Cameron's Naming Day Ceremony

Yesterday as I wandered down memory lane looking at everything I had kept about Cameron's birth, naming ceremony and illness and I came across the printed notes, from our celebrant, from Cameron's Naming Day Ceremony. It struck me how poignant her words were and how none of us expected our lives to be turned upside down only 3 months after she read these words. I thought I'd share with you what she said.

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Friends, we meet here today to take part together in a simple ceremony. We do so for a number of reasons. Five years ago we gathered to witness the marriage vows of Jane and Michael and today we witness the joyous event of the presentation to the family and naming of their son. They are pleased that he has arrived safely into this world and are grateful for his good health. They want to welcome him into their family unit, to the community of family and friends who have supported them so incredibly through five years of praying and hoping for a child. In appreciation of your support they want you all to share the joy this little boy has brought to them.

Mixed with their happiness I'm sure that Michael and Jane also feel a certain awe at the responsibility that is now theirs. This welcoming ceremony also reminds them that a great deal of their lives will be spent in caring for their child, in nurturing his growth and in guiding his development. Michael and Jane have long wanted to be parents. Just at the point when they had accepted the fact that perhaps they would never be able to have children they met the last doctor in a long series of doctors. As first time parents Michael and Jane have quickly come to realise the importance of a Parent's Love as a nurturing bond.

A Parent's Love  (Author unknown)
A parent's love is something that no-one can explain.
It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain.
It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may.
For nothing can destroy it or take that love away.
It is patient and forgiving, when all others are forsaking
And it never fails or falters even when the heart is breaking.
It believes beyond believing, when the world around condemns.
And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest brightest gems.
A many splendid miracle that man cannot understand.
Another wondrous evidence of life's tender guiding hand.

In sharing their joy they also ask that you as family and close friends share a little of the responsibility. The certain fact is the  more love this little boy receives the more he will benefit. They hope that the love and support he has already found will continue to grow for him. The more people to whom he relates the more balanced and rich  his growth will be. He was very much longed for and is now loved by so many people.

So your presence at the celebration for a new life and a new family is appreciated as will be your interest and involvement in all the years ahead. We join together to  demonstrate our willingness to share in the task of guarding this child from evil and in teaching him what a thrilling and lovely thing that life can be.

A Child Learns  (Author unknown)
If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight.
If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence.
If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security, he learns faith.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world.

(The naming ceremony)

On behalf of everyone present I congratulate Michael and Jane on the birth of their son and the godparents on accepting the role of guardians. For the grandparents on both sides, Cameron is a first grandchild, so congratulations are in order for all the new grandparents. May they find a lot of pleasure in getting to know this little boy. This ceremony will in no way inhibit Cameron from seeking the truth in his life in any future religious or non-religious belief.

Let us all be aware that our lives are inter-related. That this ceremony has been meant to strengthen the affection and friendship we feel for each other and especially for this little boy. May we all benefit from our involvement with him and with each other. His first months of life have been full of achievement and in surroundings of love and caring. May those months be an example of all the years to come.

May he grow in health to play some worthy part in making life more pleasant and more lovely for all those with whom he comes in contact.

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That last line really stuck me. I think that because of Cameron's ill health he has touched more lives and he has played a worthy part in making life more pleasant and more lovely for all those with whom he comes in contact. I'll conveniently forget all the sad and frustrating bits because in the long run Cameron has made me a better person, opened my heart and made me look at the world and myself in a way that I don't think I ever would have if he hadn't come into my life. I wish he could have had a normal boring life but that wasn't the path laid for him or us.