I realized something on the way to work this morning. I realized, having grown up in the south, that a phrase I'd heard my grandmother and countless others say millions of times actually means something besides "wow, I'm astonished." And the phrase is, you guessed it, "Lord have mercy!"
Who would have thought that such a plea as "Lord have mercy!" would become a figure of speech used by millions of people who don't actually mean it when they say it. Now, there are those who say it at appropriate times and probably do mean it, but for the most part you just hear it and don't really think about what it actually means.
"Lord, have mercy on us." What a beautiful plea to our God for mercy we don't usually deserve. We deserve His wrath quite often, but when He graces us with mercy we are utterly thankful. Well, atleast we should be. Amen!
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2 comments:
What about "God damn it?"
Do we really wish for God to damn whatever just inconvenienced us?
"God, please cast my car door into eternal damnation with the works-- hellfire, brimstone, you know, all that jazz, for it has banged me on the ass for the last time."
Another question... Obviously the above example would be taking the Lord's name in vain, because, nine times out of ten, the person making the request is merely expressing frustration and does not actually mean that they want the Lord to damn something. If, most of the time, a person saying "Lord have mercy!" is really only expressing surprise, and not necessarily meaking a plea for the Lord's mercy, are they not also taking the Lord's name in vain? Does the more pleasant nature of the exclamation exempt it from being in vain, or is God playing semantics?
What about "God bless you" after a sneeze? Most people don't even make a distinction between the words; it just comes out all at once, "Guhblesyu." Everyone says God bless you, but out of politeness, not out of faith. What's up with that?
Maybe I just dont understand what constitutes "in vain," but hey, I don't really understand religious faith to begin with, so please, don't take this as an assault on your beliefs. I'm not trying to antagonize anyone here. It's just an honest to-- well, let's leave that at "an honest" question about the system. I'm all at once curious, clueless, and ridiculously open minded about such things...
I won't pretend to be an expert in the realm of "taking the Lord's name in vein", but for myself, I really try not to include "Lord," "Christ," "God," or anything of the sort in any part of speech unless I know what I'm saying and am saying it on purpose.
Yes, "Lord Have Mercy!" can be taking the Lord's name in vein. So can a horde of other things people say including some you have mentioned. It comes down to a examination of conscience and of reason for saying what you said. Since I've become Catholic I think I now examine my speech much more closely. And since I was a little kid I've never used "G-D", I just haven't, I've always felt uncomfortable around it.
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