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Just Three Simple Rules

by Joseph R. Simonetta

Many of us are familiar with the Ten Commandments that appear in Exodus, the second book of the Bible, written some thirty-three hundred years ago. What do these commandments say? The first four have to do with a god and the Sabbath. The remaining six are about behavior. We are told to honor our parents and to not murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, or covet.

We would all agree that we have learned a few things in the last thirty-three hundred years. It may be that instead of the Ten Commandments, we require just three simple rules for living that say and do more than these ten. If we followed these three simple rules -- seven words -- we would eliminate the majority of problems and suffering in our world (problems that the Ten Commandments don't even address). It's of interest to note that none of these three rules appear in the Ten Commandments.

Be Healthy

The first is be healthy. We are, each of us, like a cell in the body of the human species. The health of all of us taken together determines the health of our species and civilization. These bodies and minds in which we live may be the most exquisite "machines" on the planet. We abuse them in ways we wouldn't dream of doing to our material possessions like our cars, computers, or our homes. Yet, our bodies and minds are our homes. Perhaps the reason that we don't value them more is that we get them for free. We are given these most prized possessions at birth. By the time we realize their value, for many of us, it is very late if not too late. Be healthy. When we are, it is easier to follow the second simple rule.

Be Kind

The second rule is: Be kind. The Ten Commandments instruct us to honor our parents, which is fine. Aside from that they tell us not what to do but what not to do: thou shall not murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, or covet. In all our relationships, what we need to do is simply to be kind. We need to treat each other, our friends and neighbors, better. We must stop exploiting each other. It doesn't matter how much money we have or earn, what size house we live in, what kind of car we drive, how many academic degrees we may have accumulated, what accomplishments we may have achieved, or what our title or position is. Nor does it matter what our gender, race, religion, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or political affiliation is. What matters is whether or not we are kind to one another.

Respect the Environment

The third simple rule is: Respect the environment. In every conceivable way, we are linked to our environment. We evolved from it. Everything comes from our environment. If we destroy our environment, we destroy ourselves. It's that simple. Three rules, seven words. If we follow them, our lives will change. As many of our lives change our world begins to change.

Be healthy. Be kind. Respect the environment. If you wish to astonish the whole world, tell people that -- the simple truth.

This article is excerpted from:

Seven Words That Can Change the World: A New Understanding of Sacredness
by Joseph R. Simonetta.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Hampton Roads. ©2001. www.hamptonroadspub.com

Info/Order this book.

About the Author

Joseph R. Simonetta holds a master of architecture degree from the University of Colorado. He holds a master of divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School, and he also studied at Yale Divinity School. He holds a B.S. in business from Penn State University. He has been an Army officer, a professional athlete, a computer programmer, an entrepreneur and businessman, an architectural designer, an environmental activist, an author, twice a nominee for Congress, and a nominee for president. This book is based on his lecture series, "Astonish the World, Tell the Simple Truth." 

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