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"We all look elsewhere for this light--it draws us out of ourselves--but the Name always lives within."
Neil Douglas-Klotz
In the ancient Near East, one's name had much greater significance than we give it now. A name contained one's soul, one's essence. The power of one's name was such that parents chose carefully, most often selecting positive names in order to imbue their children's lives with positive attributes.
In his book
Prayers of the Cosmos
, Neil Douglas-Klotz translates "Hallowed be Thy name" in the following ways:
"Focus your light within us - make it useful, as the rays of a beacon show the way. Help us breathe one holy breath feeling only you --- this creates a shrine inside, in wholeness. Help us let go,clear the space inside of busy forgetfulness, so the Name comes to live. Your name can move us if we tune our hearts as instruments for its tone. Hear the one Sound that created all others: in this way the Name is hallowed in silence. We look elsewhere for this light--it draws us out of ourselves--but the Name always lives within."
The very Name of the one Sound, the Name of the Creator, lives with us. That Name is our true essence; it holds our entire existence. When we "hallow" it -- when we create that shrine within and keep it free from thoughts of what is happening "out there" -- we find light, love, peace, joy, harmony and freedom.
Remember whose Name lives within you!
With great love,
Rev. CC
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