I went to church today. I hope members of our new government in Washington, DC did too. The sermon was about naming - the importance of names in the Torah and Bible. How John the Baptist found a new name for Jesus - Messiah. How Jacob was renamed Israel after wrestling with G*d and the Angel. And the minister asked what is the function of being named? At one level, the purpose of being named is to take ownership - the way parents in effect take ownership and control of their child, the way in not so ancient times (and currently in many societies) a husband took control of his wife. At another level, the reverend said, naming creates new relations, new threads between people and entities - the way renaming gave our ancient prophets new relationships with G*d - from Abraham and Sarah on down - and the way names create relationships among human beings - geneologies, marriages, adoptions, the creation of companies and societies and clubs and towns. Finally, renaming, like in baptism, is a chance to recreate, to renew, to ..... in our commercial culture .... to rebrand. New names are given in coming of age ceremonies as youth turns to adulthood. As a purpose wanes or is satisfied, an entity renames itself and finds a new purpose.
AND THIS IS WHAT I PRAY WITH ALL MY HEART WILL HAPPEN ON JANUARY 20 WHEN DONALD TRUMP IS RENAMED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
That he will realize that with the office, he has become the property of all Americans. He is owned by us all and is accountable to all of us. As President, he will have relationships that beggar the imagination - with the people most high and most low in our nation, richest and most pious, most famous and all but anonymous, people from around the globe that our nation touches - and may they be nurturing and healthy relations even as he does his duty protecting our people. Finally, beginning on January 20th, Donald Trump can reinvent himself into being a servant of G*d and servant of the people as our tradition and our Constitution teach us. Change is possible. In fact change is necessary for all human beings. On this Sunday, I pray for President-elect Trump. I pray that in his renaming, in his rebirth as our leader, he will take heed of the enormous responsibilities that he has assumed willingly in furtherance of G*d's purpose for human kind on this earth. Most important, I pray Donald Trump will lead us to take care of this precious planet and all its life for which G*d gave human kind stewardship.