Recently, someone posted on Facebook an iconic picture of Jesus in which the punch line was a play on the word, Yahweh. Apparently, the person who shared the post on Facebook took a bit of flak for it and posted a question about what words we can or should use to describe God.

I’ve often struggled with this. How do I love Love, the source of all our love? What words do I use to describe The Word, the source of all our words? My love is too small, too incomplete. My words are too feeble. The best I can do is use metaphors, analogies. I refer to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I speak of God as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, but it is not enough.

So, I choose simple words that capture very small but important aspects of God. I speak about God as Lord, Adonai, the ruler of all things, as I seek to embrace God’s lordship over my own life. I speak of God as daddy, Abba, as I seek to embrace the loving God’s loving kindness to me, even when I feel a lack of such loving kindness from my earthly father. I seek to honor those who will not write out God’s name, instead writing G_d, or saying Adonai instead of trying to pronounce the tetragrammaton. At the same time, I try to find common language with those who write OMFG in response to just about everything.

Underneath all of this, is an understanding that God is greater than all of this and that God is one.

Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.