“In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands because of your name, for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm.” — 1 Kings 8:41-42.
I have to lead with a shout-out to Maul’s Bike Shop in Halifax, Massachusetts. We have exchanged several emails, and the proprietor kindly sent me a Maul’s Bike Shop T-shirt.
It turns out there is a serious worldwide shortage of Mauls, so it is gratifying to run into one willing to communicate. The fact that I am beginning to explore the world of biking makes the timing a serendipity.
Family names are interesting. It may not be something we can choose — which can leave you feeling helpless, but it is absolutely something we can help to define — which in turn is empowering.
My mother never liked the name. She was vocal about this, and it hurt my dad’s feelings. My brother, Geoff, was two years ahead at school, so teachers would greet me with “Not another Maul!”
Then, I discovered an interesting family scandal which helped by adding some notoriety. Apparently, my great-great-grandfather’s mother, Eliza, was in between a series of husbands at the time he was born (circa 1840). And so, Eliza gave him her maiden name, Maul.
Maul is a wonderful name mostly because my father, David, and my grandfather, FW, lived with such deep integrity and depth of character and unrelenting witness to the grace and the goodness of God.
So, my opportunity has been to build on such a positive heritage, and I pray that the name — my name — carries an association with grace, peace, light, love, mercy, justice, healing, encouragement, promise, hope and possibility. Not just because people have read my books and articles but also because they know me and experience the truth and the power of the good news.
The legacy associated with any name is the cumulative witness that our life bears to the story we live. The name ‘Derek Maul’ is my part in — my contribution to — The Greatest Story Ever Told.