NAMES
Saul became Paul. Jacob became Israel. Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. Names do change.
The names of God are manifold, as are the names of rain, sun, earth, stars, winds, life, death, birth, food.
"What 's in a name?" That classic, powerful question may be skewed.
It may misdirect. It may divert focus away from the subject to its name.
This misdirection or diversion may have allowed that great poet, and playwright, William Shakespeare to deduce & then sing, "A rose by any other name smells just as sweet."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_rose_by_any_other_name_would_smell_as_sweet
That which lies within, flows under, stands over, walks behind, rides beside, flies through or comprises a thing is its essence. Its actual name, its moniker, denomination, designation, nomenclature, is cant.
A name, at best, merely denotes or connotes. It is neither talismanic nor is it empowering unto itself.
A given name/-whether "Toby" or "Kunta"--is but a temporal, very loose-fitting, garment that merely modestly conceals its host's inner workings. Its Soul is what matters!
"Don't judge the book by its cover" is an expression, an aphorism, an idiom that is applicable to names.
"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is greater than silver or gold."
http://biblehub.com/proverbs/22-1.htm
"What's Your Name?" Is a 1950's song by Don and Juan that me and my now-dead friend and brother, Theodore Roosevelt Bush, Jr., sang at our Steger Jr. High School talent show in 1966. We did not win. But, we are yet esteemed, remembered, even now 50 years later! Who won?
Names are transient.
Black people in America have been called by, known by, many names.
None of them have liberated us, whether the name was: "Negro"--capitalized "N"--of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, or the "New Negro," of the Harlem Renaissance era, 1920s-30s. Neither did the "colored" claque of the next, post-Marcus Garvey era, 1930-60s; neither did the "Black" cognomen from the Black Power era, 1960-80s; nor the latest model "African American" whether it is hyphenated-or-not of our current era. Of course, originally, we first were "Africans" in the colonial era, later: "gens or femme de couleur" or nigra, niggers, slave, Ethiopians, Abyssinians, Moors, even Bilalians!
Through it all, our divine essence, our primordial substance, that which mutated, procreated, divided migrated, evolved, devolved, again and again over millions of years, in order to populate the planet with our own kind and true name, gods!
That is who we are. That is what we are: "Gods!" We are made in the likeness and image of the Creator of heaven and earth. Such are we by any "name" we may be known!
Psalms 82:6--
"I have said, 'You are "gods;"' you are all sons of the Most High."
http://biblehub.com/psalms/82-6.htm
Friday, May 13, 2016
NAMES
NAMES
Saul became Paul. Jacob became Israel. Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. Names do change.
The names of God are manifold, as are the names of rain, sun, earth, stars, winds, life, death, birth, food.
"What 's in a name?" That classic, powerful question may be skewed.
It may misdirect. It may divert focus away from the subject to its name.
This misdirection or diversion may have allowed that great poet, and playwright, William Shakespeare to deduce & then sing, "A rose by any other name smells just as sweet."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_rose_by_any_other_name_would_smell_as_sweet
That which lies within, flows under, stands over, walks behind, rides beside, flies through or comprises a thing is its essence. Its actual name, its moniker, denomination, designation, nomenclature, is cant.
A name, at best, merely denotes or connotes. It is neither talismanic nor is it empowering unto itself.
A given name/-whether "Toby" or "Kunta"--is but a temporal, very loose-fitting, garment that merely modestly conceals its host's inner workings. Its Soul is what matters!
"Don't judge the book by its cover" is an expression, an aphorism, an idiom that is applicable to names.
"A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is greater than silver or gold."
http://biblehub.com/proverbs/22-1.htm
"What's Your Name?" Is a 1950's song by Don and Juan that me and my now-dead friend and brother, Theodore Roosevelt Bush, Jr., sang at our Steger Jr. High School talent show in 1966. We did not win. But, we are yet esteemed, remembered, even now 50 years later! Who won?
Names are transient.
Black people in America have been called by, known by, many names.
None of them have liberated us, whether the name was: "Negro"--capitalized "N"--of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, or the "New Negro," of the Harlem Renaissance era, 1920s-30s. Neither did the "colored" claque of the next, post-Marcus Garvey era, 1930-60s; neither did the "Black" cognomen from the Black Power era, 1960-80s; nor the latest model "African American" whether it is hyphenated-or-not of our current era. Of course, originally, we first were "Africans" in the colonial era, later: "gens or femme de couleur" or nigra, niggers, slave, Ethiopians, Abyssinians, Moors, even Bilalians!
Through it all, our divine essence, our primordial substance, that which mutated, procreated, divided migrated, evolved, devolved, again and again over millions of years, in order to populate the planet with our own kind and true name, gods!
That is who we are. That is what we are: "Gods!" We are made in the likeness and image of the Creator of heaven and earth. Such are we by any "name" we may be known!
Psalms 82:6--
"I have said, 'You are "gods;"' you are all sons of the Most High."
http://biblehub.com/psalms/82-6.htm