Wednesday, January 15, 2020
“And his name will be the hope of all the world.” (Matthew 12:21, New Living Translation) 

                Susan and I are pleased to joyfully announce the safe and healthy arrival of Naomi Barbara Carol Soble, on January 8^th, our seventh grandchild, daughter to Nathaniel and Krista, brother to Declan. She took a while – a typical Soble, stubbornly doing it on her own time, only when she was good and ready.

                Most of us are probably familiar with the line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

                There is a lot packed into our new granddaughter’s name, Naomi Barbara Carol.  The names come from three very significant people, especially in our son’s, Nathaniel, life. Barbara is the name of his maternal grandmother, a woman who, among many contributions, has brought the influence of a love for nature, outdoors, and the environment. Carol is the name of his paternal grandmother, a woman who loved being with our whole family and brought us many humorous and enjoyable memories from her visits with us.

                But the name, Naomi, needs its own paragraph. We first met Naomi during our time in Ottawa, where she and her husband Earl were members of First Baptist Church. They immediately took a shine to our family as they did not have any children of their own.  When Earl died suddenly, we soon adopted Naomi as our “fill-in” grandmother and she rose to the challenge and then some. When Nathaniel was a toddler, Naomi was our go-to babysitter, often just for him. He had his own tooth-brush in her apartment. They loved to watch the Sound of Music together, the movie with “the lady who had a frog in her pocket.” They spent a lot of time together. Naomi would rather look after Nate than just about anything.  He shaped his own pet name for her, Omi, which soon became our whole family’s name for her as well. She loved it and owned it.  She was a generous, loving, caring person to our whole family. We miss her.

                So, it is very touching for all of us to have this wee one named after Naomi as well as her two grandmothers. My mom was always a little jealous of our relationship with Naomi, so I hope she doesn’t mind coming in third place, but Naomi is exactly the right name for our granddaughter.

                Not that long ago, we encountered the words from the Christmas Nativity, in which both parents, Mary and Joseph, were, separately, instructed to name the  newly-expected  child, Jesus, a form of Joshua, meaning he saves. “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, NLT) And we have been piling more and more names on him ever since, trying to capture and even tame this larger-than-life personality and historical figure. “And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, NLT)

                The name of Jesus has changed lives. The name of Jesus has brought transformation, liberation, hope, joy, peace and love. The name of Jesus has stirred up passion for justice, compassion and equity. The name of Jesus has stirred people into action, into service, into deeds of mercy and kindness. The name of Jesus has invited us into doing unto others what we would have them do unto us, into repeated acts of forgiveness and mercy. The name of Jesus is never a static definition of this man, but is multi-faceted, complex and adaptable in the sense that the name of Jesus is a powerful, symbolic response to the troubled times in which we live. The name of Jesus reveals, corrects and denies the sins of the people.

                Behold, the man! His name is Jesus!


Dale