As I was waiting for my daughter at school, another child came and asked my younger daughter what her name was. When she said it, this little first grader beamed and said she had a girl in her class with that same name. As I watched her reaction, I thought about just how often my children discuss names. They love to make connections with other names they know, especially when they meet someone with the same name as their own, or of someone they already know. They can hardly contain their excitement over this realization. And what about those little girls who write their names a hundred times in their journals? And when they try out their name as a future Mrs. somebody.
“And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.” (3 Nephi 11:37) What is it about names and little children? I know this scripture isn’t specifically relating to becoming like a child in how they feel about things, but perhaps there is a correlation. I wonder about how this relates to how I feel at this point in my life. Do I ever react this way when I hear a name? Should I feel this way about any names in particular? Names are so important in our life. They are so personal. Some times they become even sacred in nature to us. One in particular, is when we choose to take upon ourselves the name of Christ and become his disciples.
I wonder what your thoughts might be. How does a name in the heart and mind of a child, relate to taking upon us the name of Christ? What does this mean for how we should feel when we find others who have chosen to become disciples of Christ? Any thoughts?
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