What’s in a name? What a profound question. Our name is what we know ourselves by, what we are used to hearing from others when they call us. It is our sense of identity. Without a name we become but a faceless number, a nobody. So names are precious.
What is in a name? In truth all that we are is in our name, it is supposed to sum us up. “When I think of ________, I think of _________. ” Fill in your name and how you want to be known or remembered. For me, it would go like this (ideally), “When I think of Phil, I think of gentleness.” Now, there is also an idea of living into or living up to your name. It is very personal and can be deeply cultural.
For some of us, our given name can inspire us. Shel Silverstein was a poet and a humorist. He wrote a poem that became a Johnny Cas song,
“A boy named Sue”. The humor of this is that the distant and absent father names his son Sue because he knew he would not be around and needed his boy to grow up tough. It is a humorous approach to the question at hand, what is in a name?
A boy named Sue, and I guess a girl name Ralph if we are to be fair, is supposed to poke fun at how we are named, but with a serious undertone of becoming aware of our names and how they impact our lives. I have a name that derives from greek of phil hippos, lover of horses. Now as a good Texan I have ridden a horse or two. I have an abiding respect for these noble animals, but love them? Nope, give me a golden retriever every time!
So, what is in a name? How about Psalm 43, where it says “I have summoned you by name, you are mine”. Suddenly, when I see and hear that the Creator of all knows my name and calls me by it to let me know I belong to that Creator, that is awesome in the true sense of the word. It is also incredibly personal, God just doesn’t call me as one of the flock, God calls me by my name and then claims me.
What if we lived up to that name that the Creator calls us by? What if we behaved and thought from a viewpoint that says the creator of all knows me personally. So for a day (growing into a lifetime) let’s rejoice in this very personal God who knows us personally and calls us to Herself by name. If there is a sense of familiarity with this notion, hear these baptismal words, “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased”. That is the Father claiming the Son as his very own.
So, dear ones, start today by hearing the Sacred One of all call you by name, summoning you personally and remember that God is well pleased with you.
TMM