Hallowed be Thy Name

When I was growing up in the dark ages (I was actually born on
this day), we recited the Lord’s Prayer each morning in school.

You learned it at an early age. This of course was the prayer of choice each night when we went to bed. In those days, little attention was paid to the meaning of all of the words. It was recited without error each time I said it. Hallowed was pronounced hallo-wed.
We lived in a household that did not swear. The words “hell” and “damn” weren’t even used. To swear meant to “take the Lord’s Name in vain.” So we didn’t do it. There was also the fact that we had been taught that a person who swears has a limited vocabulary.

When I was about 11 or 12, I used to pass on a daily basis a house where a boy would shout obscenities of all sorts. This of course was very annoying. One day, I decided that the next time that he shouted at me that I would curse him out.

So on the following day, I prepared myself for this encounter. I was really going to let him have it. As I approached the house, I saw that he was not there. I breathed a sigh of relief. He never accosted me again.

To this day, I am unable to swear. It is not a part of me. I have often been teased about it. Nonetheless, my parents’ teaching that those words would offend God has stuck with me all of my life.

When I look back on that incident when I was 12, I often wonder. Was it my resolve to curse him out that kept him in? Could he have sensed my outrage? I don’t think so. I believe God knew my outrage and interceded to keep me from doing wrong. His name is to be HALLOWED.

— Lois M. Wair