| Answer
from Jesus:
Although I spoke several
different languages, I did primarily speak Aramaic during my lifetime
in Galilee. When I cried out on the cross, I used the Aramaic name for
God that is most commonly translated into English as "Eloi."
You can find slight variations of the spelling, depending on the scholar,
but to me it simply isn't essential to discuss which spelling is more
correct than another.
I used many other names for God during my mission, and the most common
one was "Abba," which is a loving name for "father."
Part of my mission was to help people develop a new relationship to
God so they could overcome their fear of God and begin to see him as
a loving father figure. As with all other aspects of my mission, I did
not simply teach a theoretical idea but practiced what I preached and
lived my own teaching. Therefore, I often talked about God as my Father.
One of the unavoidable drawbacks in this material universe is that everything
is a two-edged sword. Whatever you do as a spiritual teacher, someone
will misunderstand it and take it to the extreme. My intent for calling
God Father was to help all people see that they could relate to God
as a loving Father who was always there for them. Instead, most Christians
have completely misunderstood my intention and have come up with the
idea that I was the only Son of God, and therefore I was the only one
who should call God Father. This is a regrettable development but one
that was easy to foresee and difficult to avoid.
Let me also take this opportunity to say that some people have a tendency
to become a bit too concerned about the name of God. On one hand this
is understandable, because many cultures, such as the Jews and many
Eastern people realize that a name carries power. Therefore they feel
that if they had the correct name for God, they would have greater access
to the power of God.
The reality of the situation is that because people are trapped in such
a low state of consciousness, God simply cannot run the risk of releasing
his true name to the people on this planet. That is why you will see
that no religion has the actual name of God. Some of the oldest spiritual
teachings on this planet are the Vedas, and they give the name of God
as Brahman. However this refers to the power of God and is not the actual
name of God, even in the original Sanskrit.
When Moses asked for God's name, he was given a name that is often translated
as “I am that I am.” However, the real translation should
be “I will be who I will be.” In other words, God did not
say “I am” and then give his name. God simply said “I
am, and that is all I am going to tell you about myself.” God
also said that at any given moment, he will be who he decides to be
at that moment. In other words, God reserves the right to change himself
regardless of human desires for an unchanging God.
As I say in several places on this website,
God is the creator and God never stops creating. Creation is self-transcendence.
Without him was not anything made that was made. God creates everything
out of itself, and therefore the only way God can create is to become
more than he already is. So God can create only by transcending himself,
and that is why God is ever-changing.
This does not mean that every aspect of God is constantly changing.
When God created this universe, he formulated certain laws and those
laws will not change for a very long time. Therefore, human beings can
count on having a stable platform for their spiritual evolution. Therefore,
there is no reason for fear concerning the fact that God is constantly
transcending himself.
If you want to truly know the reality of God, you need to let go of
your fears and your desire to put God in a little box where he can never
change. If you want to know God, you need to know God as a living god
who is constantly creating and transcending himself. In fact, you can
know God only if you are willing to constantly transcend yourself.
Therefore, do not be too attached to a particular name for God. Instead,
go within the innermost part of your being and seek to attain at direct
experience of the living Being of God.
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© 2003 by Kim Michaels |
