"Titles & Defined Names" ~ Who or What, Am or Are, You or I ?

 Titles, from birth were labeled by so much more than our name, newborn, child (first, second or 12th, whatever) we become so & so's son or daughter, as the years progress more and more labels get applied to us, based on ages and accomplishments, be they good or bad. One may get labeled a dunce or a trouble maker, then carry that burden for life, trying to do nothing more than shake the stigma of that moniker. Perhaps one will get labeled "genius" early on,then spend their life attempting to live up to that so as not to let others down. As we progress theres the rich & poor, educated or uneducated then it's likely off to being a spouse, and well, either a husband or wife. Then quite possibly kids and you become a parent, soon to be so & so's mom or dad, unless you don't stick around, then that child becomes "abandoned or orphaned". Perhaps the marriage doesn't last, then you become "divorced", but that may become "remarried" with time. Then a spouse will pass away and your a widow or widower.

 I know, this is all obvious stuff, I'm looking at something deeper in it, something spiritual, these labels and definitions play into ones pshyce, and also, quite likely work into ones relationship with God as well. I think this writing will relate better with men, we're obsessed with the whole titles thing, get a group of men together and the "ice-breaking" conversation is almost definatly going to be, "what do you do for a living". This question has an a.k.a. (alias) known as "What Are You", meaning are you a soldier, doctor, lawyer or perhaps a janitor. In our world, even though God has clearly stated that all men are created equal, we often find ourselves not seeing that as the case when it comes to names & titles.

 I know that women cetainly deal with this also, I remember when my wife was a stay @ home mom, housewife & homeschooler. Boy, it's a tough job, yet many seemed to think less of it, theres "stigmas" to so many of these titles in this supposed "open minded" and ever more progressive world. As I look at myself and all the titles I've "held" I wonder wow, if I'd been defined only by the title 20 or 30 years ago so much wouldn't have happened, see I don't have a set "career", I've worked several different jobs in various fields, I guess that would make my title "unstable", lol.

 In all seriousness though I realize that theres a certain level of need for this in communication and understanding, but we seem to get carried away, like we have to be "defined". Heck as titles became ever more a status symbol the "lesser" jobs, became less appealing and many got "re-titled", a dishwasher became a ceramic technician, a janitor is a custodian, a garbageman a "sanitation engineer". The term "customer service rep" became a new title for all kinds of positions, so much so that now it's non-defining, you don't know if it means cashier or phone operator. The point of all this, is vanity, our hearts and minds don't want to carry "labels of littleness", I mean heck a 16 or 17 year old getting their first job now often doesn't want to be a "cashier", oh the horror! They'd like to be a "cook", (thats the guy behind the cashier flippin the burgers) and theres nothing wrong with that! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying "don't aspire to greatness", but dang, try learning a little something, a little humility goes a long way.

 I personally reached a point in life a couple of years ago where I realized I'd rather be the janitor than the C.E.O., heck the janitor gets to go home, the janitor may not have his first heart attack at 45 as he's working on his 3rd marriage (there are so many titles connected to that guy we won't even get started). Man the days of yore must have been easy, you were either a sheep herder, farmer, blacksmith or leather worker. Nowadays a Doctor can go on vacation, be refered to as a biker, get retitled to "drunkard", to drunk driver, then to either jailbird or roadkill, or, maybe one in need of a Doctor. I've struggled with "what do I wanna be when I grow up" for years, I still haven't decided!

 I'm at that odd & awkward point in life that sometimes happens, I get to "choose" what I'm gonna be, sort of, I mean it's up to the powers that be as to where I land, but one of the questions I have to keep addressing is "what are you"? I've been many things, and I've changed course many times, so...theres no set answer, as I may not want to go backwords. I had this option one previous time in life, I left one job for another, but before I started, it became obvious that it wasn't going to work, going back to where I'd left didn't seem like an option, so I went forward. To this day I don't think I made some "right" choices on that one, but eventually God reeled me back in and stabilized me. Don't get me wrong, the "title" doesn't bother me, it's the fact that I have to select one thats tricky.

 It's like this, I know how I define myself these days. first and most important is that I'm a God fearin, Christ redeemed former sinner that still has work to do and always will, that is closely followed by being a husband to the beautiful woman that God has blessed me with, and entrusted to my care, and of course theres my children to whom I am a father. These 3 things are what I feel most defines me, these titles are "set", they aren't changing, so everything else is going to have to "title" around these titles. I've been a business owner, independent representative of a few companies and worked a myriad of "jobs & careers", not one thing though, has yet, felt like "the fit".

 Oddly I found that on a forum such as FaceBook people don't typically ask what you are, they do however seem to assume an awful lot, which gives us potential deep(ish) insight into what we might be good at or "called" to do. I like a forum where my sole identity is "just jimm", theres a couple of reasons for this, one, is that we break down all social barriers and, two my devotion & relation to God in Christ comes across more clearly and isn't put into denomination, region, financial, ethnic or age "titles". Social network media is an outlet that has greatly helped me, find me.

Sincerely,

In Christ

Jimm Bacon

aka "just jimm"...titleless