Have you ever encountered a truly meek and innocent spirit in life? I have. Once you encounter one, you will be forever changed. Now this particular spirit is not without her own personal foibles in life, however, she has learned and continues to learn how to move forward in the spirit of Truth, with Grace. This particular spirit I refer to is my sister.
One warm summer afternoon, Deb and I were engaged in a deep and thought provoking cell phone dialogue concerning God and His many attributes. During the conversation’s pivotal moment of “goose bump” spiritual inspiration (you know, the earth stopping moment that captivates and mesmerizes your mind, momentarily ceasing spontaneous respiratory action), Deb passionately squealed:
“Oh Dar, God has a name. He has a name, Dar! His name is Yahoo! His name is Yahoo! Dar”!
In one brief moment the breathless, captivating and awestruck musings of a mysteriously majestic creator turned suddenly into transient silence.
“I think you mean ‘Yahweh’, Deb?”
I responded with as much tip-toed sensitivity as I could muster in this most hilarious juncture. Recognizing her innocent and untainted error, Deb burst into howling laughter, freeing the giggling captive within me too. We laughed until both of us were literally in tears.
If you knew me, you would know that this archived moment did not cease after we said our good bye's. The cranks and wheels began turning in my head as I continued to reflect on the name Yahweh and its very nature. This led to a curiosity of the word "Yahoo" and so I grabbed the laptop and commenced an internet search.
The term Yahoo was used in Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels to describe primitive creatures grossly absorbed with "pretty stones" they unearth by digging in mud. Yahoo, from this perspective, seemingly represents the engrossed materialism and thoughtless elitism that Swift encountered in Britain. The term "yahoo" has been interpreted to mean "a crude, brutish or obscenely coarse person".
By now, Deb is probably in a physical state of profuse diaphoresis (sweating bullets) as she is reading this--and I am smiling. If I were to guess, I can only imagine Deb’s kind and innocent demeanor anxiously making apology to God for her unintended error in names. However, I see an interesting analogy here.
Yahweh has often been interpreted to mean
“Independent and self-existent God”.
This independent and self-existing God has busied himself in his passion with His creatures, the Yahoo’s. The Bible records for us the beginnings of humankind. In its description we read that when fashioned from the mud of the earth, God uncovered the jewels of his finest creation, MAN. From the man, God brought forth woman. All was perfect. And then, the Great Deception. Ever since that dark moment of deceit we Yahoo’s have preoccupied ourselves in the Land of Mud and Dust. On an endless journey in pursuit of “More”, we have dug ourselves into a pit of despair. Never completely satisfied, we gorge our broken creature on the sugary fats of the earth. Bloating and gloating, we have morphed into toxic whoremongers, stuffing our insatiable appetites with the deceiver’s buffet of deception and lies. Taking rather than giving has become our mantra. We delight in the greedy prosperity of the proud. We scorn the humble.
We think that God has hidden his face from us and no longer looks upon us. But we cannot be further from the truth, for you see, Yahweh has another name. His name is “El Roi”, meaning, “The God who Sees”. He sees our self-inflicted despair. He sees our self-righteous attempts at self-restoration. He sees and He loves us just as we are. Our feeble attempts to attain grace inevitably fail, while Yahweh’s’ Grace inevitably prevails. When we finally realize that we cannot work hard enough or long enough to earn His Grace, we crumble onto our knees, exhausted, trembling and fragile. It is then that His Grace is poured freely upon us, for you see, Yahweh loves His Yahoo’s. Yahweh loves His Yahoo’s with an everlasting love that we cannot and most likely will never be able to fathom.
Deb and I still laugh as we occasionally recall those priceless seconds that have turned into a lifetime of jovial memories. And that brief excitable mishap has reminded me, each time I turn on the computer to check my e-mail, that God indeed has a name.
His name is Yahweh!
Yahweh sees and loves His Yahoo’s!
Yahoo!!!!!
(sorry, Google)
A special thanks to Wikipedia for the insight on the term "Yahoo" and its use in Jonathan Swift's novel.
