What's In a Name?

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Guest Author: Gary Kimmel

“But if you call me Anne, please call me Anne spelled with an E.” (Anne Shirley to Marilla Cuthbert shortly after their first meeting.)— L. M. Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables.

I recently listened to a homily, in part based on Luke 16:19-31, in which Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. Lazarus is at the rich man’s gate, but the rich man has no interaction with him. This passage may be filled with homily topics, but what struck me most was when the homilist said, “And here’s the twist: in the story Jesus tells, only the poor man has a name. Lazarus. The rich man goes unnamed.” That gave me pause. 

Why do we give so much importance to names? A rose by any other name may smell just as sweet, but when it comes to our name, it means so much more. It is our identity. Even when it is shortened to a nickname or initials, we do not lose our ownership of it. So, when someone calls me George or Greg, it is not me. So much for the rose, Shakespeare.

One thing we can take from this and the homily on the passage in Luke is how important it can be to recognize another by their name. It is wonderful to smile at someone we pass on the street, but if that smile includes “Hello, Sarah,” it brings us closer to Sarah. 

I was asked recently by someone how to become more involved with marginalized communities. My advice was to find a way to enter one of those communities through the outreach activities of a church, non-profit, or service organization and to get to know the people personally. I should have added, learn their name, and let them learn yours.

The rich man had so much, but he failed to grasp the importance of getting closer to the world around him by recognizing Lazarus, asking his name, and then responding with his own. Too often, we become so focused on our own lives that we forget the uniqueness of every individual we encounter. A uniqueness that is personalized by a name.

Are you brave enough to smile at someone you don’t know and say, “My name is …., what’s yours?”

Gary Kimmel

January 1 is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, eight days after Christmas, the celebration of Jesus’ birth. This would be the day Jesus went to the Temple to be named.

In this New Year, practice saying and repeating people’s names you meet in your ministry.

Joanna joannaseibert.com

Buechner, Lewis: Telling Secrets

Buechner, Lewis: Telling Secrets

“I have come to believe that, by and large, the human family all has the same secrets, which are both very telling and very important to tell. They are telling in the sense that they tell what is perhaps the central paradox of our condition—that what we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else.”—Frederick Buechner in Telling Secrets.

In Telling Secrets, Buechner reminds us that we are often like the dwarves in the stable in The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. We do not see the good or realize the beauty around us, but live trapped by our dark secrets. We are as sick as our secrets and can only get well by airing these secrets, if only in our own hearts.

Like the dwarves, we live huddled together in what we think is a cramped, pitch-black, dark stable with little room to breathe. In reality, we are amidst an endless green meadow where the sun shines, and the sky is blue. Aslan himself (God) stands there, offering freedom, but the dwarves cannot see him; they only see each other.

 We are our secrets, and sharing them with a trusted spiritual friend has much to do with the mystery of staying connected to the God within us and honoring our humanness.

One year, our former rector, Danny Schieffler, sent me this quote from John Dutton of the television series “Yellowstone.” “Secrets are like callouses on the heart. If you have enough of them, pretty soon, you can’t feel anything.”

What secrets are we carrying into the new year that will keep us in the dark and prevent us from feeling our connection to God, our neighbor, and our true selves?  

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Christmas Pageants

Christmas Pageants

“God sees you, not unlike when we see a child in a Christmas play. No matter how well the child acts, whether they remember their lines, pick up cues, or drop the props, we’re full of delight, compassion, encouragement, and gratitude for how well they do. We are all children of God. And God adores us.”—Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of Saint John the Evangelist

I love Christmas pageants. I love seeing the tiny faces behind bathrobes and halos, blue scarves, crowns, and towels as they carry jeweled gifts, sheep and other stuffed animals, stars, shepherd’s crooks from canes, and drums, flowers, tambourines, magic wands, and, of course, a new baby. They have marvelous lines, “Glory to God, Do not fear, Nothing is impossible with God, Yes, Come and See, No room in the inn, For unto you, Christ is born, All is calm, We saw his star, Peace on Earth.”

Frantic directors have no idea what will happen. Nervous parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends conceal illegal flash cameras at most events to capture each starring role in the darkness. Soloists are abundant. Some of the best male singers know their voices are changing and could crack at any moment. The tiniest angels usually steal the production from the silent baby who never cries.  

 Remember Brother Almquist’s message and watch a video of a Christmas pageant from a previous year during the pandemic again, when we could not be at church in person. https://www.facebook.com/stmarkslr/videos/3823187574379067

 It is easy to see and know that God loves every one of these precious children, honoring God in this spectacle about love. God especially loves every member of this Christmas cast. God sees all of us as participants in this messy Christmas pageant that we live in daily, and God dearly loves each of us, just as God loves these children, no matter how well we remember our lines, sing our solos, or keep from knocking down the scenery. 

Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/