I can honestly say that I know each of these
individuals and have graded their academic, experiential, simulation and
service learning performances, endorsed them for transfer and scholarship
applications and championed them for internships and awards, even been their
reference for employment. It is quite humbling to realize that my scholar named
Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Vishnu, Joseph Smith and Yahweh actually may
need my support to reach the next level of anything. On the other hand, one of
the things that I do rather well is that I ascertain the dominant “multiple
intelligences” that each of my scholars demonstrates in her or his learning performance
which tends to be predictive of each student’s disposition to success in
specific learning and teaching environments. My existential analyses, critiques
and conclusions pertaining to each of these divinely derived namesakes adds to
advancement and higher spirits among my scholars which is gratifying to me,
glorifying to them, comforting to their parents.
With so many scholars from so many places, with so
many ethnicities and nationalities from so many geographies, with so many
cultures and languages from so many tribes, indigenous and ignominious, with so
many religious affiliations and identities and with so many delicious scarves,
blouses, slacks, dresses and diverse apparels, why should it be surprising that
one or more cohorts of scholars would have normal names for individuals in one
context that appear abnormal, maybe offensive, to others? Each day at our
college and in my classrooms I encounter colleagues and scholars bearing the
names of Divinities, Prophets (Peace Be Unto Him), Saviors, Charismatic
Messengers, Messianic Founders, Saints, Holy Ones, Martyrs, and Spirits. To
affiliated believers these names are sacred, sometimes venerated, occasionally
never spoken or written but implied in any one language.
Living in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic,
multi-religious and multi-lingual Miami – microcosm of the world – not only
enlightens, enriches, enhances and enlivens my life but it also equips me to
have some unanticipated consequences that are beneficial, protective and even
motivational.
Approached by a zealous well-meaning, proselytizing
Christian on an elevator, I have been asked: “Do you know Jesus?” When I
respond by saying, “I not only know him but he is earning good grades and may
get a transfer scholarship!” My response is a conversation stopper, an
intensity reducer and a humorous relaxant to all in the elevator, when I leave
at the next stop on the elevator. I was not anxiously pursued nor angrily
admonished by the zealot, who probably had a sense of humor too. Confrontations
about religious belief need not be conflagrations.
When asked by a kind and caring older scholar “whether
I might know of the peace that Buddha brings through meditation and chanting,”
I respond that “my Buddy (aka Buddha) is more like someone with ADD and a
tendency to rap.” Not wanting to be offensive, I accepted some readings shared
by a conscientious and caring student who now realizes that he may need to be
clearer in articulating his intentions when sharing something as precious as
belief.
One of my intense scholars, a member of a particular
Islamic denomination, asked me if I knew “the power of Mohammed’s (PBUH) divine
insights and inspiration in describing and delineating the connections,
hereditary history and synergies among all ‘People of the Book’”? My response
was: “My Mohamed (aka Moe) has trouble determining what the author has to say
about the people and their roles in a democracy presented in our textbook in a
Federal Government class. I had no idea he had key information about how other
people related in the text of another book.” With self-deprecating humor, I
signaled that my student interrogator should define her purpose, terms and
meanings for what may be a very interesting discussion about how she is
experiencing being a Muslim in a religiously diverse Miami. In a comfortable
and ironic exchange, we may have opened a door to a deeper, inspired, safe and
friendly conversation. And those nearby witnessed an exploratory conversation
about an important topic.
Moses, Vishnu, Joseph Smith and Yahweh namesakes also
inhabit my course rosters and classrooms, hallways and community pathways. Each
is a human being designated to be worthy of a name precious in a different
Faith tradition. On the one hand each of us (like Michael named for an
Archangel in several religious traditions) has an awesome expectation placed
upon us when we were designated to be informed, imbued or inspired by potential
as great as our name. On the other hand, our name is a gift from someone who
loved us and probably chose the name with care and hopes. However, first and
second names, occasionally a surname, may be a signpost or signal to strangers
that we have a predetermined or predestined mission or affiliation that defines
who we are and our relationships to others
– some open, some closed, some suspicious, some paranoid at the unknown
– around us. And the Shakespearian concept: “What’s in a name. A rose by any
other name would smell as sweet” is not always operative or in play.
In a world whose history has suffered from Crusades,
Jihads, Pogroms, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide, it is important to know the
“stranger”, “the other”, “the alternative”, “the non-sister and non-brother” as
a human being, person, neighbor and member of the community before casting a
net or building a wall to capture, convert or conceal their real identities –
starting with first names, their actual meanings and the identity of the human
being currently wearing that name, their history, their present and their
aspirations for the future – and not live in a pernicious, prejudiced and
self-limiting – other-inhibiting bubble. It’s easy. Start with “my name is …
and the menaing of my name to me is…! And what is your name and its meaning?”
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