Chris McDonnell, UK
chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk

Previous articles by Chris   Comments welcome here

March 8, 2017   We each have a name   

"I recognise you, I am sure we have met but for the life of me I cannot remember your name."  

 How many times that has happened to all of us, and with age the frequency is even greater.

 The identity that comes with our name is important. It is something we have grown up with, a familiar sound and an accustomed letter shape. Often in a room if someone else is referred to by the name we share, we also pause an instant and react 'is it me they are talking to?'

 In school, I found a quick and useful way of talking with a pupil whose name I had forgotten. A girl got called ‘Agatha’ and a boy 'George'. In annoyance they quickly gave me their real name and all was fine. I tried it one last time, just a few days before retirement, when I met with a very young boy just outside my room. "Hello George, how are you?" to which he replied without hesitation "My name ain’t George, silly!" and walked off, leaving me ruefully smiling at his common sense.

 The prophet Isaiah gave us the memorable words "O Israel , Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine."

 Totalitarian states reduce the identity of political prisoners by giving numbers, no longer referring to them by their personal names but by an abstract sequence of digits. Taking away a name reduces in some fundamental manner our identity.

 At our Baptism, we are given our name, the gift of our parents. Very often one of the names we give to a young child is a family name that has come down through the generations. One of my friends is called 'Helen'. So is her daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter! It gets interesting when they are all together.

 The identity of name was associated with entry to a religious order, when the monk or nun, sister or brother received a new name, a sign of leaving behind their previous self as they embarked on a newly dedicated journey. That practice has largely ceased since the Council and many religious have reverted to using their Baptismal names. The identity of the Bishop of Rome is marked by the name he takes when elected by the Conclave. Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio took the name of Francis, a name he has continually represented to the world by his words and deeds.

 In towns and villages across this country are placed War Memorials, a Cross or stone plaque inscribed with names of local men and women who lost their lives in conflict. It is a simple list that marks who they were, a reminder of their years in our midst.  At the National Arboretum in Staffordshire, many thousands of names cover the stone walls of the National War memorial, list upon list upon list, a silent reminder from the 20^th Century years.  

 Names and titles have been used over many years to denote status and power.  The insistence on the correct title enforced control. 'Treat me with the respect I deserve'. Often of course their actions and way of life did not deserve respect so they hid behind their title.

 Arriving as the Headteacher of a new school after local reorganisation, I was asked by a member of staff "What do we call you?"  My answer was simple. "I have a first name, so do you. That’s what we call each other". And that is what we did till the day I retired. What they called me when I wasn't there, I never knew. But that was no problem. Our relationships rubbed along over the years, using the informality of names that identified us from our childhood.

 In the Book of Exodus we read of Moses wondering what to tell the people regarding the identity of God.

 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel , ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

 Who we are, our identity, our name, we carry from birth through life till the time of our death. We are known and remembered. ’I have called you by your name, you are mine’

 END

 ----------------------------------------