Reflecting on Names

 

Good morning! It gives me pleasure to speak to you this morning. My continuing congratulations again to those brave students who venture up here to read, sing or give an address – It’s an impressive sight looking out at you all in your number one uniform and I fully understand why people are nervous.

In what was a week of changing routine the Headmaster thought that a change of accent at the pulpit would be a good idea this morning.

I was reminded of my days at high school this week when I handed my chapel talk to Mrs. Samuel to proof read on Thursday. That evening, she handed my talk back to me and said it was not good enough and that I should start again. Oh dear, I said to myself … or words to that effect, and I sheepishly walked away. There is no point arguing at this stage of my life, I thought. I wonder if anyone here will experience something similar to me next week when you are handed your midterms back.  Do teachers mark as aggressively as Mrs. Samuel, I thought! So, I spent my Health and Wellness day rewriting my address and I am not sure if it did my health any good! However, Mrs. Samuel mercifully gave her nod of approval this morning.

In the assessment meeting last Wednesday I enjoyed seeing your names and photos pop up on the screen and I am pleased to say that positive advisor comments were in abundance. In noticing your names, we are indeed a diverse student body with all sorts of different cultural and interesting backgrounds. Where will you be and what will you be doing in the next twenty years, I thought. That same afternoon my colleagues and I in the Advancement Office were discussing available naming opportunities here on our beautiful campus. As you may know, almost all of our buildings are named after alumni, former staff members and past parents. Examples include most of the boarding houses, the Freisen Centre, Hyde-Lay Pavilion, Lecky House, Hugh Wilkinson Theatre, Dinter Hut, Mills Room, Brown Family Health Centre, Robertson Reading room, Jim & Kathryn Shaw Library, Olson and Craig Buildings, Mitchell Hall, Peter Yates English Classroom, and the Charlie Purdey Arena.  There are others too I am sure.

My thoughts in the assessment meeting and the chat with my colleagues gave me some inspiration to talk to you this morning about names.

In Chapel when we sing, pray or listen, we hear the word 'name' often – it refers of course to God's name. His name stands for truthfulness, justice, faithfulness, one who is able to do the impossible and the one to go to in time of need. The Rev. Holland could speak at length about this, but I am not going down that route this morning.

Most of you are named after family members, sport and pop stars, actors, flowers, kings, queens.  The Bible and other scriptures are a very good source of names and those names are full of meaning. Maybe you can find out over the holidays whether we determine our names, or if they determine us.

A question: How many of you like your name?  

I did not like my name when I was in elementary school; it was very Welsh. I was the only one with the name Rhodri in my school and in the whole village come to that. I was named after a 12th century Welsh King named Rhodri Mawr – which literally translated means Rhodri the Great! (no greatness here, I am afraid). As time has moved on, it has become a very popular name in Wales and I must say I have grown to like it and I am now quite proud of it.  My youngest son was born in Wales and we gave him the Welsh name Meredydd. At the time, we did not know that we would be spending the rest of our lives in a distant country.  We came to Canada and people had difficulty saying his name and in school he was called Meredith which annoyed him immensely as there were two girls in his class with the same name. He had to repeat his name several times when he was asked. Looking back, it must have caused him a great deal of grief. My wife and I can recall when we were on holiday in Oregon one summer when Meredydd was about 5-6 years old. He was playing on the swings with some other children in a park, and a young mother asked him what his name was. He thought for a few seconds and then replied Michael! My wife and I overheard this and we looked at each other and both said "what have we done!" Luckily, he was put out of his misery when his elementary school teacher abbreviated his name and called him Rids! To this day this name has stuck with him and he is happy with it.

Wales is a country in the UK where Mrs. Samuel, Mr. Doyle and I are from. It is a nation full of common surnames. In the 30 or so players on the Welsh rugby squad last year there were 6 Williams' and four Jones' the others were probably Rees, Davies or Thomas. The use of nicknames became a way of identifying which Jones, Thomas or Williams people were talking about. My wife and I were chatting and having a laugh about life in the 60’s and 70’s in the coal mining village where we grew up in Wales. You had many people with the same name and surname. The nicknames given to people were not meant to be unkind but they served a purpose, and nowhere is their teasing wit and love of language more apparent.  David was popular Christian name and it always shortened to Dai. There could be up to 10 Dai's in the village and maybe 5 Dai Williams! There would be a few Jeff Williams too.

Most nicknames derive from a person's occupation, like the builder would be called Dai Brick (In Canada he would be Dai 4x4) or the baker was named Dai Bread as in Dylan Thomas classic Under Milk Wood.  One baker in another village was called Dai Crust and another Dai who lived nearby had a more up-market bakery and was quite posh and so was called Dai Upper Crust. In Mrs. Samuel's village there was a milkman named Willie the milk and an old man who had sadly lost his arm in the war – but believe it or not he was named Willie One Arm. You also had a Will who in a game of rugby had half of one of his ears bitten off…. he was called Willie 18 months.

My favourites were the two Evanses from a town near Swansea. One was the undertaker, the other the travel agent. The travel agent was known as "Evans There and Back" the undertaker as "Evans One Way."   Look at the way we distinguish the Wilkes here: Wilke the math and Wilke Chem!

 

One of the most important things you will ever own is not your house, your intelligence, your good looks, nor your wealth. Your most valuable asset is your name.

Names are deeply important to humans, a crucial way of understanding not just the world around us but each other.

The reputation your name brings is of great value. There is a difference between a name and a good name. You have to earn a good name – moment by moment, day by day, decision by decision. Having a good name means living in a way that earns the trust of others. It means demonstrating integrity that people can depend on. Maintaining a good name does not mean you are perfect, but when you make mistakes, you learn from them and do what you can to make things right.

What we do or say usually makes an impression in someone's mind of who they think we are and what they think of us and our character.

It is an impression that is difficult to change or erase from their memory. Believe me, some people are slow to forgive and will bear grudges! The value others put on our name often dictates how we will be treated by them. It may affect a job placement or how we are treated at school.  Social media can also destroy your name instantly. Sending an inappropriate photo or a nasty text can haunt you forever, as the evidence can be revisited over and over again. This is an ongoing issue and people are slow to learn.

I will leave you with a few thoughts this morning. Does your House have a good name? As you know the House is only as good as the staff and students in it.

If all our boarding houses have good names then Shawnigan will also have a good name. We want to be the best, as Mrs. Samuel would say. As I said earlier we have to work hard to maintain this good name and seeing to those little details daily is a must. You all are responsible for making this school great – and who knows; maybe one day your name could be on one of the campus buildings!