Names

Names lead us to think within limitations. My own name, for instance, leads me to see myself as distinct from others. At a certain level this is a myth. Really, I cannot survive without nourishment from what is beyond myself. And to live without other people seems to me like a nightmare.

Still, names are very useful, for me, and for others. And not just personal names, but labels of all sorts. But names are not good or bad in themselves. God did not give us the names we use. We, and only we, are in control of our names and how we use them. On one hand, we can bring people together in the pursuit of common goals. On the other, we can divide people, and encourage and legitimize conflict.

How we choose to use language, and what we thereby achieve, depends on our imaginations, and on our willingnesses to cooperate. If we are to live together peacefully, and sustainably, we must understand language, and we must understand people, from this perspective.

Martin Luther King, Jr. saw this, I believe. In the speech below, note his sensitivity to the name “enemy,” and note also how he describes himself as a “citizen of the world.”

Beautiful.