My Name is Shemaiah

Rhymes with papaya. This is what I tell strangers when they ask how to pronounce my name. I know my name is different. It is difficult to remember. I tell people that it does not hurt my feelings if you ask for the 2nd, 10th or 100th time. 

I am full of mnemonic devices to help people remember my name.

It’s like Jeremiah but I am a girl so I’m a SHE -maiah.

Like Shania Twain but with an M.

But it is my Jewish friends that never forget my name. For my name is part of the, Shema, the prayer Jews pray twice a day. It comes from Deuteronomy 6.

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

You shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul

A reminder that God is to be our focal point. That our heart should always be aligned with His.

Shema, means hear and the iah part of my name means God. This is why so many names in the Bible sound like this; Josiah, God helps, Nehemiah, God comforts, Isaiah, God Saves. They are names to remind us of the character of God--of who God intrinsically is.

My parents gave me this name because they wanted me to always remember who God is. God Hears. God Listens. God will hear you when you call to Him. This implies too, that He is always there with us. Nothing can separate us from His love.

My parents knew there would come a time in life when the waters would get murky. When the Truth might be difficult to see. Just hearing someone call me by my name reminds me to call upon the Lord. To keep my eyes on Him in the storm. To align my heart with His and all becomes clear again.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He reminded His followers of the Shema. “Love the Lord, your God, your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.” I love the emphasis on whole, with everything of your being. Do not have a divided heart, God says so often in scripture. You cannot serve God and man, God and money, God and politics. And God knows how difficult this is, so He tells us in the law how to accomplish this,

“Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.  Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.  Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.” (Duet 6:6-9)

We must know His word. We must love it. We must have His word ever before us. Breathe it.  Otherwise, it is easy to be led astray.

And this is why I don’t mind if you ask me for the 100th time “What is your name again?”

It is Shemaiah, when “the righteous cry out, the LORD hears and he rescues them from all their afflictions.” (Psalm 34:18)

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This was to be my last column for NorthWest Catholic before they fired me for questioning Gender Theory being taught at my children’s Catholic PreK-8th. If you enjoyed my column or my writing consider sending me a “tip” to make up for lost wages. My Venmo is @Shemaiah-Gonzalez