You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain
How do we make this part of our lives?
I was raised in, and continue to live in the Christian tradition; you could almost say I was born into it. My parents were both very active in their church throughout their lives, and I was baptized into it when I was only a few days old. My earliest memories include attending Sunday school and church every Sunday. By the age of ten I could recount the popular Bible stories and recite the basic tenants such as The Ten Commandments.
I was born near the end of World War II to a father who was serving in the Navy so our family was not only religious but also very patriotic. I was taught from a very young age that our country was the greatest country because of our ideals of individual freedom, equality of all persons, and our desire to sacrifice for the common good. I was taught to honor our country and its’ symbol, the flag, because they not only represented the ideals but also all the people who had been willing to stand up and sometimes die in its’ defense throughout history.
Early in my life came the first clash between my spiritual and patriotic beliefs. One day our public school teacher announced that the pledge we had been saying had been changed slightly. The words “under God” had been added and so from now on we would recite the pledge the new way. I immediately felt a strong conflict between what I was being asked to do as a patriot and what my religion had taught me. As a child I did not understand all the nuances of either politics or religion but it was clear to me that “under God” was referring to my God. I knew that reciting the pledge daily by everyone of any religion or of no religion was not displaying the reverence demanded by the Third Commandment so I chose not to say “under God” when we said the pledge every morning.
Over the years I have observed the tug of war between those that want to remove any reference to religion in the public discourse and those who want to make religion central in both our public and private lives. While the argument rages, the way we live our lives seems to tell a different story. The tenants of our religion are not reflected in our daily lives and the more we try to push the name of God to the forefront, the more we risk dishonoring the name.
The word “God” today is used everywhere from the most holy of situations to the most profane. I felt the need to find another way of addressing this spiritual essence that exists outside of time but is with me daily. I turned to my Christian tradition and found that Jesus had already answered my question. When asked how to pray He started with “Our Father”. I still wanted to differentiate between my earthly parent and this spiritual being. Continuing my search I found that Jesus used the word “Abba” in way of address and this was perfect for me. This word was not in common English usage so it would not be used lightly and whenever I used it there would be no mistaking to whom I was referring.
A. Darden