There is again endless discussion in the American political context about the legitimacy and sometimes even the necessity of posting the Ten Commandments on the walls of public schools and government buildings in America, as an expression of it being a ’Christian country’ (whatever that means).

This made me wonder why is it that people want to post the Ten Commandments rather than the Beatitudes. Here is my take on it, making use of fr. Richard Rohr’s model of the ‘two halves of life’.

From this perspective, I would like to suggest that the Ten Commandments, and the Law in general, are ‘first half of life’ realities. They are necessary, but insufficient for the plenary life. They are good schooling to the disciplines necessary in mature life, but remaining at their level means spiritual poverty. They are paidagogos (Gal 3:24), the slave keeping the schoolboy from erring on the way to knowledge.

My other take on them is that t