Someone once said, “Words have meaning, names have power.”* Words are the building blocks of language, acting as audible symbols describing society’s thoughts. In the same way, names help define our world, ascribing symbols that describe and separate different people, places, or things.
People have always believed that names had power. Ancients believed that to know a person’s true name gave you power over that person. For this reason, people often had two names, one people knew them by, and another secret true name, kept hidden, except to those they trusted.
The Native Americans believed a person’s name was synonymous with their identity. In some tribes a person’s named changed as they changed. As a boy became a man or did something brave or especially significant, so their name would change in reflection of their deed or character. In the same way, as a new Pope is elected, they take on a new name that represents two things. First, it represents that action of dying to one’s old life. Second, the name a Pope chooses is a symbol of what their reign as Pope will look like.
My name is Ernest Walter Johnston Jr, named after my dad, Ernest Walter Johnston Sr.** Growing up, everyone called me Ernest, my family, friends, everyone. I introduced myself as Ernest, and knew myself as Ernest. On the other hand, though my dad’s name is Ernest, everyone, except my mom, called him Ernie. I never understood why, that’s just what people called him.
As I got older, heading into high school, coming into my own identity, I began to notice more and more people calling me Ernie. I didn’t mind and took it in stride. Today, the only people that call me Ernest is my family, my oldest friends (elementary school friends), and the random person that wants to be different, making it a special point to say, “I’ll call you Ernest.”*** Everyone else calls me Ernie. I even introduce myself as Ernie. My facebook name is Ernie. I’ve become my father’s son.
So I've come to the conclusion, which is contrary to popular opinion, that Ernest is the kid name and Ernie is the adult name. However, despite believing Ernie is the adult name and the name I now introduce myself as, Ernest is my true name that speaks to my identity.
One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received was, “Ernie you’re the most chill person I ever met, but you’re also the most passionate person I ever met.” I think that speaks a lot about who I am. On one hand, I am definitely chill; on the other hand, when it comes to something I believe strongly in like God and his Kingdom, the people of Hawaii, or Penn State Football, I can be incredibly passionate, incredibly earnest.
Earnestness is who I am and what strive for. My favorite passage in the Bible is Psalm 63:1-4, which speaks about earnestness, passion, desperateness, and desire for God, who’s love is better then life.
O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
At the end of the day, my name is Ernest. I am my father’s son. I will always be Ernest, I will do all I can to live up to the name Ernie, and I will strive to be earnest in all I do.
-Ernest/Ernie
*Anonymous
**I love my dad and respect and look up to him. He love me, is loved by my family and the community, desires to help and serve, and works so hard. Sure he has his faults, but who doesn't. If I turn out to be a man just like him, I'll die a happy man.
*** I kind of like when that happens. Though it never lasts.
**** I've never seen the play or movie, "The Importance of being Earnest.... maybe one day.
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