Name - Who am I? Based off of Nooma Name

Who am I?

Girl. Daughter. Lover of God. LOVED by God. Social Advocate. Intern. Complex. Emotional. Learner. Ambitious. Anxious. In between. Lost. Lonely. Bold. Scared. Timid. Caring. Student. Dependable. Dependent. Loving. WORTHY. Insecure. Liberal. Innovative. Intelligent. Happy. Mixed-Up. Fearful. Helpless. Maternal. Self-aware. Sarcastic. Wounded. Thoughtful. Spiritual. Uncertain.
These are just a few of the words to describe who I am. Imcomplete, yes, but they give some idea of the shape of my soul, my emotions, my being. But notice that most of those words, most of the things that define me are not things that people can tell just by looking at me.


Name tags are deceptive, aren’t they. A cheap copout at best.. We're pretending to know people whom we really don't know. Our name is something unique to us and cannot be severed from our personal stories. Our first name holds the story of our life - with its trials, ambitions, and wonderful moments. Our sir name tells an even longer story of our heritage and family. Our nicknames tell of those private and sometimes embarrassing, but always intimate moments. But to wear a name tag skips right over all of that. It allows us to approach someone on a surface level without any intention to get to know them, to hear their story. I think we have enough of that type of shallowness in our society.

For example: When I was at the installation ceremony for a friend of the family who was becoming a DS, we all had to wear name tags. After a while of brooding over the hated tag, I forgot about it. Until it came to the end of the service for communion and a time of meet and greet. At the alter rail the pastor serving the elements leaned over and addressed me by name. I freaked out and couldn't figure out how this person knew me, until I remembered the tag. The same things happened at the meet and greet, where instead of people asking my name and trying to get to know me, they just looked at my name tag and glossed right over any attempt for connection.

We live in a society where we desire everything to be easy, including getting to know people. But there is a process, that begins with asking people their name and inches forward into more intimate areas. It's a long process. There is a complete difference in my mind between recognizing someone's name and knowing their name. When I know someone's name, I know something meaningful, true, and deep about them. Honestly, even with my closest friends, I'm still getting to know them, and there are things that I learn about my family that are new just about every day. Yet, we try to circumvent this process in the church with a name tag. Is there any hope for intimacy if we aren't willing to take the time, even to introduce ourselves and ask someone their name?

And maybe the problem isn’t just that we want to have a shallow feeling of connection with others. Maybe the problem is much deeper and we don’t really want to take time to know ourselves. It’s hard work. It’s going to involve sifting through the past and remembering both the good and the bad. And it means doing the even harder work of separating the fiction of how other people have defined you from the truth of what God sees when he looks at you. I challenge you to take time to actually ask God what he likes about you, what he sees when he looks at you. Because, brothers and sisters, in the age we live in, he may be the only person who really knows who we are, what our name is, since we don’t even know ourselves.

"If you're name isn't known then its a very lonely feeling." - Madeleine L'Engle
- Michelle