Last week the focus was on the name of God. What's in name? Perhaps because it is hard to have a relationship with some impersonal force. When you know someone by name your relationship really begins. But, rightfully so, there is much reverence and care with a name so sacred to so many people. But I believe this to be respectful and inspiring.
"When God revealed his name to Moses it is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.
Although Hebrew doesn't have vowels, over time we have arbitrarily added an “a” and an “e” in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.
But scholars and Rabi’s have noted that the letters YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing.
YH (inhale): WH (exhale).
So a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God. A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words. Even an atheist would speak His name, unaware that their very breath is giving constant acknowledgment to God. Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filling their lungs. Being alive means I speak His name constantly.
In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. When we’re about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage. Breathing is giving him praise.
God chose to give himself a name that we can’t help but speak every moment we’re alive. All of us, always, everywhere: waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on each breath."
There is much to be said of the name I AM THAT AM from a philosophical and theological perspective, in terms of the source of exigent being and consciousness (always in the present), but this reflection is almost a pathway for meditation and connection.
No comments:
Post a Comment