My Name on my Birthday Cake
June 2010
"But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."
It usually takes three weeks to learn my students' names, and now, after the start of the new semester, I have learned them.
However, I have a problem. I can't pronounce some. If I can call them by last names, then I "cheat" and do that. However, sometimes the first and last names are both impossible.
Students don't seem concerned about getting my name right. I answer to anything close to "Durham". However, they are less forgiving if I mispronounce their names.
I gathered some quotes about names, which demonstrate the importance people have placed on names.
The first one comes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
This next one is from Arthur Miller's, Crucible:
John Proctor: "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!"
I have a colleague who gave birth to her son yesterday. As of last night, his first name was still officially listed as "Nameless".
A mutual friend who visited her at the hospital yesterday told me she and her husband had wanted a girl. Someone told them they would jinx their chances for a girl if they picked out boys' names, so they didn't.
When their third son was born, he was dubbed "Nameless" until his name could be selected.
However, God has already named him. His parents just need to figure it out. God was with "Nameless" in the womb and claimed him and named him there.
What a miracle. His birth and his name are uniquely his, and God was with him throughout the process.
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Lord, bless the babies as they begin their new lives.
I tried to comment the day this entry was posted, but was having computer trouble.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to let you know that this entry was PERFECT for me to read that very day. Thank you!
I'm glad, DogMom, that there was something in here that touched you. By the way, "Nameless" is now "Nathaniel".
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