Names are important. Sometimes we need to change our name to reflect what we believe to be a truer identity; sometimes people call us by a name that “sticks” to us. I had an Aunt Phyllis, but I didn’t know that was her name because we called her Aunt Billy. Her baby brother couldn’t say her name so, forever, she became Billy. When people are adopted, their names are often changed. Sometimes people change their names when they marry to show their changed relationship in the world (a modern reason).
In the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah, God adds the divine sound “ah” to their names to show that they belong to the Holy One. Simon’s name is changed to Peter. Saul’s name is changed to Paul when he ceases to be a persecutor and becomes, instead, a promoter of the Way of Jesus, a choice that eventually leads to his execution.
The names, the labels we give carry deep significance and power. Alexei Navalny, for example, died last week as a martyr, a word which means witness. He witnessed to the barbarity of political oppression and the cruelty of unchecked power, with his life and with his courageous spirit.
Names are important because they link us to family, to history, to our roots in the earth. Names have power.
What names determine your path, the way you see yourself, the way you see your faith?