The Lord's Prayer (#2)

Our Father who art in Heaven,
      hallowed be your name;
we continue in a constant hurry,
      eager to get somewhere else –
even if we don’t know where,
      or why it is so important.

Or we ask, “What’s in a name?”
      There must be something.

After all, the psalmist wrote:
      Oh Lord our Lord,
      how majestic is your name
      in all the earth!

And the early Christ hymn stated:
      God also highly exalted him
      and gave him the name
      that is above every name,
      so that at the name of Jesus
      every knee should bend,
      in heaven and on earth,
      and under the earth,
      and every tongue confess
      that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

Hallowed be your name - or
      Perhaps we should say names:

I am who I am, Yahweh, Lord;
      El-Shaddai, God Almighty,
El-Roi a God who sees,
      Mighty Warrior, Prince of Peace
along with a dozen other
      well-earned titles:
Woman Wisdom, Father,
      Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus.

But just how are we to Hallow,
      make holy or sanctify
that which by nature is holy –
      wholly other, beyond human?

Say a few less, “God damn,”
      and few more, “Praise the Lord!”?
Avoid saying your name at all,
      so we not dirty it with lips?

Or maybe, just as a name represents
      the whole person, who they are;
perhaps we sanctify your name by our own,
      who we are, our whole person.
Not just who I am as I repeat this prayer,
      but who I am when I’m done.
What will these same lips say
      when I am miles away from here?
Will my life witness to your holiness,
      by how I treat others, love my enemy,
care for an outsider, an alien, someone hated,
      or will I drag the name through the mud?

Maybe rushing through this line is better:
      quickly now: hallowed be your name.

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