I started thinking about something that I guess, in the grand scheme of things, is pretty trivial. But since triviality is something I have never been able to eschew, I thought I'd share it here on Hear the Yawp. What is the deal with "God bless?" I see it written on notes. I hear it on answering machine greetings. I hear folks say it on TV. It's one of those phrases that I see and hear all the time, but I have no idea what it's saying.
What does it mean?
Is it a prayer? As in God bless this house or God bless our family? If so, it's unfinished. God bless what?
Is it one of those things you're just supposed to complete yourself? Like I say to you, "God bless...," and you finish with whatever you need blessed - "my job" or "my country" or "my brakes" or "my kidneys."
Maybe it's not that we need someone to finish it for us; maybe naming the thing in need of God's blessing would just be uncouth. ...as in "God bless your fungus-infested toes or inflamed hemorrhoids or green-headed acne or abundance of fat cells or insect-repelling body odor?" It becomes a statement like, "We both know you are in need of God's blessing, but there's no way I am going to be so degrading as to name your problem out in the open for all to hear."
Or maybe it's just because our culture has become so isolated, self-centered, and individualized that we are sure other people need God's blessing...but we have no idea why. "God bless (you go ahead and fill in the blank because frankly I am too concerned with myself to be concerned with anything you are facing.)
I don't know; maybe it's something else. But I can say this: It strikes me as a trite, disconnected, meaningless waste of breath and phonetics.
It's just my opinion; your's could be different...
17 comments:
I think people do it to appear to be a "good Christian" ...it's what you're suppose to say... i agree with shantell...this is funny
Isnt "Bless" just God's last name? God Bless..
like Jesus H. Christ...
Horatio is Jesus's middle name.
I was always told as a child to "not use God's name in vain."
Well you sure do not get any more vain the shouting "God bless" all the time (or after everyone sneezes).
Nothing rings Vanity more true, than someone Going around "God blessing" you, your country, your football team, country music, or anything else for that matter.
"God bless the war" is "pro-christian" jargon.
Just as long as you do not ever say "God Damn"
I guess I never did see much of a difference.
Confession: I really didn't think this post would strike up a meaningful conversation.
But this most-recent comment from word 80 just forced me onto the soap box. I thought about including some sort of statement about taking God's name in vain when I wrote this post originally, but decided to keep it light. So much for triviality; it's time to rant.
I don't know how it happened, but in our culture, as Chris/word 80 has stated, "God Damn" has become the quintessential act of taking God's name in vain. I agree whole-heartedly with Chris here that to throw around the phrase "God Bless..." in some meaningless way is every bit of vanity (if not more so) as saying "God Damn." The name of God is not something to be used lightly.
And that brings me to another point of tension with our so-called Christian-ese and its vanity. I recently learned of a break-up between a guy and a girl. She dumped him because "God told her to." She said it was "God's will." What a cop out? This isn't the first time I have seen this. It happens all the time.
"Are you ready for this? I'm going to rip out your heart, destroy every fantasy of romantic idealism you have ever had, and leave you emotionally bankrupt - all in the name of...God."
Genocide in the name of God.
Racism in the name of God.
Murder in the name of God.
Rape in the name of God.
Hatred in the name of God.
It happens all the time.
We get so mad when Prime Time lets a "God Damn" slip on national television, but when some wife divorces her husband "because God told her to," we hug her, pat her on the back, and talk about how pious she is.
Something's terribly wrong.
I think this dialogue all needs to be on the main site.
But Anyways, one thing that has always sat uneasy with me from day one, is when people talk about their decisions being made by God. Like, God wants me to be a doctor. Or God said we should hold a fundraiser. I hate when people tell me to ask God for answers!
GOD DOES NOT GIVE ME ANSWERS!!!
(ah much better)
If anything God just gives me more questions.
God doesnt tell me what I should do tommorow.
God doesnt tell me what I should do after college.
God doesnt tell me what we should name our bible study, or what the future of it should be.
