I went to pick up a prescription the other day. As I approached the counter, before I even said anything, the woman working there said, "Bennett, right? You used to be Brummett, but now you're Bennett." I was shocked. "Yes," I replied -" it's Bennett now. I'm impressed you know me by name"... I paid for my prescription, but as I walked to my car, I was still shaking my head in amazement that in today's impersonal world - where we send email rather than handwritten cards, and text message instead of calling - a pharmacy clerk would know me by name. I felt so honored and special. And I couldn't help thinking, if I felt special because a pharmacy clerk knew me by name, how much more special should I feel that the God and creator of the universe knows me by name! In Exodus 33:12 Moses acknowledges God has called him to lead his people and that God knows him by name. And in Isaiah 43, God reminds Israel not too worry about what they are facing, because He has called them by name. God knew Moses' name, he knew the names of the people of Israel, and God knows me by name, too. He even knows the very number of hairs on my head. (and, judging by the amount of hair in the shower each day, keeping track of the hairs on my head would be a full time job right there!). Anyway, the experience at the pharmacy made a huge impression on me. So many people today are hungering for a connection. It's one reason kids join gangs, that need to belong, to be connected, to be known. It reminded me, again, how important it is to notice people, to make the connection and, when possible, to call them by name. It sure made my day...to be known by name.
