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A few weeks ago a domain-naming website released the results of a poll it had undertaken to determine the virtues associated with common first names. I giggled when I scanned the top ones identified for marriage material.
The only female
I know with the #1 appellation on the list, Katie, is not married. Barring an
acquaintance who nicknamed herself Sophie, I know zero women with moniker #2. But
self-named Sophie is a good wife. My closest friend from church back in
Trinidad has name #3. She too is unmarried. Disillusioned with the female list,
and telling myself that it mattered not that my names were absent, I headed over to the men's.
Any potential
resentment evaporated as soon as I discovered my husband's names did not make the
Top 10 either. David, Andrew, and Daniel basked in the coveted ranks. I know two Davids: one is a great husband; the
other, dubious, if his wife's account when she came for counselling is
true. I concede defeat in knowing any matrimonially-tied
Andrew. And good sense prevailed in leaving #3 uncontested, having been out of
touch with my charming cousin, a now-married Daniel.
As the
giggles subsided, I turned inwards. Reflective. Solemn. Like Pavlov's dogs my
reason for being attracted to this random-naming clip on the Internet was
because of conditioning. An inner conditioning over the last four years. Since
the morning on my birthday when I dreamt three computer screens mounted on a
wall of my living room. The instructions: PICK ONE.
I touched
the middle screen and a lily appeared.
Lily. The
meaning of a Hebrew name.
My name. Susan.
That year I
searched the Scriptures for 'lily' and latched on to the message from Jesus's urging
in Matthew 6:28-34.
In nearly
every company I've been employed, I brought the work home on a regular basis.
Nights spent preparing for the next day, weekends pre-occupied with what laid
ahead. Always hustling, sometimes exciting, generally learning new things, yet in
a paradoxical perplexing way, stifling my creativity. And haltingly I came to realize
that when the core of Genesis is suffocated, even a salary with the right
number of zeroes could lose its lustre.
Over and
over my name keeps resurfacing, ever present in my thoughts, reassuring me of God's
guarantees. No need for a human poll to affirm its virtues.That birthday was the last in which I laboured for an employer. Now I work full-time as a writer, and I'm enamoured with my career.
The lily on
the screen was a white one. An appropriate emblem for my new company. White
Lily Press published Little Copper
Pennies for Kids, the book that has grossed the highest sales of the three
I've written.
My work is
busy, it demands discipline, and it's hard at times. But it is not toil.
The lily does not toil… Susan
does not toil.
I have an unshakeable
conviction that the Lord wants me to live easy, peacefully, worry-free. Because
of the message in my name.
What is the
message in yours?
(An excerpt from Remarkably Ordinary - 20 Reflections on
Living Intentionally Right Where You Are ©Susan
Harris. Coming in March from White Lily Press.)
Coming in March from Borealis
Press - Little Copper Pennies for Kids
and Little Copper Pennies: Celebrating
the Life of the Canadian one-cent piece.
Susan is also the author of Golden Apples in Silver Settings. Find
her at:
http://susanharris.ca
https://www.facebook.com/SusanHarrisCanadianAuthor
https://twitter.com/SusanHarris20
5 comments:
Very interesting post Susan.
I think my name means "grace" but haven't checked for a long while. Will do so now.
Blessings,
Janis www.janiscox.com
I became curious as to the meaning of your name, Janis, so I checked it out. In Hebrew it means "Gift from God." And I can attest that your friendship is a gift, as is your art. Keep on giving.
Thank you, Susan, for sharing your musings on that website's "virtues associated with common first names."
I especially like your own story of your dream and the "Susan" - "Lily" application, from the teaching of our Lord. ~~+~~
I believe that dream came from the Lord, Peter. I'm not a dreamer nor the offspring of one, but I truly sensed the Lord was directing me through His Word and my name, and the connection with both. Thanks for taking the time to encourage me, and I'm thinking of your own name's meaning, the Rock. Blessings on the rest of the day.
Interesting post! I had a lot of fun researching names when I wrote my novel. Thanks for sharing.
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