A long, long time ago God's Word spoke out in the darkness, and "the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home" was created. God spoke-- creation happened --extravagant, abundant.

Out of the abundance of God's love "from the primal elements" someone who looks like you and another who looks like me -- a man and a woman -- were called into being, created in the image and likeness of God. God's own love created all that we are and all that we have-- the soft soothing wind, blue green waters, all manner of plants for delight and shade and sustenance. Animals roamed the earth, birds flocked, and the oceans were filled with plenty from microscopic cell to leviathan, the whale. And it was good and God rested and invited all of creation to rest and sigh and play on the Sabbath. It was very good and it was enough. God's reign in the midst of the abundance of creation was more than enough.

And then something began to happen. Somehow, somewhere, all that God had done and continued to do, was no longer enough. We began straining against the winds and one another, trying to walk on water like God and all the while an insatiable appetite grew for "More"! Divine Abundance was replaced by the idol of Scarcity. We began to suspect one another, go to bed at night holding tight in our fists and our hearts whatever we had.

We grew afraid and believed that not only was there never enough after all, but that others were a danger to take what we had. We began to suspect that not everyone was made in God's image. And in addition to the god of Scarcity, we began to worship gods named Fear, Resentment and Jealousy. We became busy lying and stealing whatever we could get our hands on, resorting even to murder if necessary, and that the very idea of a Sabbath Day was naïve, unproductive and irresponsible. And all hell broke loose.

So God's creative word spoke out once again, from the midst of a cloud God had created, from the top of a mountain that God had made, addressed to one of God's most beloved creatures, Moses. And God told Moses to take down to God's people Ten Commandments about how to live again in the abundance of love for God and one another.

God said, "I AM the one who made you and saved you. You need no other gods but me - I AM who I AM - God told Moses to tell his people -- and I AM enough. And God reminded us that we were each created in God's image, an image broad and vast, composed of the pulse of God and the pulse of one another. And our covenant with God is to honor the heartbeat of God's creation by taking time like God did on the seventh day of creation for a Sabbath remembrance of who we are, and how much we matter in God's sight by giving us the rest of the Commandments.

God commanded we practice reverent respect for the divine creation of all women and men of every color and tribe by honoring the creative roles of bearing, or rearing, or loving and healing the children of our world. Honor the sanctity of the union that is made in marriage and the blessing of relationships. Don't covet what others have, don't lie to gain advantage for yourself, don't take with anger or a sense of entitlement what isn't yours, whether possessions or especially the life of another person.