The Name of God

Warning:  this blog may make you chuckle.  Or it may make you a little miffed if you don't like it when people, (me myself I in this case) use the word God to make people chuckle.  You've been warned.  Stop now if you think you might get miffed.  Unless you want to get miffed today.  Or anyday.  You could come back and read this later if you're feeling too happy and need some balance in your soul.  Well, you are grown ups.  You can make your own decisions, I hope.  If you are feeling indecisive, take a little break, have some hummus, and then decide. 

Wait, before I get to the humorous part, I decided to look the word miff up in my sacred red text.  I wanted to see the derivation, but there was none listed.  So I guess it's just plain old English.  Yawn.  But wait, again, I didn't realize until just this moment that not only is there the fine word miff but also miffy as an adjective.  It can describe not only a person, but a plant that will grow only under exact conditions.  A fickle plant.  Not to be confused with a pickle plant, er, a cucumber...see Caroline's blog for pickle advice.

Well, that has nothing to do with my original idea for today's blog, so let me backtrack.  Last week, or the week before that, I'm not exactly sure when, Kathy and I were discussing the Robin Meyers book, again.  She mentioned that singing many of the hymns we sing, though beautiful, still perpetuate an image of a personal God in whom (which?) she no longer believes.  If she ever did.   I agree with this idea what most people call God is more of an energy than a being in any sense that we can perceive.  But I said, at the time, that the hymns did not bother me.

Then on Sunday we sang hymn number 718 in the Chalice Hymnal (Disciples of Christ) called  Come, Ye Thankful People, Come  followed later in the service by number 717 Let All Things Now Living.  Phrases like God our Creator, God's banner, by law God enforces, our God we owe,  and so on.  And danged if that didn't get my attention and make me feel a little (here it comes...) miffy.

So, I had the bright idea to substitute the word Love everytime I saw the word God while I sang.  It worked!  It worked like a divine charm.  All miffiness subsided and I just sang there praising Love.  I remembered, again, the first Bible verses I learned from Miss Cox and Miss Heller Love One Another.  God is Love.

 So later I emailed Kathy and told her.  She said she liked that idea.  So I went and got out my copy of the hymnal (oops, hi Susan!) and started looking at some other titles.  So far the best one is A Mighty Fortress is our Love.  I would actually like to substitute the phrase unconditional love instead of just plain love.  But it throws the rhythm off something terrible.  So Love with a capital L like God with a capital G.

Then, as often happens, my mind began to wander.  What if our U.S. coins were minted with the phrase In Love We Trust?  The Pledge said we were "One Nation, Under Love, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All"? 

Then I thought, we could substitute the word God where we usually use the word Love.  I God You, we might say to our children as they hop out of the car to dash across the school yard, or get on a train to go back to school, or fall asleep at night.

Then I began to worry.  What would we call Jesus?  In Spanish, they call him diosito, little god, in an affectionate way, like you would call a friend amiguito or amiguita.   So we could call him Little Love?  Or just Like?  Or Like-a-lot?  Sir Like-a-lot? 

Of course Spanish speaking people are not afraid to call their children, men or women, after Jesus.  HEY-SUESS or HEY-SUESS-A.  Which you know if you watch baseball.

Well, if you are still reading and not miffed, then thank you.  Have a fine day.  Love Bless Us, Every One!