“To keep the Third Commandment (do not take YHVH, your God’s name in vain)… is to reclaim the name of YHVH–the concept of God and the nature of reality – as a force for justice and stewardship of the earth. It is to proclaim at every opportunity that the world we have been given is a blessing and that the journey of liberation is built into the fabric of existence. We recognize our earth as a Garden of Eden, complete with abundant fruit trees and clear rivers running through it–enough food and water for everyone. it is up to us to lovingly protect and nurture this abundance in the name of YHVH.”
–Ana Levy-Lyons, No Other Gods: The Politics of the Ten Commandments, p. 96
Ah, yes Eden. When our first parents Adam and Eve became conscious of themselves or separate from the other creatures and the rest of nature. They became self-conscious, This sense of separation symbolized by our having been immediately kicked out of Eden. . . out of that warm, fuzzy sense of oneness with the rest of the world . We cannot go back to Eden. The way is barred by the angels with their flaming swords. We can only go forward – through the desert into deeper levels of consciousness for our salvation.