Morning Meditation

 

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you.”  Isaiah 43:1b-3, 4a

Did your parents ever tell you the story of how they chose your name?  Perhaps your name goes back generations, so you are connected to a great, great, great grandparent.  Perhaps your name comes from a special relationship with a family friend.  When we were selecting names for our children, both times we settled on the middle name first.  Both our children’s middle names have a connection to a family member, we are saying to our children, “There is an important connection here.”  We then had to find a first name that matched and could avoid as much middle school teasing as possible.  If the Jewish rabbi, Abraham Heschel, is correct that ‘words create worlds.’  Your name creates a world.  Maybe you have had moments in your life when you have felt like you had to live up to your name, especially if you shared a name with a relative you admired.  Or other times you wanted to change your name because you wanted to inhabit and embody the world that name brought to mind.

Names matter.  Your name matters.

Isaiah said to people centuries ago, that God called you by name.  In the Christian church we echo this foundational, faithful truth at baptism by pouring water on you while saying, speaking your name.  You are claimed and known by God; Isaiah proclaims.  You are already redeemed, restored, renewed, even when every fiber of our being objects; even when the evidence of the news wants to protest; God’s grace cannot help by hold and enfold us.  But we get pulled by the words that are creating other worlds.  We need to return time and time again to the truth of God’s love.  This is one of the reasons why Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopal churches have baptismal fonts at the doorway of the sanctuary.  You dip the tip of your fingers in to remember your baptism, to remind yourself that you are named and claimed by God.

Isaiah begins by reminding the people in Exile to not be afraid.  I realize telling people, “Do not be afraid,” doesn’t always help, because those words suggest what we should not do.  Yet, Isaiah gives us a faithful way to live without fear controlling the radio station of the soundtrack to our lives.  Here is the prayer practice: feet flat on the ground, settle into the chair where you are sitting, feel its support like God’s strength upholding you, breathe in to the count of four and exhale to the count of six or seven.  Repeat this until your shoulders finally release some of the tension that is sitting there.  Repeat until that knot in the stomach starts to loosen.  Then, repeat this mantra seven times, “(Your name), you are precious in God’s sight, God knows you fully, loves you unconditionally, and holds you eternally.  Do not be afraid”.  Seven times.  “Wes, you are precious in God’s sight, God knows you fully, loves you unconditionally, and holds you eternally.  Do not be afraid.”  

Return and repeat this practice as needed and necessary throughout today.

Prayer: Let these words sing to my heart and find fertile soil in my soul to grow. Amen.