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A Third Name and a Blessing

Dear Sven,

You were given a name and a blessing on May 5th, 2013.  It was a perfect day and you were a perfect angel, happy and sweet.  You wore the family dress, the same dress your father wore thirty years earlier when his father (your Poppy) blessed him.  You were held in a circle of men who love you and hold the Priesthood: your father, your grandfathers, and your great-grandfather.  And the pews were filled with others who love you as well: your brothers, your grandmothers, your great-grandmother, your uncles and aunts, great-uncles and great-aunts, and your mother.  You were our sweet shining angel, bravely come down from heaven to share this life with us.

Remembering you on that day, reminds me of the poem by Thomas Traherne:

How like an angel came I down!
How bright are all things here!
When first among His works I did appear
Oh, how their glory did me crown!

It does seem like all the world was your crown that day.  All God's creations leaned close to hear the pronouncement of blessings upon your sweet head.  And you were richly blessed.

Firstly, you were blessed to have good brothers.  I have thought many times about that phrase in your blessing, especially as I have watched you interact with Soren and Carl.  They have loved you and enjoyed caring for you from the start.  I can remember many times when they have told me, "I am so glad that Sven will be part of our family forever."  Their love and kindness towards you has been a great joy in my life this past year.  In addition, it has always been obvious to me that you adore them as well.  The words of your blessing have given me reason to hope that you three will be good friends and great examples to each other throughout your lives.  That would be a wonderful blessing to all three of you (and a great joy to me).


There are good men who have gone before you, whose name you carry, and you were blessed to remember and emulate them.  Among the people who have carried this name before you, my father comes first to mind.  I named you after him because he is a great man, and worthy of emulation.  Apparently, there are other Svens whose stories will inspire you; I am excited to discover those stories with you.

You were also blessed with strong and capable hands to use the tools at your disposal.  I hope you will use those tools and hands to build up the temple of mankind and the Kingdom of God.

Your Father promised you "glorious insight into God's creations".  This makes me wonder if you will be a scientist, lead by the Spirit to uncover the mysteries of our amazing universe.  Or, perhaps you will be an artist, able to see the Truth and Beauty that is veiled in this reality.  Another possibility is that your insight will be into God's greatest creation: mankind.  Will you be a leader or teacher who can understand the hearts of men?  Whatever you end up doing with this gift, I know that it will be a blessing to you and to those around you.  I hope that you will earnestly seek these glorious insights, because they will fill you with God's light.

You were blessed with easy access to gospel ordinances.  This is a blessing that we, as members of the church, often take for granted.  And so, in the words of your blessing, we were all reminded of what a rare and precious gift that is.  In keeping with that reminder, you were blessed with the desire and courage to share those ordinances and bring the light of the gospel into the lives of others.

In addition to the Light and Truth found in the ordinances of the gospel, you were also blessed with access to knowledge and wisdom handed down through the ages.  We live in an exciting time when the combined knowledge of the world is available at our very fingertips.  Perhaps your father was thinking of wikipedia when he said those words; he has a special enthusiasm for the free exchange of information embodied in the open source movement.  May you share your father's enthusiasm and hold as a rich prize the great corpus of human knowledge available to you.

The end of your blessing was packed with short, little gems: you will be smart and capable with a strong body and a discerning mind.  You are already proving those parts of your blessing to be true.

Surely these are some of the richest gifts our Heavenly Father has to offer.  And complimentary to these gifts, there are great expectations and responsibilities laid upon you.  You were only a small baby when this blessing was given but your spirit was born long before the stars were created.  It was that bright and bold spirit that received these gifts and accepted these responsibilities.  May you always remember who you are.

Love,
Your Mom
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