ON FIRST KNOWING WHO WE ARE
In Alex Haley’s book, Roots, he tells about the “eight day” ceremony in which a West African baby is given its name. The name is both a gift and a challenge. It is hoped that the child will take into its own life the positive qualities that the name implies. The ceremony is carried out before all the village. Haley writes, “Omoro lifted up the infant and as all watched, whispered three times into his son’s ear the name he had chosen for him. It was the first time the name had ever been spoken as this child’s name, for Omoro’s people felt that each human being should be the first to know who he was.” Just so in baptism we truly know who we are, and whose we are.
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