why i write G-d...

I have been asked why i write "G-d" in this manner.  the answer is simple really.  it is the way that i can show reverence and deference to the reality that the created mind can never fully comprehend the One Who Created It... so trying to find one name "god" for this Mystery is arrogant, difficult, and utterly impossible. 

I have come to a more encompassing name, the Incomprehensible Eternal One, but that is a lot to write each time i want to refer to the whole of g-d, or hint at the Mystery of BEING, and  "IEO" would confuse people;) 

The Hebrew people honored this reality of G-d being beyond their comprehension, by not speaking the name for G-d,  by instead say, "blessed be He," when referring to The Name for G-d as revealed to Moses, "I AM Who I AM " (transliterated as YHWH).  Then they use many other more specific names and revelations of this IEO as spoken names, Elohim, Adonai, El-Shaddai, in order to honor the personal nature of G-d. 

I like their humility and reverence.  it reverberates in my soul.  somehow, this refusal to speak or write the name of G-d, is a statement of our creatureliness in relationship to The Creator, yet i cannot bring myself to limit G-d to 'Blessed be He,' especially since revealing the feminine face of G-d is a passion of mine.  The accepted masculine terminology for the whole of G-d, denies the revelation, in Genesis 1-2, that we are made in G-d's image -both male and female!  We have lost the feminine revelation of G-d and we have few names to embrace or even contemplate this facet of the Incomprehensible Eternal One.

Thus i write G-d, like the Hebrews do: to allow there to be Mystery within the very name i use for The Incomprehensible Eternal One....to acknowledge the limits of our rudimentary language and its awkward inability to really name anything, beyond the accepted semiotic usage of the day and time... The limits of language intrigue me and i often rest on the fact that even G-d became frustrated with the limits of words and spoke The Incarnation- Jesus, Emmanuel, G-d with us, in the flesh... The Incarnation is g-d revealed in the context of relationship... and this transcends the limits of language. 

It is in relationship with G-d and with others that i experience the Incarnate Christ.  i have come to see many faces and revelations of G-d-- that have come through these relationships, as well as in the Scriptures, nature and even within the unfolding of my own soul's communion with g-d. These revelations and names have stirred me and i am working on a compilation of them, so to offer another glimpse into Mystery, and reveal more avenues to encountering and knowing The Incomprehensible Eternal One...

The is an ongoing question and extremely relevant in this emerging culture.  I would love to hear your names for G-d, how do you envision, encounter and engage with the Incomprehensible...what names/icons/images do you use for the Trinity, God the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit in your spiritual journey?  How and why do they speak to you...or what if any writings/blog posts/books have expanded or challenged your thoughts in this arena...

Please send me those that you are willing to share, as i am aware that some are profoundly sacred and private...and we can learn from each other... SeLaH

Comments

[natala]

honestly, i don't know what to call god, sometimes i feel it all still a huge mystery, and sometimes i find myself not addressing god by a name, because in a way it somehow acknowledges that i know god well - like i would know a casual acquaintance, and at times i don't feel as though i know anything about god... the mystery of it all is to me so foreign at times, that i don't have a name at all, something feels to simple about it. i am not sure if that makes sense, partially because i've never voiced why it is that i feel that way at times. but thank you for what you wrote..
much love - natala

[stephanie]

Susie I really like this post. Lately I have been asking myself these questions because I find I am moving away for the traditional titles and finding ones that make me sway and lean into the Divine. The Hebrew names of Yahweh and Yeshua seem to have more breath to them ( I realize there is an acutual breathing when you say them) and yet I also find that addressing Dio and Spirito Santo, using Italian, a language connected to my stay there that breathed freedom. Addressing the Divine is linking, for me, to the connection that happens when I use words that are not my traditional ones, which hold great judgement and legalism.
Thank you for your nudging into this area of thought.

[emily]

thank you for that post.
when in prayer i most often refer to God as Father. It's comforting for me.
when i'm singing praise i use Jesus. not sure why. it comes from the deep recesses of my heart. and i can visualize it more, this man like me.
when i'm writing i use many different names. prince of peace, lord, comforter, holy God, teacher, yaweh...
i like your use of G-D.
the last couple of years have been a real exploration on my part of G-D and church as things in my life that deserve my utmost reverance.
i first knew Him as a friend and father.
i am knowing learning about Him as the creator and incomprehensible eternal one.

-emily

[Jon]

I usually write God full out, but I do have problems with pronouns. I have a panentheistic perspective of God, it makes not just the "default" masculine pronoun unacceptable; it also makes personal pronouns, period, feel terribly discordant. Often I use "This" (when emphasizing the everywhere-ness of God, or divine attribute or possessives) or "That" (when emphasizing That transcendence or unknowability). "Such" sometimes works where joining clauses makes This or That impossible. "That" has a historic use in vedanta, just as "G-d" does in Judaism.

An example:
For God so loved the world, that Such gave This only-begotten Son.

However, usually I do fall back on the defaults for ease and naturalness of communication. Thanks for actually going for it and making it part of your writing style.

[*Christopher]

Thanks for this articulate post. I too have been asked more than once to explain why I use G-d. Your post sums up the more-than-once explanations I've given.

[feeliainsobia]

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