| Sunny Side Up Sept 21, 2005 �2005, Kathleen Gibson Living up to our names Arnold George Dorsey, one fine day, decided to change his name. Reginald Kenneth Dwight did too. Today we know both musicians by the names they chose as adults, not by the names their parents chose for them. But sometimes our names change long before adulthood - and without our permission. Shortened in childhood, perhaps. Usurped by a nickname. If you've ever tried to reclaim a lost name, you're familiar with the difficulty. My parents named me Kathleen. On school mornings my mother stood in our living room and rapped three times on the ceiling with the broom handle. If that failed to rouse me in my aqua, slope-roofed bedroom above, she called up the stairs. What she hollered always began �"Kathy�" And at bedtime, ringing across the emerald expanse of Rocky Point Park, an echo may still ring. My father's voice�"Ka-a-a-a-a-thy! Come ho-ome!" Kathy is all I remember being called in those years. When I became old enough to think about it, I regretted that. I liked the full version. But I was small, shy, and very aware that big people didn't take instructions from little people. I resigned myself to the probability that for the rest of my life, my real name would be used on official documents only, and finally carved on my tombstone. Kathy stuck until just before I turned thirty. But early in 1986 the Preacher and I packed up our children, pets, and whatever possessions we hadn't sold. From our home on Vancouver Island we leapfrogged across four provinces and landed in rural Ontario. Around Winnipeg it occurred to me that no one knew me in that place. I turned to him. "Honey," I said. "From now on, I want you to call me Kathleen" "Okay," he said. For someone who'd never been married to a Kathleen before, he caught on immediately. I don't think he's missed once. I've been called Kathleen ever since. When someone addresses me as Kathy these days, it never occurs to me to answer. That name is a strangers' now. I have become Kathleen. If ever I move back to B.C., I'm old and outspoken enough to tell the friends and family who may still call me otherwise, "My name is Kathleen. I prefer it, thanks." You may wonder why this matters so much. Here's why: the use of my full name has become symbolic to me. It helps me as I aim daily for what all Christians are called to - a life that reflects Jesus Christ. Kathleen means 'Pure'. Kathy means the same, but Kathleen is a concrete and frequent reminder to me that there are no shortcuts to a pure heart: Only a determined daily cultivation of my relationship with God results in the kind of living that allows others to see Christ in me. I fail frequently, but I'll never stop aiming. What does your name mean? Find out. Use it. Let it help you grow. Oh�those musician's names? Englebert Humperdink and Elton John. Respond Home |
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