Over the years, I have kept the same address book, a quaint and archaic practice for sure in this highly digitized world. To accommodate my more transient friends and family, all the entries are in pencil, and many bear the scuff marks of frequent erasures.
This year, as I was addressing our Christmas letters, I noticed the names of the missing—so many friends and family who would be celebrating Christmas in the presence of the Lord and would not require a greeting from the Morins to complete their joy. I suppose I should have been dutifully deleting these names all along. After all, I will never call or write to any of these people again. I do not need their addresses.
Deleting the entries of the dead somehow feels wrong. Removing their name would remove my last connection to them and my last connection to the part of my own history where our paths crossed.
- Dear Helen introduced me to the poetry of Amy Carmichael, shared hours of hair-raising stories about her life as a missionary in inland China, and dragged me out the door for exhausting woodland hikes.
- Joanne was my mentor and friend, a fervent believer who has probably influenced my following life more than anyone else.
- Clarissa was “the lake lady,” a smiling presence at the entrance to our favorite state park who befriended our family.
While we scan newspaper articles and yearbook captions for the names of the people who matter to us, God regards the names of the lowest and the least because we all matter to him.
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Names Matter
I don’t think these people would mind if they knew their names are still very much alive in my address book and in my memory. Names matter. We know that’s true because of all the fuss around naming our children. And we know it’s true because names matter to God.
The New Testament opens with a list of names, the “begats” of the Messianic line.
The Old Testament is larded through and through with lists of priests, genealogical records, builders of the wall, and workers in the temple.
While we scan newspaper articles and yearbook captions for the names of the people who matter to us, God regards the names of the lowest and the least because we all matter to him.
God reassures his people that we are both named and claimed: ” I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who “calls his own sheep by name.” (John 10:3)
Heading into 2026, I have four sons, eight grandchildren, a dearly devoted husband, and 163 names in my address book. How could I be so blessed?
Heading into 2026, I have four sons, eight grandchildren, a dearly devoted husband, and 163 names in my address book. How could I be so blessed?
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Holding You in the Light,
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