I just wish I knew them all by name!
I just wish I knew them all by name!
I have hundreds of friends. I make new friends with every tour group. Not only that but I stand on the stage of our congregation and sing enthusiastically every time I get a chance. There are several hundred people in the congregation and most of them have grown familiar with my face. The problem is that I can't call them by name. I just don't seem to have the capacity to remember all of them.
A recent tour group took a camel trek. It was fantastic! I remember asking the name of the camel and getting an answer. It was something like Gamla which is an Arabic version of the feminine word for camel. Two things about that bother me. First, I remember the stupid non-name for the camel and second I don't remember the name of the girl that was riding on the camel behind me. Actually, I do remember that she was from Finland and that I couldn't pronounce her name anyway. Something like Ki'irtu?
No, I'm not sure that was who was on the camel. Probably something simple like Helen.
Can you imagine the joy when I realized that the God of the universe remembers my name? He even knows my nickname. I think he makes up honorary titles occasionally too. One day I could swear that I heard him say, "Mighty Warrior! I have a job I want you to consider." I have trouble accepting the title of "Mighty Warrior" but I appreciate that he might have been calling me by an affectionate nickname.
I'm not really all that bad at names, you know. I do remember a lot of them. Occasionally I put the wrong face with a name but I don't know many who don't make that kind of error' It's the returning tour group that usually gets me. There will be a face that I remember but can't place the name. I feel so silly using generic replacements. Worse is when I remember the name only to find three days later that I remembered it wrong.
So, what can I do to be sure I will remember your name?
I know a few of the tricks to remember a room full of names. I flunk that test nearly every time. Then there are the ones who are naturally shy. You may have guessed, I'm not one of them. They are often the ones with the best insights and I feel that I have lost something if I can't gain access to their ideas. Yet, if I don't seem to be a friend, why would they share? Wouldn't a friend remember their name?
It's impossible!
What did you say your name was?

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