What's In A Name?

The most complicated part of setting up this blog, was choosing a name. It's not as easy as it seems...not for a person like me, anyway. I possess an uncanny knack for making the simple complex. So for me, it required 4-5 hours of contemplation and reflection on the deeper meanings of life...who am I? Who do I WANT to be? Who do I want others to THINK I am? What matters to me in the big scheme of life? Etc, etc, etc...

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Afterall, names MEAN something...they embody the essence of a thing. I agree with Mary Stuart Van Leeuven, a quasi-liberal feminist theologian, (rejected by feminists and evangelicals alike) who was the first I heard argue that there is power in naming - some degree of dominion and ownership are involved. We reformed Christians also recognize the significance of names/naming and especially The Name - not taking it in vain has much to do with not defaming the character or reputation of the One to whom the name belongs. Significant philosophical and theological import is attached to the whole idea of names and naming. Right? Have I sufficiently justified my perfectionist tendency by masking it with theological pretense?

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I must admit, though, that naming our children did not call forth such philosophizing and theologizing...we simply named them after pagan family members...and not even for the purpose of reclaiming the names for the kingdom or plundering the Egyptians...

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But naming my blog - now THAT'S serious and personal - it is an all encompassing statement of who I am. Here are a few I contemplated (usually in both English and Latin) before settling on She's No Lady:

* Ex noctua - From a Night Owl

* De Nocte - By Night

* Solitarius Noctua - Lonely Night Owl

* Peregrinata - Sojourner

* Filia Regni - King's Daughter

* Praeclarus Intra - All-glorious Within

* Sermocinatio - Discussion

* Claritas et Decor - Clarity & Grace

* Omnis Cogitatum Captivus - Every Thought Captive

* Pulling Down Strongholds

* Castigation of Fools (no, really! I thought about it!)

* Winsome Words

* Wise Sayings

* Amatrix Verba - Lover of Words

* Obesus Mater - Fat Mama

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O-K, so you get the idea...and this is only a partial list...it was a painstaking process. In the end I chose a lyric from a Lyle Lovett song, "...she loves to lie beside me almost every night - She's No Lady, she's my wife." I don't even want to think what that choice might reveal about me!