In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus actually provides God with a special
name--in that he says "Hallowed be thy name."
Comment: Maybe strange, but sometimes I relax by reading
the dictionary. So I'm going to do a little exercise in regard to
this special name by linking meaning upon meaning, employing
the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE.
• Hallowed: (1) Made or set apart as being holy; sanctified;
consecrated. (2) Highly venerated; unassailable; sacrosanct.
• Hallow: (1) To make or set apart as holy; sanctify; consecrate.
(2) To honor as being holy; revere; adore.
• Holy: (1) Belonging to, derived from, or associated with a
divine power, sacred. (2) Worthy of worship or high esteem;
revered. See "kailo" in Appendix. [Kailo: Whole, uninjured,
of good omen. Old English-wholesome, health, to heal,
holy, sacred.]
• Whole: (1) Containing all component parts; complete.
(2) Not divided or disjointed; in one unit, (3) Sound; healthy;
restored; healed.
• Wholesome: (1) Conducive to sound health or well-being;
salutary. (2) Morally or socially salubrious.
• Healthy: (1) Possessing good health. (3) Indicative of a
rational or constructive frame of mind, sound.
• Sound: (1) Free from defect, decay, or damage; in good
condition. (3) Having a firm basis; solid; unshakable. (7)
Deep and unbroken; undisturbed. (8) Free from moral defect;
upright; honorable. (9) Worthy of confidence; trustworthy.
• Salutary: (1) Effecting or designed to effect an improvement;
beneficially corrective; remedial.
• Heal: (1) To restore to health; cure. (2) To set right; amend.
(3) To rid of sin, anxiety, or the like; restore. To become whole
and sound; return to health. See "kailo" in Appendix.
Well it looks as if our small word-game has come around
full circle. It's really interesting "what's in a name." :-)
However, what interests me is not so much the most correct
linguistic interpretation, but rather how this particular name
can be seen in terms of our own life. Whole, complete, stable,
sound, holy--all these words seem to beckon in terms of
emulation. These words almost seem like a promise, in that
there is a goal that seems to attract us forward.
