Thought for the Day 2

Just did it in time! I enjoyed the session more than I thought I would.

The Galleries shopping centre in Bristol has been sold for 123 million pounds, and the new owners want to change its name to ‘The Mall Bristol’. Of course, Bristol already has a Mall at Cribbs Causeway and that Mall is not very happy about sharing its name. They fear that it might cause confusion. If there were to be two Malls in Bristol, how would we know which one we were talking about?

But it’s not just shopping centres that have to share names. If you go through the phone book you could well find that there’s someone else in Bristol that has the same name as you have. In the interests of research, I typed my name into an internet search engine, just to see what I got. And I found some very interesting Simon Taylors. There’s a Simon Taylor who teaches salsa dancing in Mansfield; a Simon Taylor who won the 2002 Tasmanian Fly Fishing Championships; and an emigrant ship called the Simon Taylor sailed from London on 30th April, 1842. I was very pleased to learn that someone called Simon Taylor once did the special effects on an episode of Doctor Who.

One thing I noticed by doing this was that, although through my name I share something with a number of other people, there were many ways in which I am very different. I cannot dance, I have never been fly fishing and I’m certainly not a ship. I’d like to be part of an episode of Doctor Who, but probably never will be.

No amount of people who share my name can change the fact that I am unique. Even identical twins are different people. I am different to everyone else that shares my name, just as they are different to me.

Jesus told his followers that God had counted every hair on their heads. God knows all the little differences that make you and me different from everybody else. All of those little differences are precious to God. Whatever you’re name, and who ever you share it with, you are precious to God for who you are.