Recognition

“It’s Cassie!” This joyful noise sounded across the parking lot to my bewildered ears. A vendor at the small farmers market I was entering had remembered me from our conversation the previous week.
Having lived most of my life in places where I either had a given community (college and grad school) or had simply grown up there, I am beginning to realize the significance of being recognized. Hearing our name is a way of knowing we are alive, that we are part of a larger whole, that we belong.
The significance of naming can be seen in the Hebrew Bible, where there is at least one whole chapter to naming the descendants of Noah, and names are intentionally written throughout the Bible.
Last week there were four known suicides by young men who identified as gay. One way to think about various forms of oppression is an unwillingness by society to fully recognize different groups of people as part of the human community. I remember a lesbian member of a congregation I was part of describing her appreciation for the community. That she felt known by the community, giving her a sense of freedom to be recognized for who she was- not just her lesbian identity, but for her whole self, of which that was apart. Recognition is essential if we are to feel at home in our bodies and in a larger community. It is a deep and holy human need.
The woman who called my name may never know how much hearing “Cassie” meant to me. Small gestures of recognition go a long way. By looking another in the eye, asking their name or sharing our own, we are telling another that they matter- that who they are is worthy of attention, deserving of care.

My Sorrow Lies in the Moon

My sorrow lies in the moon
I wake to a tender heart
seeking connection
and there lies my Sorrow,
Full and Patient
smiling down on me with a gentle face
Love's compassion,
I release and breath arrives
I fall more deeply in communion with the Soul.