Taking God's name in vain is like going up that hill to the chain gang church service here, and then coming back down that hill to chase down one of my buddies to get a skin book from him. When I'm holding that book with the same hands that I lifted in the air to praise God with, I know that I am "taking God's name in vain."
This is one of 120 journal entries (a third of them from prisoners) included in Ray and Star Silverman's book, Rise Above It: Spiritual Development through the Ten Commandents (Touchstone Seminars 2000; reprinted in 2005). The book is organized around ten chapters, with each chapter explaining and suggesting assignments on the several levels of each commandent. For example, the chapter on "not murdering" goes beyond the literal meaning of murder to the various ways we can murder one another's spirit. An inmate, practicing an assignment, writes, "Today in the chow hall, during a misunderstanding, a fellow inmate called me a name. It was tense moment, and I saw friends getting ready to jump into it. My ire boiled. I was almost at the point of no return, when I realized that this problem was his problem, not mine. So instead of letting myself be ruled by anger, I let him have it--the problem, that is. I simply walked away from it and did not let the false god of murderous anger control me. Praise God for giving us this commandment."
Since 1989 the Silvermans have been leading Rise Above It seminars in university settings, in remote African villages, in maximum security prisons, and on-line to people in every walk of life and from a wide variety of religious backgrounds. In their book they weave together the wisdom of several faith traditions with journal entries from course participants in a way that is both delightful and instructive. Rev. Gary Leonard, of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, says, "I can wholeheartedly and unreservedly recommend Ray and Star Silverman's interfaith treatment of the Ten Commandments . . . it is a model of theological truth and practical application." Dr. Tina Campbell, Chaplain, Arizona Department of Corrections says, "Rise Above It confirms everything we have learned in the field of addictions counseling." Robert Merrell, an outreach worker at Bucks County Correctional Facility (PA) writes, "This is a system that works like magic in the prison setting. These guys know what's what. They've been around. They have built-in hypocrisy detectors; and they know the real thing when they see it. This is the real thing. This is what will set them free."
The Silvermans have received a grant from the Glencairn Foundation to make a limited number of their books available, free of charge, to prisoners, chaplains, and prison outreach workers. If you would like a free copy of this book (which sells for $24.95) please e-mail them at starsilver@comcast.net and include your mailing address. Or you may write to them c/o Touchstone Seminars, Box 600, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009.
"The Ten Commandments are not an arbitrary imposition of a tyrannical Lord. They were written in stone; but, before that, they were written on the human heart as the universal moral law, valid in every time and place . . . Today, as always, they are the only future for the human family." --Pope John Paul II, February 28, 2000.
"Rise Above It is the best book ever written about the Ten Commandmnets, AND the best spiritual workbook ever written. Don't just take my word for it. Thousands of people around the world have, and are, participating in Rise Above It seminars led by many, not just by Ray and Star." --California Digest, , February, 2002