I have been asked to design the sacred space for a candlelight vigil marking the 40th anniversary of the assassination of MLK (actual anniversary is April 4). In my research, I discovered that Martin Luther King, Jr. was actually born Michael Luther King, Jr. Questioning this on many levels: if you change your name don't you cease to be a Jr., why have I never heard this before...I did some more research. It turns out, at the age of six Michael Luther King Jr.'s father the minister and senior Michael Luther King changed both their names to reflect the German protestant. http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9365086
In reflecting on this tid-bit and a friend who will officiate a wedding this weekend and most likely pronounce the couple Mr. and Mrs. (name of the groom here), I begin to think about names and their significance. I am also in the midst of designing the worship for the ROTC Mission Trip this summer in which the theme is discovering your identity and we're using the phrase, get your name.
So, what is in a name? Do you know what your name means? Do you know why you have it? Does it reflect the way you live or do you live in reflection of the meaning of your name? Would Michael Luther King Jr. have lived any differently than the Martin Luther King Jr. that we know and honor tomorrow at our vigil?
In reflecting on this tid-bit and a friend who will officiate a wedding this weekend and most likely pronounce the couple Mr. and Mrs. (name of the groom here), I begin to think about names and their significance. I am also in the midst of designing the worship for the ROTC Mission Trip this summer in which the theme is discovering your identity and we're using the phrase, get your name.
So, what is in a name? Do you know what your name means? Do you know why you have it? Does it reflect the way you live or do you live in reflection of the meaning of your name? Would Michael Luther King Jr. have lived any differently than the Martin Luther King Jr. that we know and honor tomorrow at our vigil?
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1 comment:
of course my name... king kaiser... means a lot to me and is often a source of conversation. and i remember having the conversation about when we got married about how to introduce us at the end of the ceremony. it felt like a big deal at the time... funny thing is now, i don't even remember how we dealt with it.
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