Before I begin, let me say first that I did not love this movie. It has great space for improvement (cinematic, theological and Scriptural), and I’m glad it didn’t cost me to watch it. Having said that, here’s a positive moment that I walked away with:

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It takes quite a bit from a movie to make my eyes water. But, I’ve been noticing a winning recipe…

In Heaven is For Real, I was quite surprised they could dish it up. The scene that got me was when Colton tells his mom about his long-lost sister. When his mom asks how she looked like in Heaven, and what was her name, Colton says: “She looks like Cassie, but with your hair. And she doesn’t have a name. She said you never gave her one. She said she died in your tummy.”

This mystery sister was miscarried at such an early stage that her parents didn’t know her sex, and so left her unnamed. That part got me big. That this girl had no name. That even those who die before their birth deserve a name was evident in how brokenhearted Colton’s mother felt when she realized her little girl still went nameless.

And I hope you see how important this is. Everyone deserves a name, and God would actually give us such a privilege as to name our children for eternity. God does not directly name us… our parents do! And if we too become parents, then we name our children, and they will bear that name forever. That is the name other people will know them by, that is the name the angels will know them by… that is the name that God will know them by. Forever, into the ages of ages.

What kind of God do we have, who creates all and knows all, would allow us to name someone with a name that even He would have to use to address? He created this person! He loves this person more than any other can! And He let’s us name His beloved?!

I hope we don’t make light of this privilege.

P.s. If you didn’t notice, Adam was the first human, and he was also different from all the animals in many ways, including that he was given the privilege to go out and name everything else in creation.

[“Adam” by Theresa Dawn]