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What's in a name? The answer to the question could be explained as meaning and purpose. When we named our first child Katherine we did so because we thought it was a strong name and we dreamed that she would be determined. She is both strong and determined. Each year parents name their newborns and hope that their given name will provide both meaning and purpose to their child's life.
In 2018, the top five names for girls are reported to be Emma, Charlotte, Sadie, Violet, and Kennedy. These names seem to me to be filled with character.
I began to think again about the power of naming after a trip to the kitchen at JCPC. Here is what I saw that was the catalyst for my thoughts on the power of naming.
I hope you are laughing right now because this picture still gives me a belly chuckle. There is no doubt to whom this cooler belongs. Thank you choir for making my day!!! What really struck my fancy was the transformative power of naming. This is the first and perhaps only time I will see a Styrofoam YETI cooler such as this!!!
Naming this cooler a YETI opened up an entirely new way of relating to the cooler. It is now distinctive and determined to greatness.
In the Bible we witness the power of naming. At the very beginning of the book of Genesis we see that God grants humankind the gift of naming:
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. -Genesis 2: 18-19
What if we took the transformative power of naming more seriously in our daily lives? How could it transform our lives? Rather than naming the day as awful we might name it the day that the Lord has made and perhaps rejoice and be glad in it. What if we changed the name of the driver on Hwy 141 from jerk (this Reflection is rated PG) to neighbor who wants to get home to his family? If a Styrofoam cooler can become a YETI...What if?!!
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