Jezebel
Jezebel hated her name. Her parents told her it meant ‘Where is the Lord?’ When people called her Jezebel, they were labelling her—bad enough, but Jezebel was a faithless, immoral cheater. The name plagued her in high school. She disliked labels such as ‘girl’ and ‘white’ and ‘colleague,’ but labels were everywhere these days. She refused to be labelled. No one should be labelled. No human was that simple.
After school, she largely left it behind, though it remained on her credit cards and driver’s licence. When old enough, she finally changed her name legally, to Jessica. It was close enough not to offend her mom and dad—much. They still called her Jezebel when she visited. Which was about the time the new President signed the Labelling Law.
Labels were now legally required. You were right wing or left wing (or variations.) You were a true believer or heretic. You were a hard worker or useless. You were loyal or a traitor.
Because of the new law, Jessica’s name was changed back to Jezebel. Now, she legally had to call herself Jezebel and explain to everyone why she did not act like a Jezebel when everyone else acted like their label. She told everyone Jezebel meant ‘Where is the Lord?’ No one believed her. Soon, despite her personal beliefs, Jezebel cheated on her husband and became a shameless flirt at work. She felt forced to live up to her label. Therapy did no good, her husband divorced her and she cheated on the next one.
People became their labels. They stayed within their boundaries. As did Jezebel—but, true to her name, eventually Jezebel prayed and found the Lord, who labelled her a malcontent.