The Third Commandment, Understanding Metaphors

When we think about the third commandment – don’t take the Lord’s name in vain - generally, we slap ourselves on the wrist and say, that’s right, you really have to be more careful about your language. And maybe that is so, we toss the name of God around as if it were a play thing, not realizing of course, that like all things sacred, it can, in fact, be a weapon of mass destruction which when released will cause untold damage. So, yes, of course, we should be careful with our language concerning all things divine, but really, we should just be more careful of our language period, because, well, if we live and move and have our being in God, all things are sacred, and how we speak about them, consider them, matters.

The theme of certitude, and our need to abandon it, returns again with our look at the third commandment, or as I prefer to understand them, the third gift of understanding.

We can never know the full essence of God, which is why throughout sacred scriptures and all other intelligent writings concerning the divine, similes and metaphors are used to describe God.
To worship the metaphors is idolatry.
To absorb them, imagine them, lean into them,
is divine.

Bestselling author Lauren Winner explores provocative and often overlooked metaphors for God, such as a laboring woman and the "one who smells."