What I Write About

I write about the infinite number of intersections between every day life and the good news of the God who has come to get us.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Rosie, Zoe, and the Power of Naming

My wife is brilliant.

Until today, our three-year-old and one-year-old girls had an armada of dolls but only one had a name. Zoe had named her little Mafin (we're hoping her naming skills improve before she pro-creates) when she was just a year old.

What this means is that Mafin is the most favored doll of both of them...which means lots of fights.

So this morning, Kelly decided to put an end to the chaos.

"We need to name another baby," she said in a God-inspired moment. "Let's call this one Rosie."

She handed the newly-coined Rosie over to Emma Kate. She beamed, gave the doll a big hug, and shouted, "Rosie!"

Problem solved.

I think there's something here to be said about the power we have in naming.

When Kelly was teaching, she avoided talking to the teacher who had her students the year before. She didn't want to get a name handed to her. She wanted the student to have the space to form their own name...maybe even make a new one for themselves.

When we name our job or neighbor or spouse or people we work with as "bad," it can be next to impossible to shake it.

When we name something "good," it can call forth the good present...even if there isn't much there.

Adam's first job was to name the animals. Our naming has power, for good or for ill, to participate in creating reality.

Choose wisely.

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