Nicknames were fairly common even when we were kids. I remembered when we played with the kids in my neighbourhood. They called me “milky boy”. I didn’t know why they called me by that name, probably I liked to drink milk even when I was eight or nine years old. I didn’t think it was a bad name at all, at least it was better than “big mouth” or “skinny head”. I recalled a good friend when I was in primary school, we called a boy “Blackly” because he had dark skin, but he was a good boy never involved in fighting or arguing like others. What a good old time!
Nicknames aren’t limited to school or neighbour. We also have them in the Bible. For example, Jesus dubs the apostles James and John the “sons of thunder” ; maybe they had a quick temperament. Another one was a woman named Naomi, but she asked people to call her “Mara,” which means “bitterness” because both her husband and two sons had died. She felt that God had made her life bitter. But her new nickname didn’t last, because her bad luck stayed very long. In the midst of her sorrow, God had blessed her with a loving daughter-in-law, Ruth, who eventually remarried and had a son, creating a family for Naomi again.
Although we might sometimes give ourselves bitter nicknames, like “losers” or “tough luck” based on difficulties we’ve experienced or mistakes we’ve made, those names are not the end of our stories. We can replace those labels with the name God has given each of us, “brightness, hope, might or angel” and look for the ways He’s providing for us in even the most challenging of times of the pandemic. We know He always holds the power and He will overcome it.