I almost bought a key ring this morning. It was the sort that had your name emblazoned all over it. I guess I'm a bit of a sucker for things like that, you know, anything that portrays my name or that of any of my family. Look, it can be key rings, birthday mugs, drinking glasses, name plates that stick to a door, lighters, wooden ornaments, combs, wallets, pens, indeed anything that has been personalised. But this one really appealed to me, maybe because I had a couple of pound coins in my pocket that weren't doing anything worthwhile and the price tag was only £1.99. And of course, I could see how useful it was going to be for it was no ordinary personalised key ring. No, this one had my name on a little piece of metal, which was exactly the same shape and size as a pound coin and the publicity at the top of the display said something like, 'never be without a pound for your shopping trolley.' And how often have I arrived at one of the local supermarkets with loose change in my pocket but no pound coin to release the trolley from its queue and then having to queue myself at another shop to try and exchange some of my silver for a suitable coin, with the shop assistant less than pleased that I'm not actually buying anything. Anyway, I looked at for a long time, lifted it off its pedestal, made sure it was exactly the same dimensions as one of my two pounds and though to myself, 'how handy and how innovative, I wish I'd thought of that.' Then I noticed another one that had my wife's name where mine had been and I began to think whether I should buy one with her name or my name and since I usually, but not always got the groceries, wouldn't that make more sense, except on the occasions when I wasn't there and she didn't have a pound. Are you still with me? Well, I thought about it some more, ten got my two pounds out, but then realised that this device was going to cost me that amount of money while the shopping trolley doesn't actually cost anything at all. So I set both back in place and left, two pounds richer than I might have been!Names are so important but sometimes I wonder how much common sense some parents exhibit when they go about choosing names for their babies. Everyone knows about Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz and I'm sure, who has daughters called Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom, and Little Pixie or Poppy Honey and Daisy Boo, but what about celebrity parents who give such handles as Indiana August, Coco Riley, Amber Rose, Saffron Sahara, Tallulah Pine, Pilot Inspektor, Piper Maru, Sailor Lee, Free, Moxie CrimeFighter, Ever Gabo, Audio Science, Sage Moonblood, Dweezil , Moon Unit and Racer Maximilliano to their offspring. It may seem a great idea at the time but I can just imagine morning roll call in my class, asking if Diva Muffin is absent today or trying to find out if Spec Wildhorse has remembered his homework. How do you address such names in class? Maybe you call them by their initials but that mightn't work for every kid, especially ones with two Christian names of Billy and Oliver!
I used to teach three brothers many years ago called Wayne, Duane and Shayne but their mum was a country and western freak so I forgive her for that but even my maternal grandmother had a penchant for naming her sons with different titles, such as Winston Spencer after Mr. Churchill himself and Haydn, strangely enough not after the famous composer but some Welsh army bloke who was stationed locally during the war and used to get his tea in my grandparent's cafe. And I know that we considered a wealth of different names for our own two lads when they were born and I had visions of second son being given a middle name of a New Zealand rugby player at the time but we couldn't spell Tuigamala. Only joking of course - in case my son has nightmares about that one.
When Isaiah foretold the birth of Jesus, he referred to him by many name when he wrote, 'his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' Paul, in writing to the Philippians, said 'Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' What is our reaction when we hear His name? Do we revere it, realising that He was God in human form or do we dismiss him as a good man and a prophet or just another religious fanatic. But unless we can call Him Redeemer, Saviour and Lord, we can never call Him Friend. What's in a name? Just Eternity!
