Named!

            Our community enjoys an ecumenical "Lenten Café" where each week a gathering come together for an interactive and guided discussion on a theme. With coffee, obviously.

            Our theme this year is the Great I AM - how God first self-identifies in Exodus 3. In looking at that chapter, one of the things we noted was that God does not give a name, but a verb - I *AM*. (In some translations, this comes out as I will be - God is a present and future reality to be known by all of God's people).

            We were able to journey through a number of discussions on the passage. The focus was, not surprisingly, the concept of names. Our names are gifted to us at birth, reiterated at our baptism, they are foundational to our identity.

            Our names can carry with them the weight of history or family traditions, they have meanings that we assume through our life and ministry, they convey and confer a lot about us. It is important that we get names right, and that we respect the names of others.

            When we change our names - some traditions add a name at confirmation, some people change surnames at marriage, some are given nicknames, some have monikers added for work or safety purposes - it affects us. For names are not merely a word - a noun or even a verb - they are an extension of our very selves. How we identify ourselves in any situation indicates how formal or relaxed we wish to be at that time.

            Yet in God, nothing changes. God knows our many names, as we know God - even with the humanly unknown and unknowable name of God. God has given us the name of permanence - I AM that I AM - for now and for all time. How do we present ourselves to God?