Our Father in Heaven, hallowed by thy name
-the Bible
I lay prostrate with the Bible open before me. I was not praying; I was thinking. What does this mean? I had only scratched the surface and I am scratching my head. How do I ‘Hallow’ God’s name? Is ‘Hallowing’ completely God’s responsibility? Questions restlessly pry into my brains to be answered. What more can I do to a name that is indomitably holy? Is not God “...of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong?” (Hab. 1:13). I examine my lustful life and hopelessly incriminate myself. God’s name bears the whole burthen of His attributes in the fullness of His Holiness- a name that has to be discriminated against every name on earth. Then suddenly a fact dawns on me: as if the weight of God’s Glory was shining on me. I can’t add to his Holiness; a touch of mine will only pollute His name here on this earth. I can only give in, surrendering my will before him and accept defeat before His holiness; such a defeat allows me to ‘Hallow ‘ His name; To tell Him that I would be His vassal and will be known by Him- is to hallow his name. I need not add, but rather if I would be willing to lose, then I would hallow His name.
On further thinking, I realized that the incarnation is the greatest show of his ‘Hallow’-ness. - There is no greater event where His name was revealed and ‘Hallowed’. A distinguished fact that impresses on me for application. What if I could ‘Incarnate’ and there by ‘Hallow’ His name? Where would I get such an opportunity? If I could ‘incarnate’, where should I?
It was Friday morning, a few minutes more and we will be sitting for our weekly thanksgiving meeting. A sparkling face had appeared at the door. Her smile flashed a fullness of herself. Drooping eyes, which stared up just under the coy lashes, with her brows strained to her forehead. Her curls, parted as an uneven couple embellished tiny flowers smirched over her well shaped head. She had walked long enough to gather those tiny flowers showered on her by the benevolent trees. They provided shade, as she skipped along the roads. Her face had fair patches like spilled milk. But her cuteness overpowered every blemish on her looks. She wore her usual dark blouse and red jeggins that looked pretty on her. She was adorable.
Ajeeda was a lovely girl who walks to school every day. She joined the school when her parents lived in the same slum. She had two elder brothers who were going to a regular school then. Her parents could not afford education for the little girl! Then, with the evacuation at Makdumpur slum, her parents had to shift away from the school. Ajeeda was determined to do her schooling. She convinced her parents not to stay so far- only far enough to reach school. Her parents then found space to put up their hamlet. Even then the school was further away. The nearest would be our office. So we decided to carry her from office every day. She usually comes to our office around mid noon, and then Vinay would take her to school on his bike. . But today she’s early! She came at 9.30 am! She said she did not go for work today. She had the liberty to come early enough.
I could not stop myself from grabbing her little hands. Dragging those shy feet away from the door, I placed her in front of me. Her smile brightened.
“I want to check your book” I said.
“Here it is, sir!”
She was rather proud to show her work. Ajeeda is a ‘General Class” student. These kids are still in their initial stage of studies. Her book wasn’t neat. The dust and dirt from the school floors marked her book. The pencil marks were smeared all through the pages, roughened up by the dust. This is a typical book of our kids.
I closed the book without any comment. I had a lump of regret on my throat. I am guiltier than anyone else. But now I can’t speak about that. I held her closer, readying her for a chit chat. I asked her in casual way: “What do you like the most?”
She had her answer ready. There was no thinking; there was no hesitation.
“I like you people.”
The answer stunned me. My question did not really mean that, but she gave the right answer. I could only stop my tears with a fake smile.
Ajeeda sat with us at the thanksgiving meeting that day. All the while I thanked God that we could be ‘incarnates’. We are the best thing that has happened to her!
“...Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.”
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