What Would Be His Name?

God, if you were going to have a son, what would you call his name?

How about, “Grand Master Over All the Universe,” or “Potentate Supreme Above All Potentates?”

Or, “The Untouchable One, Unattainable and Exalted”?

Would you call him “Glorious One”, “Majestic One”, “King?”

For surely, he would be all these things.

If you were going to have a son, what would you call him?

My child, I would call him Wonderful.

Beyond understanding, leaving you speechless!

You will see him in the awesome sweep of a mountain,

In the breathtaking roar of an ocean wave,

In the fiery flash of a lightning strike.

But you will see him in small things, too.

You will see him in a simple daisy, striving to the light,

In a butterfly dashing colour from its wings as it flits from flower to flower.

You will see him as a newborn infant squalling as he enters your cold and dark world.

My God, that is beyond understanding!  It leaves me speechless!

He is Wonderful.

I would call him Counsellor. 

Not a road map laying out your whole journey before you

So that all is clear and you need no one else along the way, but a compass.

When you feel like you have hopelessly lost the way,

You must listen for his voice carefully as he coaches and coaxes,

Through his Word, through his Spirit, and through the hands of fellow pilgrims,

Who reach out to help you and hold you and cheer you on.

He will give you enough that you can find your way through the morass of your broken world,

But not too much that you can do it alone.

In my wisdom, I will call him Counsellor,

And he will guide you home.

I would call him Mighty God.

A fearsome warrior, he stands teeth bared, eyes glaring, sword drawn,

Crouched protectively over the cowering child at his feet,

And poised to crush those who would try to harm this little one of his.

A Mighty Man, he looks down upon the world and holds even chaos in his hand,

So that when your world is upended, you can know that he is there.

When your enemies rise against you, you can trust that he will fight.

When you look around you and see a world gone mad and out of control,

You can trust that he holds the world.

Greater than any Colossus, he bestrides the universe

As Mighty God.

 

I would call him Everlasting Father.

Mighty God With You.  God Come Near.

He will enter your world, become a part of your life.

His hands and arms will be strong and gentle as he teaches you how to walk,

And carries you close when you are too weary to continue.

His smile will be broad and his laugh will shake his shoulders

As he takes pride in your successes and delights in your delight.

His tears will track down his cheeks and drip from his chin

When he sees your struggles and feels your heartaches,

And he will crouch down to you as you run and bury your face

In the arms of your Everlasting Father.

I would call him Prince of Peace.

When you hide from a Holy God in the bushes of shame and fear,

Trembling because of the sin you have committed against this Righteous One,

He will seek you out and offer to be your peace treaty.

When you find yourself at war with others,

He will give you the courage to offer peace from the peace he has given you.

When you lie awake at night, and the darkness presses hot upon your heart,

And you are lashed by the winds of worry and dread,

He will stride across the waves of your storms

And cry out, “Peace!  Be still!”  You will sleep like a child, the lines of worry smoothed away

By the hand of the Prince of Peace.

God, if you were going to have a son, what would you call his name?

My child, I would call him Jesus.

© Marianne V., with many thanks to Dr. D. Barker for his inspiration and ideas

February 3, 2006