A few months ago I was in a remote part of Ecuador, up in the mountains in an indigenous community that I am getting to know. I was there for four nights, and each night, I joined a group in the community in an song and worship time in the town chapel. Each time, I was able to do some preaching and offer a reflection on the scripture, and some others in the community also gave their own reflections. On the last night, we also had a big meal together in the chapel as many brought some homemade food.
But, I don’t know what they actually gave those reflections on because I couldn’t understand them. Although many of the people speak Spanish, their native language is Kichwa, a branch of the Quechua that is spoken by a lot of the indigenous in the Andes mountains. So, so that everyone could understand, the folks who spoke and gave their reflections spoke in Kichwa. Now, I am just learning the hellos, and goodbyes, and what is your names of Kichwa, so I couldn’t follow anything that they were saying.
Except … there was one word that I could understand:
My name.
So, this is what it sounded like to me: blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Jeronimo, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. … you get the point. Every time that my name was mentioned, I perked up, I felt a jump inside of me, I felt alive for a brief moment. And, you know what, from that I could start to get the general gist of what they were saying. I didn’t catch all of it – if learn more of the language in time I might be able – but I could start to connect dots.
When are name is called, we come alive.
I say that because when I do the preaching and give those reflections, I feel like I really come alive. I am alert, I feel a jump inside, I have a lot of enthusiasm and energy. It feels like a real fit. That’s because when I’m doing that, God is calling my name. A lot of other things that I do might seem like blah, blah, blah, but when I’m doing that, I know my name is being called.
Life has a lot of the blah blah blah, but when you find yourself doing something where you’ve felt really alive, where you jump and feel free inside, with energy and enthusiasm, when it feels like a real fit, then you know.
Your name is being called.
“He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (Jn 10:2-4)
ALM 