These immortal words of Shakespeare were the theme for the conversation among us cousins while we were at our holiday chalet the last 2 days. We were wondering if the etymology of a person's name actually plays a part in shaping his/ her character and eventually destiny. (This, of course, presupposes that your parents gave you names that they thought about, deliberated over and mean something.)
Take mine for example. Nalinee is from the root word "Nalinam", which in Tamil means "graceful and feminine", usually referring to a dancer's movements and gestures.
So, am I graceful and feminine because that's who I am, or because my name somehow influences my personality? Jumping to the conclusion that I AM those things of course.
But what if they had gone with their first choice and named me Mira? (She was a woman who believed that she was born to be the bride of the Hindu God Krishna, and spent her life in worship and devotion in front of his statue.) Would I still have been graceful and feminine? Would I have been able to embrace the love of Christ, or would I have believed that I had to worship Krishna like my namesake?
In the bible, it says that God called forth things into being by naming them. And later he passed that ability on to Adam, who named all the creatures. And when Death (the Fall) entered his life. Adam wisely used his gift and called his companion "Life!" (Hawa in Hebrew or Eve, when Anglicised). He thus called life into a situation that may have ended humanity altogether.
And God set a precedent when he renamed Abram (Exalted Elder) and Sarai (Domineering One) to Abraham (Father of Many) and Sarah (Princess). After this change of names, their destiny also changed and they brought forth Isaac and the entire Jewish nation, thus fulfilling God's promise to Abraham.
This only led me to remember a discourse I heard recently on how the ancient Hebrew name of God reveals the gospel of salvation, 4000 years before the birth of Christ.
This is pictorial, so bear with me as I try to explain it in words. Also remember that Hebrew reads from right to left.
H V H Y
Hei Vav Hei Yud
Now, like Chinese, every Hebrew letter is also a symbol for a word.
Yud - Open hand, as if in blessing
Hei - Divine Grace
Vav - Nail
Hei - Divine Grace
So if you read the symbols, God's name, Yahweh, actually says:-
The Open Hand of Grace, Nailed in Grace.
Now, does that remind you of Someone? :)
*Hebrew Lesson and Name of God Discourse credited to Pastor Joseph Prince*
2 comments:
ive thought abt my name heaps of times, and whether if id been named something else, my personality would have reflected that.
sangeeta means music. i wouldn't say that i sing all that well, but its pretty alright, and i LOVE so many different genres of music.
ive wondered whether i would have been able to sing, or have had such a profound appreciation of music had my parents named me something else. my dad i know wanted to name me Kumari. meaning? virgin.
thank the LORD he didn't get his way. because you know what i wldnt be getting had i been named tht ;)
thats amazing..its always so interesting to know how you're name came about and if indeed your name makes you who you are..ive thought about this so many times..
mahima means 'importance' and 'by the grace of god' (i guess its context specific)
i never quite felt like a mahima..but i think im starting to embrace it..or it, me.
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