To Be Known

This week I had two interactions with classmates of my children, now grown or almost. The first encounter occurred at the grocery store. I thought I recognized a young woman the age of my oldest, 23. Her maturity took me aback, having not seen her for so long, but I decided that indeed she must be who I thought she was.

When she ended up next to me in line I said her name and she acknowledged that she had recognized me, even though she remained reticent to talk to me until I persisted. We compared notes on the latest on our families.

Later that night after a swim meet at a local private school I was standing in the hall and a young man I did not recognize said to me, "I'm Jermaine" (not his real name). We began to talk and he remembered not only Wesley, his kindergarten classmate and friend, but Junia who broke her arm on a bike ride when Jermaine was present.

The attitude of the first young woman seems more typical, to respond when approached, but not to initiate a conversation with a mother of one of your contemporaries you haven't seen in years.

I am still intrigued by this young man's statement to me, "I'm Jermaine," obviously wanting to be known, saying his name and expecting that would call up my memory and I would know him.

Beyond our school connection Jermaine and his family had briefly participated in our church, which is how he was present on that bike ride. I felt sad when they drifted away, and encountering him so many years later renews that longing to connect with this family spiritually.

And I think his statement also reminds me of our innermost longing, to be known. To be recognized. To be remembered. And expecting that the stating of our name would awaken that recognition in others.

I anticipate the day when not only will I meet Jesus face to face and he will know me by name, but he will give me a new name, which no one else knows, and in that moment of renaming I will become more fully myself than I have ever been.

Meanwhile, I am looking for those I know, to acknowledge and validate their existence. Thank you, Jermaine.