GOD doesnt say to much about anything trite and superficial to me.
So I often question the true relationship behind such motives as, "God told me to move here" and "God told me to talk with you" and pretty much "God tellin me anything" type speeches.
Why is God going so far as to tell you how to live out the mundane aspects of your every day life?
God doesnt baby-sit me.
God doest mother and smother me.
So if God is picking your life for you, then take control!
But I really dont think that Gods doing that.
When I listen to God... Which is rare, because It is VERY hard for me to actually hear him.
But when I do, I find he isnt saying specifics at all.
Most of the time, during mediatation all I can hear him say,, are soft words like "compassion" "self-sacrifice" "hummility" and "love"
But what the heck is that?
God ussually just makes me ask more questions.
God may want me to do something, but he sure as hell isnt shouting out directions like some "OnStar" navigation system.
If I had listened to what I at one point in my life thought was God talking to me. I wouldn't be marrying my soon to be wife.
Soon after I returned from Sudan I met Amber, my fiance. I was still pretty messed up from the transition of real life to this sorry excuse for reality that we live in here in the states. So, after the two weeks of dating Amber I felt like God was saying "this isn't right." "This cute little girl is going to get you into trouble." "you need to be single longer" etc.
Thank God I didn't listen... Instead I spoke with some folks like Jonathan about my struggles with trying to figure out what is and isn't God's voice. Then I made a decision to stay with Amber because of these facts... she is a believer, she has a great family, she is great with kids, She is beautiful, and she's fun as hell to be around.
Jesus almost never spoke in a way that was undertandable to the desciples. They always had to try and figure out the meaning behind Jesus weird stories and parables. Who do "Christians" today think they are to believe that they are better than Christs desciples??? Who do they think they are to think that God speaks directly and clearly to them??? If it weren't easy for Peter and John to understand the voice of God right there in the flesh. How much more dificult is it for us!
These kind of questions have been on my mind for quite some time - years and years. For much of my early life I was terrified to make any kind of major decision because I was afraid I'd make the wrong one and be out of "God's will." I kept waiting for God to tell me what to do and when I didn't hear him I figured my sinfulness was keeping me from hearing. What a screwed up way of looking at things. Guess all those "repent or go to h-e-double hockey sticks" sermons had taken their toll. Just now figuring out that God's voice is everywhere and its nowhere. And just when it seems it nowhere it's all of a sudden now here (and then not here). Finally decided that God's will is ever changing, not because he changes but because we change. I think that's what it means to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Also reminds me of a quote I heard about Mother Teresa. Seems she was asked what she said when she prayed. She said she didn't say anything, she just listened. Then she was asked what God said. She said he doesn't say anything he just listens. Sorry to ramble, but in conclusion I suspect that most times when people say "God told me to ..." they're just trying to justify their own actions. Back in my younger days when a girlfriend would break up with me and say that God told her to do it, I always wanted to say, "Seems the least God could do was tell me, too!"
I dont think its that hard to figure out which voices are the voices of God.
Gods voices are the Voices you hear when no-one else is around.... not even you
Ok Ok Ok.
I am not saying God doesnt Speak.
Speak God Speak
What Im saying is that God does not (In my experience) waste my time talking about trivial things like proper nouns, numbers, people, dates, regular nouns, or things of a quantifiable and materialistic nature.
[Although God did say he liked Alannis Morsset (sp?)]
And As for direction. and God leading you or me.
Leading and Direction is very different from God speaking. I do not think God does not Direct or lead. I am merely talking about dialoging with God.
I have to go Shantell is starting the Group, and she wants to discuss this in futher detail.
Im sure this board will not die soon.
