Bye?

No, this is not my last post (Lord willing).

I’ve been thinking recently about the word “goodbye.”

You may have heard that this word comes from the phrase “God be with ye” (see Merriam-Webster). It was spoken as a blessing upon departure, and apparently became routine enough that a shorthand version was developed.

But in modern times we’ve shortened it even more: “goodbye” is perhaps more commonly spoken simply as “bye.”

That leaves me with a question: if our parting blessing to one another is now just “be with you,” what or who are we hoping will be with our departing companion? Is it health? Safety? Good fortune? Apparently it’s not God; we’ve taken Him out of it.

Likely, we didn’t do it with intentionality. I suspect the shortened phrase came about from convenience (or laziness). But in any case, we certainly aren’t showing great intentionality in wishing the blessing of God’s presence to go with the person we’re speaking to.

What are my hopes for those I interact with? What would I like to see happen in their lives? What blessings–or curses–do I send with them when we part ways?

Is it still “good” bye?