My reflection today is from Living Faith:
You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Exodus 20:7
“Growing up when OMG‘s and much more saltier profanities permeated dialect, I lacked awe for the sacredness of the Lord’s name. Yet the closer I grew to God, the more irreverent it felt to use his name like pop-culture slang. Expletives disparaging Jesus grated on me. I began offering silent prayers and searching for appropriate responses when people misused God‘s name. While in a store with my husband, a loud teen bickering intensely with her mom started bellowing: ‘Jesus Christ—!’ ‘—is Lord and Savior!’ came my husband‘s swift response. I looked at him in surprise. ‘Thank you!’
It’s an easy trap to take God’s name in vain or to become indifferent to others’ doing so. Aside from honoring the Lord with our own words, we can affirm truth, offer silent prayers or gently pull loved ones aside. We can reference God’s name above all names.
Oh Lord, please grant us the grace to replace desensitization with holy awe for your name-above all names.” Kathleen Schwartz McQuaig
I remember, when I was teaching and then principal, saying to students when they would say, “Oh God” I would say, “Is that a prayer?
