OK, I know you fully understand in what context to use the phrase: "Good-bye". It is used to mark the separation of two or more people. The words could be spoken with love, hate, or even sarcasm. Some people put extra baggage on that specific phrase as to them it has a note of finality to it.
Do you, however, know the literal meaning of the phrase? What the origin of the phrase is?
If you are familiar with the Latin based languages of French or Spanish you have a leg up on a significant portion of the people out there.
In French, one of the ways to say good-bye is "Adieu". What is that literal meaning? "To God".
Similarly how could you say it in Spanish? "Adios". Literal meaning: "To God". If you are a fan of old Westerns (TV and movie) a commonly heard phrase was "Via con Dios", or "Go with God".
English is a weird language whose origin comes from early French with the Norman Conquest in 1066, but it also has many of its roots in Anglo-Saxon, which is a Germanic style language. English steals, er borrows words from many other languages: khaki, tsunami, cocoa to name just a few.
Well in English the phrase is an old English contraction of "God be with ye". You are wishing someone well on their journey. You want them to be safe and to have the God of their understanding with them in their travels.
There is no real finality to the phrase "God be with you". God is always with us, the phrase merely reminds us of this fact. We need to be reminded.
So the next time you say good-bye to someone, say it with meaning, say it with the hope that they are aware of God’s presence in their lives, and that they will always be loved.
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