Light and Heavy Weight

“Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly” is a quote from “The Eternal Revolution,” a chapter in G. K. Chesterton’s wonderful book, Orthodoxy. I love that quote because, in a way that makes me smile, I'm reminded to take myself lightly, less seriously. In contrast, I've recently been thinking about the seriousness and weight of God's name and what we're doing when we take it in vain--take it lightly and, as a result, render it empty.

Long ago, when my oldest son was very small, I was for a few months a singing waitress. The job was a left-over dream from high school that began when my mother and a friend took me to a restaurant in Blowing Rock, North Carolina where the waiters and waitresses put on a musical show. I never worked at that restaurant, but someone tried the same concept in Mechanicsburg; I applied and got hired. We featured a new show every week, so there was lots of music to learn--and learning lots of music in a quick space of time was a challenge--during that short period of time I'd often wake up in the night to experience my mind singing, trying to learn words, intervals and harmonies.

I'll insert here that the effort to learn all that new music each week was probably unnecessary; few patrons attended more than once the whole six months we were open. While the food was fine, it was expensive and, really, we as a cast weren't that great. Not only that, but part of the hotel where the restaurant was located had been damaged in a fire and was not repaired. Though the damage couldn't be seen by the casual diner, we who worked at the restaurant knew things weren't right. That's only one of the reasons why the whole shebang lasted only a few months.

But here's the reason I bring up this stint in my life: the music director/waiter's favorite show was Little House of Horrors and he couldn't wait to sing his favorite song from the show which was "Dentist." I was, with two other women, chosen as a doo-wop. I quickly learned that "Oh my God" is one of the doo-wop responses to the sociopath-dentist's lyrics and that was a problem for me. I spent some time agonizing over what to do, wondering if I could drop my voice when we came to that part, replace God with "gosh" (going soft on the "sh.") or just call in sick that week. I finally spoke to the director, telling him I wouldn't be singing the song at all. He got mad and told me I had to. I told him, no, I didn't have to and I wouldn't. That's when he offered the strangest theology I ever remember hearing: "Hey listen," he said; "I believe in God, too. But I believe that if God didn't want us to say 'Oh my God,' he would have done something about it."

If you know me at all, you can imagine my astonishment. Goodness, if you're going to swear, at least take responsibility for it! I told him I hadn't refused to sing just because I believe in God but because God's name matters a great deal; and how we speak of him matters to us all.

In the end, I didn't sing the song and I didn't get fired for refusing. However, I did tell the director, after calming down a little, that God had done something about the way we use his name; he died in our place.

Some years later I was reading a book by Dr. Scott Peck who at the time of the writing was very new in his Christian faith. In the book, he wrote about having stayed in the house of a family mature in their faith and was surprised to hear how they casually spoke about God--how God did this and how God told them that and that they seemed to think God was at their beck and call. If ever he heard an example of taking God's name in vain, he wrote, this family was that example.

I had to think about that for awhile. Up until reading those words I had thought taking God's name in vain was a matter of profanity.

James, the brother of Jesus, warns us that demons believe in God and tremble--probably because, believing, they know their doom is sure (thank you Martin Luther!).

So I am thinking about the weight of the name of God that represents his power, love, dominion, wisdom, riches, honor, glory and blessing. The name, when spoken, that will some time call us all to our knees-- no doubt with great trembling.

As I wonder how I can take myself a little more lightly and our God more seriously I remember that at some point in my life I'll need God's strong name when my world turns upside down. If throughout my life I've taken God's name lightly, will my hope in his name be "the anchor for my soul, firm and secure"?