Three Words
Hallow: This means to make holy, to consecrate. However, this word is traditionally used only to describe God’s name. It means more than just holy, but maximally, ineffably, supernaturally, indescribably holy. God hinted at this in Genesis, when He told Abraham that his name was “YHWH—I Am Who I Am.” Come the questions: when He instructed us to intone “Hallowed be thy name” as we pray to him, did He mean for us to tell him what He already knows, assure him that we know it, or remind ourselves? And if we really believe it, how dare we use that hallowed name casually or blasphemously? Ever??
Bless: This also means to consecrate, make holy. But it also can signify to declare separate unto God, or to make happy [in the Jerusalem Bible translation, the beatitudes read “happy” in place of “blessed.”], or to bestow good upon, or to make worthy of admiration, and even to protect from evil.
What a state to be in! Being blessed, however we interpret it, means being favored by God, which is sounds suspiciously like being in a state of grace. More questions: doesn’t God always bless those of us who call ourselves Christians? Why do we “bless” someone? Isn’t it only God who can accomplish this? And after a sneeze, does a perfunctory “God bless you” exhort God so to do, or remind us that He always has and does, or simply to extend sympathy to someone who needs it? [That makes it no more powerful or meaningful than the German “gesundheit,” which translates ‘to your health”]. As for me, looking over my life to date, I am the most blessed man I know, no matter how you read it!
Goodbye: This is an Old English contraction of “God be with ye.” If you think about this, it has pretty powerful implications: are we important enough to the grand Architect of the Universe that He would actually “be” with us? Again, is this a request of God, or a reminder to us that He is—always? And if He is, isn’t that fact an automatic blessing?
I’m afraid that I’m apt to toss these familiar words about in a cavalier fashion, without keeping in mind the power, the otherness, and the glory of him to whom they refer. Are you?
Bless: This also means to consecrate, make holy. But it also can signify to declare separate unto God, or to make happy [in the Jerusalem Bible translation, the beatitudes read “happy” in place of “blessed.”], or to bestow good upon, or to make worthy of admiration, and even to protect from evil.
What a state to be in! Being blessed, however we interpret it, means being favored by God, which is sounds suspiciously like being in a state of grace. More questions: doesn’t God always bless those of us who call ourselves Christians? Why do we “bless” someone? Isn’t it only God who can accomplish this? And after a sneeze, does a perfunctory “God bless you” exhort God so to do, or remind us that He always has and does, or simply to extend sympathy to someone who needs it? [That makes it no more powerful or meaningful than the German “gesundheit,” which translates ‘to your health”]. As for me, looking over my life to date, I am the most blessed man I know, no matter how you read it!
Goodbye: This is an Old English contraction of “God be with ye.” If you think about this, it has pretty powerful implications: are we important enough to the grand Architect of the Universe that He would actually “be” with us? Again, is this a request of God, or a reminder to us that He is—always? And if He is, isn’t that fact an automatic blessing?
I’m afraid that I’m apt to toss these familiar words about in a cavalier fashion, without keeping in mind the power, the otherness, and the glory of him to whom they refer. Are you?
posted by Bill Stecher at 3:23 PM
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