A No Name

A name is defined by "a word or a set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to." In short, a name is who we are as people, and what everything else is around us. It is a universal labeling to distinguish things from one another. But what happens if you don't have one?

Well everything has a name, so it is impossible to go without one for long. However, rarely there comes a time when something has so many names that you can't decide which one to give it. Like that awkward moment when you meet with an old acquaintance at so-and-so's Halloween party of 2021 and you can't seem to find their name. A million names race through your head to label them, meanwhile they seem to know your name first try. I still wonder how that is even possible. 

To quote the obvious literary reference here, in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet." To My Knowledge, Juliet is saying that even if Romeo were not his name, she would still love his identity nonetheless. Now, I don't care about how good Romeo smells, but at least he has his name on a famous play. Everyone has a label and everyone has a title to be called by, right?

Sometimes I feel like A No Name. My name is Mary Whitney, but my name is also Mary Mac Whitney. I never know what to choose. Legally, I suppose just Mary will do. But when my parents looked at their only daughter and last child, they decided on the "Mac" to be added as sort of a mandatory nickname. I went by Mary Mac all through my childhood and never looked back, but in Junior High, teachers started calling me Mary and for some reason I was too embarrassed to correct them. Suddenly, I found myself even introducing myself as Mary as to avoid the "What did you say? Mary May? Mary Mick?" Even my friends knew me as Mary and I felt like I had lost my identity as Mary Mac forever. I distinctly remember the summer before High School, contemplating on what my name was supposed to be. After all, wasn't that supposed to be something Mom and Dad predetermined for me? I never made that choice, because the night of freshman orientation, I realized that I already knew 99% of my classmates. So when the first day rolled around, I just introduced myself as Mary to new faces and never looked back. I wouldn't correct anyone who called me either name, and tried my best to explain to those who were confused. I still go by both to this day, most of my peers calling me Mary.

My point is, that names have such a depth in society that I struggle daily trying to figure out who the heck I even am. I know who I am to some degree. I hold the names of daughter, sister, friend, etc. But most importantly I hold the name of "Covenant Child". This means that I am God's child before anyone else's. I may not know my true name on Earth, but He will call me by name in heaven. Whatever you may believe about religion and whatnot, I guarantee that you've thought at some point of a bigger force that knows you better than you may know yourself. I think that's a comforting thought. 

So I ask you this week, what defines you as a person? Are you just a name or a number? Are you kind, or are you arrogant? Are you trustworthy or a liar? Who are you under the eyes of God? Who are you under the eyes of Earth?

Who are you under the eyes that look back at you in the mirror?