names

So last Friday, my friend Hilda invited a group of people from the international bible study over for dinner. It was wonderful to get together and eat delicious food that was a mixture of from a lot of places, but mainly Indonesia. So there is a recently married Taiwanese guy who is new this semester at KU. He is a Christian but just speaks very profoundly despite difficulties with language.

We asked what his English name was and he responded Ryan. We asked how he got the name. He said that he chose the name because of the movie Saving Private Ryan. To me, this sounds a little odd. He continued and said that in the movie there is a group of people whose goal it is to just save Ryan; they don't know him, but that is the main purpose they have. and at the end, they all die, but Ryan does survive. At the beginning and conclusion of the movie, Ryan is at the cemetary where those people are, and asks if his life was worthy of this kind of sacrifice. So he decided that this was a good name because he needs to remember that Jesus has done this for him. A reminder to ask if we are living worthily of what has been done for us. He said that his wife told him that he should pick a hero's name rather than someone who needed to be saved.

I think that is a good, name with humility. I really appreciate his thoughts when I have an opportunity to speak with him