What's in a Name?

Some time ago, I received an email from a Christian ministry. At the end of their letter, they informed me that Woody Woodpecker celebrated his birthday last week. This piqued my curiosity for a few reasons:

First, why was Woody even mentioned in an email of this type? To my knowledge this particular woodpecker never displayed any public evidence of faith. Obviously, I have no information about his private life. However – and even though politicians continue to deny this reality – I believe a man's private character is often reflected in how he lives his life in front of the camera.

Second, how do you determine a cartoon character's legal birthday? Was Woody "born" the day Walter Lantz thought up the character? According to popular myth (which Lantz perpetuated) this happened on his honeymoon after marrying the actress, Grace Stafford. However, since Woody actually appeared in an Andy Panda cartoon a month before the newlyweds got away to celebrate their nuptials at Sherwood Lake, one has to assume the honeymoon impacted Walter's ability to remember the plain facts of the situation.

Third, anyone with a memory for important history knows that Woody first appeared in a short entitled "Knock, Knock" on November 25, 1940. Using this date as his "birthday" would mean that for the first time ever, a Christian ministry has sent out "facts" which, upon further examination, proved to be incorrect. Or not.

This would be a good point for you to ask why details of this nature are of any interest to me.

I have an answer.

I had a love/hate relationship with Woody Woodpecker. When I was a child, I secretly enjoyed his out-of-control personality. He wasn't always a "good" woodpecker. My guess is I probably identified with him too much on a personal level.

On the other hand – and it was a very big "other hand" for me – in the fifties and early sixties I was forced to suffer through "the laugh" on a regular basis. It was a common experience for me to introduce myself, watch the other kid get a silly grin on his face and attempt to make Woody's signature laugh like, perhaps, it was the first time I had ever heard it.

My mother used to wonder why I started so many fights. Now in Heaven, she finally knows!

A few people are aware that my given name is Elwood. The natural question would be why I didn't use that if I found the name Woody to be so challenging. My short answer would be that while I enjoyed Jimmy Stewart as an actor, his role of Elwood P. Dowd in the movie "Harvey" was not his strongest effort. Besides, given a choice between invisible rabbits or raucous woodpeckers, I'll stick with Woody.

Still, I learned early in life that names make a difference. Some of the "who-you-will-become" deals with the name you are given to carry or choose to carry. All of us must learn to tote the load.

Jesus was given a name. It was an honorable name, a prophetic name. However, for an adolescent living in Nazareth, it wasn't the "right" name. During His time on earth, it would have been proper for the oldest son to be named after his paternal grandfather and the second to carry on the father's name. Case in point, in Matthew 13:55 we find that Jesus' brothers Jacob and Joseph were named in honor of grandpa and dad.

So, from the very beginning, Jesus' name told people in His hometown there was something not-quite-kosher about Him. My "sanctified imagination" tells me that Jesus suffered a great deal because of that. After all, it is hard for people in small towns to forget a good scandal... why else wouldn't He have been named for his grandfather? Psalm 69:12 may give us a quick snapshot into Jesus' experience in Nazareth when it says, "Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me; drunkards mock me in their songs." (ESV)

Still, God the Father used Jesus' name and life experiences to form Him into a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised..." (Isa. 53:3)

Talk about "love/hate" - I hate the fact Jesus had to go through all of that, but I love Him for it. I am thankful that He lived in such a way that He could identify with hurting mankind. I am thankful and amazed that He faithfully "toted the load" for someone named Woody.