘golly’ and ‘oh my gosh’ were being claimed as sacrilege although I had never heard a prayer that started with “Dear Gosh who art in heaven.”

So, when Wayne Dyer told the story about the burning bush and about God saying His name is “I am”, I got to thinking about what it may really mean to use the words “I am”, and is following “I am” with words such as weak, poor, stupid, unable, etc., the same as saying God is weak, God is poor, God is stupid, God is unable?

The Commandment doesn’t specify ‘Don’t say the name ‘God’ in vain’ any more than it says ‘Don’t say the word gosh in vain.’ It does, however, say that God laid claim to the phrase “I am” as His name just sentences before He issued The Commandments to the world. Wayne Dyer talks about the strength in the words “I am” and said that when you say things like ‘I am well’ or ‘I am happy’, these words empower you.

There’s a great lesson in this for all of us regarding how the way we talk to ourselves can either empower or disempower us. I was not satisfied with my premature conclusion (hehe), so I did a little research to find out how others interpreted The Commandment ‘Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.’ One reference explains vanity as being empty or superficial. It suggests the verse means: Don’t empty the name of God. The article I read went on to say, “Do not speak of God in ways that are cheap or empty.” Is this what the commandment is referring to?

I would like to bring your attention back to the words “I am.” Do we ever say things that belittle ourselves and therefore God, too? Perhaps, there is greater meaning behind a self-attack such as “I am stupid.” Note that your intention is to say that YOU are stupid and not God, but there is a lot of power in the words “I am” which is perhaps why God commanded that we don’t use the words in an empty, belittling way. After all, God is in all and through all that exists, and that includes you.

Perhaps, one of the greatest insults would be to say, “I am unable” because through God, all things are possible. God lives in and through every one of us and therefore, I am able. I AM able. Jesus reiterated this point by saying, “All of you are capable of all that I have done and far greater things.”

During my research on the commandment I came across a writer who says, “I believe that this comment has very little to do with cussing.” Here is a snippet of one version of the commandment that I found. “God will not leave unpunished the man who utters His name to misuse it.”

Some people believe we are judged when we die, then we go to heaven or hell and we have to answer for every sin we committed in our life including that time when I was six and I stole a marble from my neighbour, and whatever other feeble crimes we may have committed during our path of learning. This doesn’t gel with me. Perhaps, we are punished here and now and not when we die? What if heaven and hell are our state of mind? I’m not saying there is no afterlife or that there is no heaven and hell, none of us will truly know this until we transcend this life. I’m saying that if I say, “I am sick,” then I will experience a hell-like state on earth in the form of ‘punishment’ through my feelings, as the extract suggests, as a result of my words or more so, as a results of my thoughts. If I say instead, “I am well”, then I experience heaven in my state of being.

How do you speak to yourself? Do you show yourself love and respect and therefore experience heaven on earth or do you belittle yourself and experience hell on earth?

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