Let

I forget where I was this week, or even what I was listening to, when I heard someone ask this question:  "what is the first recorded word in the first recorded quote of God in the Bible?" 

The answer is the single word:  "Let"

And many definitions of the word "let" include words like "permit" or "allow"

The answer to this trivia question reminded me of the GK Chesterton quote that I had seen back in April 2013:

"The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion, but, on the contrary, of its liberality and humanity.  It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted:  precisely because most things are permitted, and only a few things are forbidden."

Jesus even stated it more succinctly than Ten Commandments:  Love God and Love Others.

I was asked once to speak as an alumnus at my Christian high school's commencement (sometime in the late 1990s or so).  Back then, I wanted to state the Ten Commandments in Ten Words -- something I could remember (even if the graduates never thought of it again).  I've recorded this elsewhere before, but I'll record it here one more time.  In ten words, this is the way to live life:

Love God.  Love Others.  With Passion.  All of your life.

God permits us -- he "lets" us -- have the freedom to choose to do that.  Or not.

I have to say that I'm still amazed by that.

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John Lennon once asked us to "Imagine" -- to imagine all the people sharing all the world, living for today, and living life in peace.  To get there, he suggested that the world needed first to imagine no heaven, no hell, no countries, no religion, and no possessions.

An alternative way to get to the same point -- where all the people share all the world and live life in peace -- is simply to follow Jesus' equation:  Love God + Love Others = Fulfill the Whole Law.

We can't really imagine "no hell" because we create our own so often when we violate that simple law.  And there are moments when know that "no heaven" isn't a great idea because we can sometimes see heaven right here on earth.  When we do, it is so beautiful.  And though we can be fooled into seeing a heavenly mirage when we are putting self first, "real heaven" moments most often occur when we're following the simple law of Christ.

Lennon got part of it right at least -- imagining a world living in peace is a really cool thing.  It is, in fact, heaven.

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God's first recorded word:  "Let"

He still "lets" us choose today.