Followers

Sunday, April 03, 2005

"Badges? We ain’t got no badges."

More accurately "Badge? I ain't got no badge." I always seem to miss out on the fun things they do in the main meeting because I am in Sunday School! Today, the pastor was giving out badges - empty blank badges that you could fill in yourself. I have yet to listen to the sermon (Sunday school teachers get given a copy of the sermon, so they don't miss out) so I don't know where the badges bit fits in. All I know it I didn't get one!

I was trying to get my husband to tell me about the badges bit. Apparently they paired off to pray with another member of the fellowship. Everyone has individual strengths, gifts or character traits and these formed the focus of what was written onto the badge. He was told that he was "sound" which made him feel very boring. He is not a "fad" person and doesn't join in the "in thing", in every day life, but also in church life. He has very strong views about things and considers things thoughtfully. I suppose that is what was meant by "sound".

I am not sure I actually want a badge. I don't want to be labelled. And yet I do like people to recognise things in me and encourage me. You don't need a badge to so that!

I remember getting two badges in Brownies - I joined late in life and didn't have time to earn an armful. One was an entertainer's badge for which I danced an Irish jig and recited a poem - not at the same time! The other was a hospitality badge that was earned by making a cup of tea and offering a plate of cakes around. I seem to remember washing socks, but I think that is perhaps taking hospitality a bit too far. That might not have had anything to do with the hospitality badge now that I think about it.

Surfing around the Internet, the British museum had a display of various badges and blurb about badges. "A badge is an unspoken message: an expression of identity, a signal of membership, a declaration of loyalty or a statement of belief."

I guess that means that a badge is more than just a label. I want something that is more than just a label.

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