Forgetting Names

Okay I admit it. Forgetfulness is frustrating. I work hard at remembering names. I repeat them when I hear them. I use them again right away. I even make notes on my PDA or on scrap paper. But even with all this effort names can still escape me. They slip away.

For my dad it is much worse. Since his stroke, the aphasia makes recalling names even more difficult. He’s called me Tim, Gregg (my nephews) and Chris (my son). The aphasia gets in the way of recalling the correct name. He knows he has used the wrong name, but he cannot recall the true name.

That is just like God. Okay bear with me in this.

David Teems wrote, “God has written a law of forgetfulness against his omniscience.”

Wow. Did you catch that. God has written a law that won’t let him remember our birth names. The names that reflected our birth character he can’t recall.

So when he looks at us instead of calling out “liar”, or “cheater” or “thief”. . .

Instead of calling out “disgrace” or “loser” . . .

Instead of remembering our true birth name, “sinner,” . . .

He calls out to our souls a new name, “beloved,” “son,” “daughter,” “co-heir,” “precious.”

Every time my dad stumbles over a name I’m reminding myself that my other Father forgets names also. My God cannot recall my “birth” name. He calls me by another.

Saint.