“Oh that’s so last year,” were the words I heard coming from a little group behind me when someone mentioned our new son’s name. I didn’t move a muscle, but the colour rose in my cheeks and my heart beat a little faster, a lot sadder. Are we not right on time? Is our son’s name out of date, its meaning too late? I didn’t know the name experts were out there deciding for us and it, clearly, affected me.
I quickly bounced back. I’m learning to be resolved, determined and unmoved by what people think of me and the decisions I make. Maybe the comment was more about them than about me, and maybe I had heard wrong. Anyway, that is the problem with overhearing things; some things are best unheard.
For the rest of the week I enjoyed my own little private dialogue about being ‘so last year’ and what a compliment that actually is for me. I love being alive right here, right now, yet in many ways I’m so last century or maybe even the century before. To imply that I have done something so last year is like saying I am way ahead of my time! Post modern even.
I love vintage lace and lots of little buttons all the way to the top. Patchwork quilts, ink pots, wooden boats, pioneer houses and ancient paths are some of my favourite things. Worn in furniture and old bottles, how lovely can you get? Imagine living in the days before factories and machines and all the inventions that allow us to go so quickly nowadays? In a world that is spinning wild, I long for seed planting and yeast rising and spinning wool and clear starry skies without a hint of pollution in them. Building a fire for warmth and cooking and owning a horse and cart are my kind of thing. Nature studies and long walks are something to schedule in now, but I am sure there was a time where such things happened just as a matter of course. I am attracted to practices that have stood the test of time and am sceptical of modern day trends; uneasy because they may well be the latest fad without any substance at all. There is a longing in me for old world charm but I know that is not everyone’s cup of tea. People are different, and they are supposed to be.
Some people want straight edges, clean lines, all granite and tiles, zero clutter, fast cars, fancy light fittings and microwaves. There are those who are so advanced they call their children names that nobody has ever thought of before. We are a globe full of bizarre and beautiful people who are wonderfully unique. There is room for us all to be permitted, celebrated and enjoyed, if we could just stop comparing and frowning and looking down our noses at those who don’t think like us. You and all your interesting ways are rather magnificent, you know that?”
My boy’s name implies that he is an independent thinker, unorthodox and courageous. He is born in an age when it might not be fashionable, but it’ll certainly be necessary to take risks when others are playing it safe, swim upstream when most are going with the flow and think for himself when many are waiting to be told what to do. He is bang on time and so is his name.
Names aside, the heart of this post is: when comments come like a shot in the dark, (and they will) stand still, take a deep breath, put your shoulders back, close your gaping mouth and lift up your chin. Tomorrow, someone is going to tell you that your child has the best name ever. That’ll be good to hear, but even then, whether they like you or hate you, be committed to being you. True, authentic, original, right on time whether they say you are early or late. We are never going to please everyone.
Jeremiah 6 v 16 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’
Acts 17 v 26 “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”
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