Friend Carl Sharif tells this wonderful story of elder wisdom transmitted to him as a youth that speaks to the meaning of God’s words and how they apply to our lives on multiple levels:
I grew up in the Christian Church and my father (Deacon P. Dawson) was Chairman of the Deacon Board and quite a student of the bible. I will never forget a discussion he had with me when I was a very young boy.
I once asked him about the 10 commandments and he recited them to me. When he got to “Thou shall not kill” I was terrified. I thought of all the ants that I had stepped on, mosquitoes I had swatted and other major act of murder I had committed and was really scared that G_D was going to get me. He sensed my youthful concern and here is what he said to me: