Heavenly Nicknames

Potenial spoiler alert: I briefly discuss something major that happens at the end of the season one finale of Once Upon a Time.


I don't remember exactly when I first came across the idea that we have separate names in the eternities than our names here on earth. The first I remember being aware of it was in my eighth grade science class but I know that's not where I learned of it. But the important thing is that I accepted it. And it does make sense for too many reasons to properly go into here.

But for some reason it wasn't until recently that I first thought about the possibility that after I die or after I am resurrected nobody will ever call me Marissa to my face again. And that just felt weird.

During the summer between the first and second seasons of Once Upon a Time one of the topics fans discussed was now that everybody had regained their memories of their original storybook character identities and relationships, which names would they go by? Snow White or Mary Margaret? Grumpy or Leroy? Geppetto or Marco? It was interesting to think about because after 28 years of being Kathryn and Billy and Ruby and so forth it seems as though the names would feel pretty comfortable. On the other hand, the names went along with identities which in many cases even had different personality traits attached. And more importantly, they just weren't their real names.

I don't expect to go regularly by Marissa after the resurrection but as I said before it feels strange to think that I never will be called that name again. Sure, this mortal life will be like a blink of an eye compared to the eternities. So maybe Marissa will feel even less relevant to me than old camp nicknames that were used for a week and then never mentioned again. But this is a rather influential and eventful eyeblink and bits and pieces from major life events, even if they pass quickly, still retain significance.

In Tennis Shoes and the Feathered Serpent, Part One, Jim speculates that shortening names - calling Nephi "Neph" - might be considered disrespectful. And I guess there's a bit of that in our own culture. If I didn't know from his stories that Thomas S. Monson went by Tommy as a boy I never would have thought of him as one. And if I were to meet him tomorrow I sure wouldn't feel comfortable calling him that. It's sort of the same thing for our eternal, full-grown selves. It seems a little strange to think of Heavenly Father, for example, as going by a nickname. But why not? Part of perfection is having perfect affection I think. And a race of perfectly affectionate people who will not accept nicknames or pet names doesn't quite compute.

So maybe someday our mortal names will be used as the occasional pet name between earthly friends and relatives, reminding each other of the times we shared during our short but oh so important mortal life.