A recent news article from India described a ceremony where 285 girls legally changed their name. Wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair, they each received a certificate with their new name, a name they themselves had chosen. Some chose the name "Vaishali" (which means prosperous, beautiful and good'). Others chose the name 'Aishwarya' after a famous Bollywood star. Another chose 'Ashmita' meaning 'tough' or 'rock hard'.
The cermony was the idea of Dr. Bhagwan Pawar, a district health officer in the Indian state of Maharashtra state where girl children are considered a disappointment. The problem is so prevalent that, in Maharashtra, there are only 883 girls for every 1,000 boys, due to abortions of female fetuses. Hospitals are prohibited by law from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus. Others, once born, die of neglect. And still others, such as the 285 at this ceremony, are given the name 'Nakusa' or 'Nakushi' which means 'unwanted' in Hindi, indicating their family's feeling that they are worthless or a burden.[1]
I cannot imagine growing up with a name like that--to feel that each time someone calls out to you that they are crying, 'Useless! Useless!' It happened in the Bible also: the youngest of Jacob's sons, Benjamin, was named by his mother Ben-oni (meaning "son of my trouble", Gen. 35:18).
How do you live up to your name, if your name is useless? Or, you could be like a young man, raised as a slave, who had trouble living up to his name, which meant 'Useful'. 'Useful, come here' 'Useful, fetch water' Useful this and Useful that. But he wasn't useful. He was unreliable and bitter against his owner. So he ran away to lose himself in the massive city of Rome.
It was during this time that he met Paul, an old man and a prisoner awaiting trial. Through spending time with Paul and helping him, his life was changed, he became a follower of Jesus, and he became close to Paul. Paul called him his 'very 'heart' (Philemon, vs. 12) and his 'son' (vs. 10). But there was one debt--one relationship--that was unrestored. It was the relationship between him and his master.
So Paul wrote these words to Philemon, his master, saying:
How do you live up to your name, if your name is useless? Or, you could be like a young man, raised as a slave, who had trouble living up to his name, which meant 'Useful'. 'Useful, come here' 'Useful, fetch water' Useful this and Useful that. But he wasn't useful. He was unreliable and bitter against his owner. So he ran away to lose himself in the massive city of Rome.
It was during this time that he met Paul, an old man and a prisoner awaiting trial. Through spending time with Paul and helping him, his life was changed, he became a follower of Jesus, and he became close to Paul. Paul called him his 'very 'heart' (Philemon, vs. 12) and his 'son' (vs. 10). But there was one debt--one relationship--that was unrestored. It was the relationship between him and his master.
So Paul wrote these words to Philemon, his master, saying:
I appeal to you for my son Onesimus ['useful'], who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. - Philemon 1:10b-11Before he became a follower of Jesus, this slave had no purpose. But now, by the favor of God, he had found his life's calling right back where he had started. His job and situation hadn't changed, but he had changed-placed back in the household of Philemon to serve not just his master, but his brother.
Sometimes I wonder whether my life is going anywhere except in circles. It feels useless, but God has the ability to tranform the mundane and the grinding into something beautiful, because he has changed my attitude towards it. I am on the journey from useless to useful, according to his purpose.
No matter what other people think of you, or the names they give you, or how they describe you, Jesus has rewritten the meaning of your life:
To the one who is victorious ... I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. - Revelation 2:17
Live up to the person--the new name--that you have in Jesus.
[1] "285 Indian girls shed 'unwanted' names" Chaya Babu, Associated Press, 22 October 2011
