In a Name

Hi everybody. The content of what I am posting this time around has probably been realized by most of you already. I am fleshing out my thoughts of the past several years here and trying to connect them in a manner that suits me. I have wanted to get this done for a while and decided that the blog is not only a way for me to get it in electronic form for permanence sake, but it also introduces my noodle into the public forum for scrutiny, direction, opposition and opinion.

I have pored over my journals, scriptures, talks and other resources in the composing of it. It is long and churchy, so press on if you do not mind. In posting such, I act less in the vein of preaching and more in that of questioning. I am fishing for feedback, basically:

Names have meanings. For example, the name "Michael Kiyoshi Brady." Michael translated literally is equivalent to the question "who is like God?" Kiyoshi means "holiness," and Brady means "spirited." My parents, particularly my father, were judicious in giving their children names that meant something to them, possibly a manifestation of their hopes in us. Names used to be codes or descriptions. The surname Smith references occupation, as do Miller, and Shipwright. Peterson means "son of Peter." Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean "Anointed One," another description. Names perhaps carry less meaning today than they have. In that context:

Exodus 20:7
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

And what is it to "take the name of the Lord thy God in vain"? In asking around, I have discovered that most people have decided that it is akin to cursing, swearing or whatever. E.g.: "Oh my God!" or "Dear Lord!" and we can imagine several others. I agree with this.

May also offer something else:

Moroni 4:3
O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

As we know, this is the Sacramental prayer on the bread. In it we find the words "willing to take upon them the name of thy Son." Could this qualify as a time when we take the Lord's name? I proffer that it does. And so "taking the Lord's name in vain" takes on a new meaning.

But I now suggest two more questions to further the discussion. 1: What does doing something "in vain" mean? Following suit, I must quote Merriam-Webster:

vain

2 entries found for vain.
Main Entry: vain
Pronunciation: 'vAn
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin vanus empty, vain -- more at WANE
1 : having no real value : IDLE, WORTHLESS
2 : marked by futility or ineffectualness : UNSUCCESSFUL, USELESS <vain efforts to escape>

Futility, ineffectual and having no real value. This brings me to the second question: Just what does it mean to "take the Lord's name"? It's what we re-covenant to do at the Sacrament table, initially making the covenant at baptism. As we know, the Baptismal Covenant is found in Mosiah.

Mosiah 18:8-10
8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

It is clear that here we are committing ourselves to perform a list of actions, like bearing one another's burdens, mourning with those that mourn, standing as witnesses and so on. But the only mention of a name is being baptized in His name--yet another action. So, what is the Lord's name?

The Lord, himself, when speaking to Moses on Sinai proclaims His name:

Exodus 34:5-7
5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin...

Here we find the attributes mercy, grace and longsuffering along with forgiveness. I suggest that our perception of the nomenclature surrounding names is in a different context than what it used to be.

My point is this: names are descriptors of their bearers. Names are attributes. Names are what the person is, does, or should be. Just as the Lord gives his name in Exodus 34, so does he the same in the Sermon on the Mount: poor in spirit, meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness, pure in heart, peacemaker, and so forth. As we strive to incorporate these attributes in to ourselves we are literally taking upon us His name; let us not do this in vain, and let us partake of the Sacrament for when we do, for we all shall.

Let's talk temple. There are names all over in the temple: past names, present names, mediating names and future names. Quoting from Dallin H. Oaks' "Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ" he incorporates the temple ceremony:

"It is significant that when we partake of the sacrament we do not witness that we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We witness that we are willing to do so. (See D&C 20:77.) The fact that we only witness to our willingness suggests that something else must happen before we actually take that sacred name upon us in the most important sense.

"What future event or events could this covenant contemplate? The scriptures suggest two sacred possibilities, one concerning the authority of God, especially as exercised in the temples, and the other—closely related—concerning exaltation in the celestial kingdom."

To me, this is clearly an allusion to that moment at the veil when we are finally permitted to pass through and enter the womb of the Celestial Room with our companions, husbands and wives, to be joined by the Spirit and exalted. Our diligence in striving to attain those attributes will be met with blessings. In Proverbs we read the cause:

3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

...and we read the effect:

3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

And then will Elder Oaks' prediction prove correct when we come to the real veil and enter the real Celestial Kingdom and eventually achieve real exaltation, all because of Jesus Christ, of course. When we become bound to Christ through the exchange at the veil, we are surely in his grip at last, bound and connected to him and our purposes fulfilled as he was bound and connected to the cross fulfilling his purpose.

So what is in a name? What does your name mean? What name would you like? What attributes would you like? Whose name would you like? Whose attributes would you like?

Finally I would like to refer you to the end of the world, sometime during Armageddon. John says:

Revelation 19:12
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Why does no man know? Whose name is it? I postulate that it is the next level of obedience to which he would have us adhere. As President Hinckley has said, it will be the raising of the bar, the introduction of truly Zionistic behaviors into our lives in earnest, and for our collective happiness, if we are willing.