Name, Blessing or Curse

I am standing at the bus stop with my kids and a few others. To pass the time, I ask them, “If you could be nicknamed anything, what would it be?” The three older boys popped off their nicknames quickly. The boys said, “Sparky,” “Scrappy,” and “Spike.” If you knew theses boys, you would know how well these names really fit them.

My four year old then pipes in, “Doctor!” I am not sure he understands what a nickname is, but I am thrilled he came up with “Doctor.” The bus came, Sparky, Scrappy and Spike jumped on and Doctor started his usual Good Morning Wave at every bus and car that drove by. As I smiled to myself, I began to wonder what is in a name? Is a name a blessing or a curse?

I have a dear friend who is very concerned that people have lost track of the importance of names. In the beginning, names were references to who people were and what they did. If you expected something great from your child, you named them something that meant great. You then called them by that name, blessing them every time you said it. When the child grew into an adult, all those blessings would hopefully come into fruition and as an adult, they would be great.

Of course, the reverse was thought to be true too. Cruel nicknames being hurled at a child cursed that child every time that name was cast on them. How many times have we heard of school violence and the perpetrator say they were just getting pay back for all the bulling? Did those kids inadvertently curse the child being bullied? Did the curse come true when the bullied became the bully?

I have no answer, but it certainly gives me pause. My name? My name means “Morning Star.” If you ever see me in the morning, you will see that I am anything but a star. My husband is a morning star. I guess if he keeps casting that blessing on me, someday our lights will shine at the same time and our mornings will be very bright.