Reverence for G-D's Name

It comes up every time I teach or present. I write down "G-D" or "L-RD" and someone asks: "Why take the "O" out of G-D's Name?" It's a valid question, and contains a personal answer. The reasons I do this come down to one of the ten commandments as well as my understanding of the Biblical world's emphasis on names.*

In the ancient world of the Bible, when a person names something or someone they are expressing a form of power over him/her/it. So when we first encounter Adam in the Garden, he's naming all of the different animals. (To have been a fly on the wall...er...tree for that conversation! Hippopotamus. Giraffe. Rhinoceros. Really, Adam?) G-D commanded Adam and his descendants to rule over creation, and one of Adam's first tasks is to play the name game.

We find an interesting situation at the fords of the Jabbok, when Jacob wrestles with a "person" all night. When the dust settles, Jacob refuses to let the man go until a blessing is given. The man asks for Jacob's name, and when he hears it, he gives him a new name: Israel, saying, "You have struggled with G-D and with humans and have overcome." When Jacob requests the man's name, he refuses to give it. It is then that Jacob realizes he wrestled with more than a person that night. He wrestled with G-D Himself, and G-D refused to have power exerted over Him by a mere name.

Because He is G-D, no name suffices to encapsulate or extend power over Him. All names for Him in the Bible don't measure up to Who He Is, and even those that come close ("I AM WHO I AM - Exodus 3:14) are beyond human understanding or comprehension. This is one of the reasons I place a "-" in G-D's Name; I am proclaiming no power over Him, nor do I have any name sufficient for Who He Is.

The second reason I write His Name the way I do is to honor Him. This is personal, and I don't hold anyone else to this. As I continue to learn from our Jewish sisters and brothers, I've adopted their way of writing His Name. I write His Name as they do. It's how I live out the command not to misuse His Name. Though I believe there's much more to this commandment than simply putting a "-" in His Name or not using His Name in sacrilegious or profane ways, I do try to bring glory to His Name by the way I write It. In the way that many believe you should bow your head when you pray, while others believe you should bow entirely, or look up to heaven with your hands raised, these are personal ways of expressing humility and honor to G-D. None of these are "required" or the only correct way, but they are unique, personal approaches to showing reverence. In this way I have chosen to honor the name of G-D by adding the dash, as a reminder to myself first and foremost, of how sacred His Name is. 

I also do not speak the Name Itself, as many do. Most Jews do not - even non-religious ones - because to do so could profane It. In fact, we learn from the Talmud (5th and 6th centuries AD) that when Jesus was alive, only the High Priest said G-D's sacred Name from Exodus 3:14, and he only did so once a year - on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). It is within that tradition that I find myself reflecting often. I appreciate the intentional use (and lack thereof) of G-D's Name, and I have adopted that for my own use. 

Those are some reasons why I write "G-D" or "L-RD" the way I do. It's a personal way that I revere and respect G-D's Name. I subject myself to His authority, not the other way around. As G-D, He deserves our respect and reverence, and on a much more personal note, it's a way that I show how much I love Him.