“A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet…” One should thank Shakespeare for the penning of that phrase. It is true… the wild rose in the woods so fills the air, one cannot miss it. Its power is not in the name of it, but in the essence of its being; the sight, the smell, the subtle hum of the bees it draws in, and the medicine within the hip left on the bush long after the petals fall. I am attracted by its beauty, not its name. I stop and breath it in, not for the name, but for the peace and harmony I am immersed into as it spreads the love it has been allotted without reservation. Flowers in general are captivating to me, each one a delightful surprise, I meet them, and then I ask what they are called so that I may share the joy with another human.
Others, I think, feel this way about their dogs, or cats, or horses. They rarely are chosen for the name they have been given, but rather for their personality, demeanor, or appearance. There is much in the eyes of an animal to speak of its character, and they are best named after the knowing has begun. I’ve named a tomcat, Teeny, as a kitten (to go with its twin, Bop), He is definitely not little. The juxtaposition makes me giggle. Hindsight. Clever hindsight.
Whatever it is you have come to love, Whomever has stolen your heart… it was not the name that crushed your defences. Why so, do we expect this of the Maker of all these good beings, that life be in the name rather than the essence?
I was asked once, if it was possible that all roads lead to God. It was in the context of a discussion on world religions, and I was, regrettably, very naive in my definitive response. I thought it couldn’t possibly be so, for I had been taught that so many roads have a very bitter end, and was convinced that taking them would be the undoing of the pilgrim who walked them. Somewhere in my journey, the road has lost its power, and the movement towards the goal has revealed the desire and passion to both connect to something, and be found by someone. It is undeniable that humans search for that which was somewhere, lost, and we feel it is us, until we find it. The trouble is, we do not consult the map before we begin the journey, and we seek the route with the wrong eyes.
The map is within, and the eye has a single focus. Spirit. Union. Essence. Being. Connection. Our world has it so backwards. Our need to be part of something, less of an island, has us clamouring for the trappings of a label. A small group to identify with. We search for our “peeps,” our “tribe.” We feel small and insignificant without our ID, our boxes. In our search for belonging, we have forgotten the essence of our being. Significance is not as much in the knowing, as in the being known. But that too has been twisted. We have wrapped identity up in a name and tossed aside the depth of connected existence. Spirit. The very breath of God.
Interesting to me, in the biblical account of creation, God called creation into manifest reality without having a name for anything. He then created Man, in his image, and instructed him to give his creations a name. It strikes me that in this process One is imagined by the Maker, Called into being, Known or Revealed by character, and Named accordingly. History has revealed that any adulteration of this process produces disastrous effects. We, the created ones have reversed it to our own detriment, beginning with God. And in so doing, we have lost who are.
But he told us who he was! Arguably, yes. The trouble is that every religion could claim that. And not one got it right. Put down your label gun, Adam. I know you’re forming a rebuttal. If you were raised in Western Christianity, you are presently mentally flipping through the old testament and going through the Nature and Character of God “revealed” to Israel, and forming a tidy list. And then Jesus enters the Ledger, and the books no longer balance. He is, as it were, depending on how concrete your certitude, either an eraser, or a bottle of whiteout, liberally bandied about until all that remains is… Love. Shock. Panic. Terror. Only Love is left? God revealed in Christ Jesus, Jesus revealed Christ in us. Union at the outset. Oneness, Connection, Immaculate Conception. All in a very all-ish sort of way. Spirit born Humanity sourced in God himself. Inseparable.
So why then, the insipid need for the label maker? The constant classifying of things? The us and them? We have simply inverted the process. First we name a thing, then we define its characteristics, then we form a knowledge box to flesh out the possibility of containment, allow it to coexist with us, and imagine that it is the ordained plan according to the mind of God. Who sadly, is no longer allowed omnipotence, omnipresence, or even, unlimited state of being. We have grossly misused our label maker. What was meant as a tool of understanding the infinite mind of Christ… essentially the ability to accurately describe the identity of an individual being within the context of the Great Oneness, has instead been used to squash, squelch and box our World and its inhabitants into an unhealthy, and somewhat pregnant pause. Every now and again, her labour gets ugly, and reflects our tenuous state of consciousness, and man looks to whatever being it has defined as sovereign for rescue. In our clumsy attempt to define such a state, we often call it revival.
But I wonder, does the One who is Love agree? If in His mind we were imagined, If with his words we were called into being, If in His heart we were first known, before we had a name, before we were manifest in a body, visible as individuals to one another… if this is our origin, is what we call revival bringing him pleasure? Why then, are there factions among us? Why is this group, or that one called to repentance, and the subsequent human experience seemingly a movement from one camp to another instead of a general move to unity?
A question was posed concerning the Christian idea of an encounter with Christ, because so much emphasis is placed on the Name(s) for God in this tradition. The core of the query was this: could one actually have a genuine encounter with Christ without ever using his name? It’s one of the core values of the church, upholding the Sacred Name, at which every knee shall bow and tongue confess. We have used it almost as a threat to the ungodly, spewed it like venom, clung to it in our oppression, validated martyrdom, hoped for the ultimate outcome that lets us know the world will finally see WE WERE RIGHT! In this context of knowing, how is embracing some abstract idea of a loving deity of any kind enough to satisfy so exacting a being? How could one even begin to experience true repentance without also forming true allegiance to Jesus?
And we wonder why there are factions among us? Humans are silly. Terms first, definitions second… Our boxes so square and limited, our world so Round. Just as our word repentance, in its translation and interpretation has become skewed, and is no longer just the change of direction implied in the original language of the Bible, so also have our terms for God. Many have had God thrown at them in a verbal beating, a definite vain use of the Name. Imagine using a name to describe the greatest Love you have ever encountered that had come to symbolize your personal prison. If someone can come to the place where they find God to be good, or even remotely trustworthy after humans have used him for abuse and oppression, it is proof positive that Christ is at work in them; healing, restoring, redeeming… finding that which was lost: their true identity.
What is the point of embracing a name that does not fit the character? Which Husband or Father would rather be properly addressed according to their title and feared, than be nicknamed and approached with openness and trust? I cannot imagine a Father, who’s baby cannot say “father” berating a child when “ba” or “da” comes out in its place. My brother’s children call their grandfather “Boppa.” It was a mispronunciation by a baby that stuck and came to mean something. The point was that it was freely combined with “I love you,” and the feeling was reciprocated. How do we think our Heavenly Father could possibly be less accepting, and offended by use of the the wrong name. The power is not in the term, for the Being was already in existence before the label. It is the Essence, the Love to which we are drawn, it is the attitude of that Love towards us which beckons us to come. It is the deep mutual knowing that produces the unbroken unity within our being, the REST that comes of finding ourselves (that which was lost) to be irrevocably held in the lap of he who imagined us.
Just as heaven’s gates are never shut, the Father’s Lap is ever available. In fact, if we look into his face, and catch our reflection in his eyes, we find we are already there.
Stop there, just as you might among the roses, and be refreshed. Not because you know His name, but because your heart is captured by the fragrance, the essence of His being. Know as you are known. His heart is familiar, not because you have memorized his attributes, but because at the very core of your being is the same heart.
O, Humanity, we are embraced in such a Union. Why then are there Factions among us?
Label Makers DOWN, Adam. It is time to Sit and Be.