“Deliberately Diverse” represents the individual thoughts and opinions of a group of Taylor friends who almost never completely agree about anything but are gratified by the opportunity to stimulate deliberately diverse discussions in our beloved community.
Today’s column represents the thoughts and opinions of Judith Ellen Pyeatt Grissom, NOT the Taylor Press.
In some Christian traditions, celebrating the Feast of the Holy Name in January honors the naming of Jesus, as we reflect on various appearances and prophesies heralding his name. “Mary treasured the words, and pondered them in her heart.” After eight days, it was time to circumcise the child, and he was called “Jesus.”
Think about how a name evolves over time, in much the same way that the name “Jesus” evolved from language to language, yet always some form of God saves, rescues, delivers: Savior.
What is your own name, and how did you come by it? Have you experienced the depths of thought given to the naming of a coming child: the wish to convey love, acceptance, heritage, and welcome?
Psychologists tell us that names have a tremendous impact on the life of the child.
Or, it might mean a nickname given by a friend who notices some quality in you and renames you, possibly following you for your lifetime. My own mother, whose beautiful given name was “Vida”, meaning “Life”, was later nicknamed “Tiny”, which might have befitted her diminutive stature, but certainly not her personality! “Tiny” followed her into adulthood, but my friends called her “The Little General!” While Shakespeare suggested “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”; that the names of things do not affect what they really are, psychologists have found, as did Juliet, that this is not true.
“Tiny” was not meant to hurt my mother, yet there are nicknames meant to purposefully hurt and belittle, and become a way of bullying. “Chunk”, “Zero”, “Loser”, are all too common examples, and unfortunately there are many names carrying life-long, even life-ending effects: harsh names meant to label, ostracize, or negatively characterize beliefs they disagree with.
The song, “A Boy Named Sue” tells the tale of a man who sought to kill his father for the hurt and trouble of his name.
In fact, the real “boy named Sue” was likely Sue K. Hicks, a young lawyer in Tennessee who agreed to be the prosecutor in a famous case of the 1920’s regarding “evolution.” Sue had been named for his mother, who died after giving birth to him. In a humorous and ironic twist to this story, Sue dated a Taylor local’s mother, his distant cousin, who was also named “Sue Hicks”!
It was hard to find a girl to date who wasn’t your cousin back then in Rocky Top!
The “Boy Named Sue” ends with this: Well, I got all choked up and I threw down my gun I called him my pa, and he called me his son and I came away with a different point of view.
As we enter a New Year, I invite you to consider how you “name” those around you, remembering our job is to plant and water the creations which God has made, and Jesus has saved, and pray that we all reflect on the different point of view.
