S2E01 - A Proverb on THE POWER OF NAMES - "Orúkọ ńroni; àpèjà ńroni"

PROVERB CONSIDERED: "Orúkọ ńroni; àpèjà ńroni." INTERPRETATION: "One’s name affects one’s character; one’s war name determines how one behaves." MEANING: To put it succinctly, people are influenced by their names. BIBLICAL REFLECTION: This belief that people are influenced by their names is common in Biblical records, especially among the Jews. We see cases of God changing people's names and how that has a significant impact on their lives (Abram, Sarai, Jacob, Simon...). We therefore reflected on this proverb by highlighting a couple of things: 1. That we should see the opportunity to name our children as an opportunity to speak prophetically into their destinies. 2. That names can be weapons of war, and so we should not be flippant in the names we give our kids. 3. That we should embrace the opportunity to articulate what we know of God (or what we desire from Him) in self-coined names which we ascribe to Him. 4. That we should appreciate and engage with music, poetry and other art forms that can help us conceptualise God in deep expressions in our native languages. BIBLICAL EXAMPLES CITED Peter. (Matthew 16:13-20) Jabez. (1 Chronicles 4:9-10) FOR MORE RESOURCES FROM JOSEPH & ANU OLA https://linktr.ee/josephola https://josephola.disha.page/