In a Name
by Jonathan Quince
Saturday, September 11, 2004 18:37:07
Language is one of the fundamental tools of human power. By remaking both objects and ideas as concepts, it transcends the material boundaries to which we are born; by abstracting relationships, characteristics, and actions, it connects us to a place out of space and out of time where but one crucial layer of limitations has been removed. With language, an object as mighty as a mountain or a galaxy may be reduced to a manageable icon; and the light fueled by language casts upon Earth a shadow of higher powers otherwise invisible to our eyes. Language is the bedrock of civilization, the vessel of spirituality, the pillar to heaven which connects us to the gods. Language gives us a degree of freedom that separates Man from lesser beings.
In the world of language, every thing of this reality is assigned to words. But what words may represent the face of a thing that has a soul?
By the power of language and abstract thought, a being transfused from higher worlds is given life in a name. Thus, a name is not just a string of vocalizations or a scrawl of pen on paper. Rather, it is the key that allows a sacred being to be reached in the realm of abstraction.
Just as your body is your representation in the physical world, your name is your body in the abstract realm of words. In that ethereality of ideas that offers to bridge the chasm betwixt the place of things and the place of spirits, your name is your face; your name is your corporeal essence; your name means you, stands for you, is you.
I am a man of many names and many faces; but today, I shall give you one.
My name is Jonathan. What is yours?