Ok we have to be careful here. I have heard from more than one person that God could not possibly waste his time on mundane things. At first I agreed with this, but then I feel like something was not adding up. God knows the number of hairs on our head (which I consider pretty mundane). If God is willing to know all of the hairs on my head then why wouldn't he want to show me where to live, what to do when I graduate, etc. Also, let's not limit God. Sometimes God speaks in other ways then just his voice. He can speak through his words, through other people, etc. Another thing, yes God did speak in parables to his disciples as well as to the others around Him. But, he also would sometimes explain when his disciples would ask (read john for example). I do think that God will sometimes pose questions for us when we listen to Him...but for some reason I believe that those questions are asked so that we will seek Him more and ask Him more and truly desire to know Him more.
I agree that God does lead us. He does that in several ways, and I guess looking back there were a couple of times that God "spoke" to me. The problem was that at the time, I wasn't sure it was God talking or just my inner self trying to justify what I wanted to do.
Sometimes when I'm praying and feel like I'm kinda stuck, it helps me to actually imagine myself sitting at a table across from Jesus. (At least I think it's Jesus. He looks kinda like him, but not exactly like all those paintings you see of him.) Actually, there's more details, but I won't bore you. Anyway, I talk to him, but he seldom talks back. At least I never really see his mouth move. And when he does seem to speak, it's usually just to ask me a question, like, "Have you thought about ...?" Sometimes it seems like he's talking but I can't make out what he's saying. Sometimes he says nothing.
All of this makes me wonder just how active God is in the world today. I don't think he's controlling everything and we're just a bunch of robots. But I also don't think he has just turned everything loose and left us to our own devices (and our own vices). The answer must lie somewhere between those two. Maybe sometimes he's all over the map and sometimes he's only where he needs to be.
I agree that God can use many different ways to talk to us. Such as the Good Book, Other people, a song, a movie, whatever. But it is a huge statement to say "God told me too...(fill in the blank)."
Yes I think God cares about what kind of job we get, who we marry, if I go completely bald or just partially etc. But I don't think he reveals it to us. How boring would life be if we always knew what to expect next.
I think God has always allowed there to be an element of unkown. God told Abraham he was going to have a son, but didn't tell him when or how. So, Abraham went and boned his servant girl after 10 years of waiting. I'm sure Moses didn't know that his people were going to be stuck in the desert for 40 years eating nothing but fruit and getting bit by snakes and such.
We always want to know how things are going to turn out, so we always turn to God for answers. and Yes, He could give us all the anwers, but he doesn't. In fact, I think he gives us more questions than answers and expects us to figure shit out on our own.
hmmmm... I see your point that God knows all the specifics...
Hey knows how many pepsis I have drank vs. Coke.
Hey knows exactly how many rice crispy treats I have consumed in my life.
But just because he knows specifics, I still don't think he is all going to be like "Chris... This is the Big Guy. Drink More Pepsi, No more coke."
or anything specific like that.
I really just dont think God cares about lil stuff like pepsi vs. coke... or how many hairs are on my head, and is my hair thinning? My forhead sure seems to be getting larger? hmmmm
I worry enough about all that for both me and God.
Okay, I've been dragged into this by "J" so be gentle I am new to the blog. What I am about to say is an opinion that's it. For me I think that it is simply put to the phrase that Jesus said over and over again. "Those who have an ear let them hear." I have been married to my wife now for three years and I can tell you that she talks to me all day long. Sometimes, more than I want. But, when I am not only listening but hearing what she was saying in her words, her actions, and just observing everything, it became clear to me what was being said. From something as simple as her saying, " honey, I love little messages to tell me you love me" to hidden messages like the first telephone call I received one day and all that I heard was crying. It took me several these to understand that sometimes she becomes overwhelmed and she needs to just hear my voice to settle down. If there is anything that I have learned from seeking God and wanting to hear from him, know his will, etc..., it is that the first thing we need to do is to turn off the next episode of my so called life... and consider "not my will but your will". Maybe if you wonder whether God really cares ask him the questions that you think he doesn't really care about. "God _________?" He might just surprise you. He has me!!!!
