Me and J
Georgie with the candle during the ceremony, Great Granny too.
Me and J again
The birthday boy
Grandad and G.
A joint effort to cut the cake.
Notice the birthday boy has had his hands in the icing, yum yum.
mmmm good.
mmm sticky
some afternoon tea cakes
some birthday lovin' for Elmo
James' Naming Day Service
At ten to five on the morning of the 26th of July 2007 our beautiful son made his very dramatic entrance into this world.
For us he has been a source of joy and amusement ever since.
Today we celebrate James Daniel Harrison.
Now that we are parents we look at our children and see ourselves. We often have the desire to help them succeed where we have failed.
As tempting as it is to try and give them the world, we know that all we can do is see we have given them our best, so they can do their best.
We love our children not for who they may become, but for the unique and special people that they are.
Kahlil Gibran said
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
James
As your parents we commit ourselves to each other, as partners, promising to support each other as we guide you through life.
We promise to act out of love for you, respecting and supporting your uniqueness, and eliciting the best from you.
We have named you James Daniel Harrison.
This candle celebrates the birth of our child Celebrating his emergence into light, and the warmth of the love out of which he was created.
James –
We will witness your life to others and tell others of your goodness, our talk of you is a loving testimony. We will come to know your unique giftedness.
We will witness our lives to you, we will tell you of ourselves, share with you in gentle honesty, our choices, right and wrong and the consequences, may our courage give you courage and may our despair make you less afraid of your own.
We will witness your life to you. We will tell you truly when you ask us questions, praise you quietly when you are kind, correct you gently when you go astray and forgive you when you ask forgiveness.
We will hug you often, lift you up when you fall down, draw firm boundaries and help you open doors yet unknown.
We will forgive you for mistakes and help you make repairs. We will forgive ourselves for ways we do not measure up. We will be merciful with you, ourselves and others.
We will be giving and kind, teach you gratitude and generosity and do our best by you giving freely of our love.
In times past it was believed that the human soul shared characteristics with all things divine. It is this belief which assigned virtues to the cardinal direction and it is within this tradition that we offer this blessing.
Hail the East, the South, the West and the North,
Recognise this child James Daniel Harrison.
Help him to soar in the limitless sky of thought and imagination, strengthen him and send him light to prevail in the challenges that await him. Help him to swim the deep sea of empathy and emotion , cleanse him of doubt and confusion and help him to stand firm on this earth and connect him with all that is.
Finally to you James, we offer the words of Rudyard Kipling
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Welcome to the world James.
In your name may all of us find joy.
By your worth may our generations come to be blessed.
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