Soul Qualities Part 3
March 24, 2026
Soul Qualities Part 3
In moments of shock, whether from sudden danger, unexpected beauty, or life-altering news, many of us instinctively cry out, “Oh my God.”
Some consider the cry “Oh my God!” as a careless habit or even a misuse of God’s name. Yet this spontaneous utterance appears across cultures and languages and is recorded in more than eighty of them. Its universality invites a deeper look.
When we break the phrase down, it does three simple but profound things: it marks surprise at something significant, it claims God as personal— “my” God—and it invokes the Divine in the immediacy of the present moment. These words often arise without effort or planning. When shaken, stunned, or overwhelmed, the soul speaks the feelings in the body. This happened before the mind is even in gear.
Many argue that “Oh my God” is merely an imbedded idiom in everyday language and spoken without spiritual intent by believers and non-believers alike. But I believe it emerges from a deeper place. It is not just linguistic habit… part of the vernacular, it is an expression that bypasses conscious thought and rises from our depths. If it comes from our depths, it is a part of our truest nature.
We say it in fear and danger, but also in awe, love, beauty, truth, and immense joy. Yes, it lives in our language, but only because it first lived in our souls. Countless phrases exist in our vernacular that we never use. This one persists because it answers something essential.
“O-M-G” is a diluted version of the full expression. As an acronym, O-M-G is used for lesser surprises, while “Oh my God” tends to surface when the moment is truly overwhelming. Faced with a disaster, an unspeakable loss, or even a moment of profound grace, we rarely reduce our heartfelt response to the shorthand of O-M-G.
Why does a phrase invoking God arise so naturally at the edges of human experience? Because at our core, every one of us is connected to the Divine … whether or not we consciously acknowledge it. When life calls us to our depths, our souls respond by calling upon the primary, sacred connection.
Spiritual practice: What is your interpretation of Jeremiah 33:3? “Call upon my name and I will answer you, and I will show you great and mighty things you have never known.”
Self-inquiry: In what moments of your life do you find yourself saying, “Oh my God”? What does it say from your depths.
Prayer:
May I forever know my Source. May I always recognize the sacred voice that rises in moments of awe, fear, and wonder. And may every cry from my depths remind me that I am never separate from You. “Out of the depths, I cry unto Thee oh God!” Amen
The last sentence of today’s prayer is from George Appleton’s “A Gathering Prayer.”