i'm torn. I think that God cares about the things we care about (probably not to the extent we do b/c there are a lot of things we miss and things that we spend too much time on) but i still think he cares to an extent. Pepsi vs. coke... He may not care but then again do you really care and if you do how come? As far as Abraham goes, God told Him the end result. He told Abraham that he would have a son...no he didn't tell but God let Abraham know that he would have a son. God speaking about things to come may have been more prevalent in the Old testament. This might just be my observation, but I think God rarely seems to tell us the end result but will tell us the next step...sometimes He won't and He desires for us to walk on our own...in His image but sometimes I do believe that He shows us the "good works He has planned in advance for us" (paraphrased) though it is usually just a small step that leads too questions of why? what will that lead to? where do I end up? blah blah blah and I don't know if God shows us the little steps rather than the end result more in fact now adays. I wonder if it is because now we have the Holy Spirit who steers our motives and direction in life but it is something that I have been pondering lately. I once heard that God speaks to us all the time but sometimes it does fall on deaf ears ...whether we are succombing (spelled that wrong) to our sin nature or blaming it on our own thoughts that we are making up or we are too scared/distracted to obey..i just don't know
There is a condition called obsessive compulsive disorder. This is a debilitating illness where the person can not function normally in life due to extreme fear. A person with OCD may have to perform hours of rituals a day, just to release the anxiety and stress from their fear. An example would be that a person is super afraid that their mom will die, so to save their mom this person washes their hands 17 times, then touches the door handle 37 times, makes 12 steps to the couch, and if any steps are not perfect they will start the whole ritual over again. This may go on for hours.
These people are totally consumed with rituals. It makes me wonder how much I am consumed with rituals? I also wonder how much God is consumed with rituals as well? Will God care if they only wash their hands 16 times? Will God care if they do not touch the door handle 37 times? These people care, and they spend their whole life in a lifelong anxiety attack worrying over these questions.
I do not think God cares about trivial actions like touching a door handle.
I do not even think God cares wholely of our actions and decisions.
I think God cares about our motives.
It may be seem stupid to look at a condition like OCD. But it is very serious to people who have it. I do not think God has OCD. Otherwise, why would he have given us free will? I think that the actions and rituals I do daily are consumed by my thoughts. Thoughts that can shut out God. God does want our actions to be free of a consuming nature. But I do not think he wants to regulate which thoughts and actions we have.
For instance, I don’t think God cares if I use two-ply or one-ply toilet paper. I care because I’m selfish and want my ass to feel soft and clean, the cheapest way possible. An OCD cares, because if they do not get the ply that they need, they have an anxiety attack and can not focus on anything else. I think some people might care, because it could mess up their septic tank, or hurt the environment. Maybe their bum is very sensitive. Or maybe their buying it because they know it’s the kind their wife buys, (and no sense getting home and having her send you back out again). This simple question can be “brain screwed” a million different ways. But the question really remains does God care?
I think God doesn’t care which ply I buy.
I think God cares where my thoughts are.
I think God cares where my thoughts point to.
I think God cares where my motives lay.
I think God cares where my heart leads.
I think god cares about me.
I am more important to God than my actions!
(We are all starting to be seen as the internet dorks we all really are)
I can sometimes get caught up in wondering what in the world God is doing. You know, the whole, "why did he let some great person die while an evil person lives to old age" deal. I think I've finally got to the point where I know I'm not going to figure it out so why waste time thinking about it. I think God does sometimes intervene in our lives for the good. But I'm not sure to what extent or why sometimes it seems like he does and sometimes he doesn't. I heard one time that it's like when you hear some athlete who just won a race saying God helped him win and you want to say, "What did God have against the guy who came in second (or last)?"
Sometimes all I can do is know that I'm trying to find God and believe (hope) that he's trying to find me.
All of this was most real to me when a friend's son died of SIDS. You know, I can at least get my mind around understanding when someone dies in a car accident or something like that. There's at least an apparent reason that can help me understand. But when a baby dies of no apparent reason, I really struggled with wondering what in the name of common sense God was up to. Never did completely come to grips with it.
That was one of those times when God had to find me, 'cause I was having a hard time find him.
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