Not Wanted

My heart sank as I listened one afternoon this week to an NPR report about girls in a district of India who were given Hindi names meaning “unwanted.” How sad to spend your childhood years being called a name which tells everyone, “Because I’m a girl, I’m not acceptable. My family let me live, but they did not want me.” Today, however, two hundred eight-five of those girls, in a special re-naming ceremony, chose new names for themselves. They chose the names of stars in the Hindi film industry or goddesses or traditional names with happy meanings like prosperous, beautiful, and good.

That reminds me of Scripture in the Bible which describes the land of Israel. “You'll get a brand-new name straight from the mouth of God. You'll be a stunning crown in the palm of God's hand, a jeweled gold cup held high in the hand of your God. No more will anyone call you Rejected, and your country will no more be called Ruined. You'll be called Hephzibah (My Delight), and your land Beulah (Married), because God delights in you and your land will be like a wedding celebration. (Isaiah 62:2-4) Names described the deplorable condition of the land and the people, but as they turned back to God, He gave them new names which honored them.

Present-day individuals, too, are tagged with undesirable names. Have you ever heard of someone named “Nerd” or “Wimp” or “Dumbo” or “Loser”? We may even name ourselves: “Victim,” “Failure,” or “Stupid.” Those are unhappy appellations to live with, and before long one begins to believe that they must be true. God has a different way of naming; we are wanted by Him, even chosen to be His beloved. Take the new name He offers!

Mary/Martha

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson.  Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

The Real World

I ran across a book the other day which argued for the possibility that our existence here is an illusion. It may indeed be real, but on the other hand, why couldn’t it be someone’s dream? Maybe it’s merely a computerized parallel world; that was the premise of the TV program “The Matrix” wherein the reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality created by sentient machines. I even was once acquainted with a person who wondered aloud if we might, at the end of all things, find that our life and the world as we know it are merely our own or someone else’s imagination.

I don’t accept this view, but even it were true, I would go on with my life as it is. I have found the way to live! God is my source, my cause, and my loving friend . Why would I trouble myself to wonder whether there could be any other explanation?

I shared my musings with a friend, and she said, “The unseen world is becoming more real to me than the world around me.” Exactly.

MaryMartha

Art from http://ww.sxc.hu/