The Value of Addressing Someone By Name

When we come together to worship God in church, we are coming together as a community — as a family. We must take this into consideration when interacting with each other. We must bring the conversation in the direction of love and warmth.

Every person we interact with in our day-to-day lives is a human being — someone with emotions, hopes, dreams, and fears. Every person is an individual and unique in his/her own right. In the simplest sense, we are all different. Though we worship and pray together, we breathe separately. Though we share similar bonds of love and belief, we are separate from each other. While it is important to come together as a group, it is equally important to accept, acknowledge and embrace the fact that each and every person is an individual.

When you are greeted by another person, you are making an initial connection with him/her. Why not make that interaction a positive and loving one? If you have met this person before, address him/her by name. Make eye contact and say “hello, [first name].” Acknowledge him/her directly, even if there is no one nearby with whom your greeting could be confused. Stating the person’s name sets emphasis on the fact that you are paying attention to him/her. In just two words, you are expressing that you are here to listen, to talk and to help.

Bring love, confirmation, and affirmation with you in your greetings. Shed compassion onto the person with whom you are speaking. You never know how much it may mean to someone to simply offer acknowledgment. Afterall, we are all bound together when meeting in the same place. Why not make our interactions with each other positive from the beginning?