In That Name

Hey!
Okay, honesty, I was about to cry as I wrote this. So yeah, this might bring a few tears. Just a warning!
May this make you think,
Jen

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"Good day my lady." 

"Good day Sir. How are your children? Has Hiretha recovered from the birth of Koulm?"

"Yes my lady. She is doing well. We have decided upon her full name."

"And what is it to be?"

"Caiomhe Creidne."

"A beautiful name. Do you know what it means?"

"No my lady. I was hoping you could tell me."

"Gentleness, Beauty, Grace, Courtesy, Honour, and Faith. A name that seems to fit her even now. May I come see her tomorrow?"

"Of course my lady. Have a wonderful day."

The blacksmith left the marketplace and went back this forge. Smiling, the lady of the castle continued on, looking at all the fair had to offer. 

She smiled, thinking about the passage of scripture: "...gentleness...against such things there is no law." 'That child will grow up to be a woman rooted deep in the faith, with a gentle and quiet spirit.' 

Sererena had no doubts. Even though her father, the lord of the land, outlawed any worship of any gods not Celtic, she had come to know Christ through a generous, kind, and loving man named Joel. 

Joel had been the one to give her the name that she went by. Sererena Seve Niamh, which meant 'calm, peaceful radiance'. She could never understand why he called her that, for she was anything but that, but Joel would just smile, shake his head, and say, "Sererena Seve Niamh, I see you the way God sees you. A woman rooted deeply in the faith who radiates calmness, peace, and angharad." Love without reproach. She smiled at that. He was always mixing the old and new tongues together. 

"You are a beauty that just becomes lovelier by the hour as Christ shows more and more in you."

But Joel was very old and very sick. He knew his time was coming and that soon, his days on earth would be over and he would be with Christ in heaven. And Sererena knew this, but it did not make his death any easier. She lost her friend, her counsellor, everything she had. And for a while, her faith faltered. 

But when she was the blacksmith's house one day, playing with his daughters, Ganeida and Amena, the Lord came through in those children. 

"Lady Sererena?" Amena asked. 

"Yes Cara?" Beloved had been her nickname for this girl since she was born, just as it had been Joel's original nickname for her. 

"Will you tell me why you are always so loving to us? You need not be so, so, calm, peaceful, and loving to us. We are only peasants and you are a lady."

She came down to the eight year old's level. "Cara, I love because my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ loved me enough to die for me, to take my punishment for the bad things I have done, and to sacrifice Himself in place of me. It is because of that sacrifice that I am able to love so freely as to willingly spend time with you and your sister instead of listening to my father drone on about how I'm not getting any younger and that I need to be married."

The child whose name meant 'utterly pure' giggled at that. "But Mama said that all other religions are outlawed. How can you worship this Lord?"

"It is written in the Holy Scriptures 'if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.' If we as Christians must suffer, then we should praise the Lord because he is breaking us to make us more and more like Him."

Amena became quiet. "Can He really love me that much?"

"He can and he does. You are utterly precious to Him. He loves children. And because of Jesus, we can all become children of God."

"Lady Sererena, how do I become a Christian?"

From that day forward, the number of Christians in the land slowly but steadily grew until there were servants, merchants, farmers, nobles, and countless others meeting in secret throughout the lord of the castle's land. 

Sererena and Amena had both grown considerably since that conversation all those years ago. Until one day, the blacksmith barged into her father's receiving hall. "My lady, please come. My daughter is dying and asking for you."

Heedless of her father's orders to stay behind, the woman who had not a submissive bone in her body practically ran out of the castle into the commons. 

Part of a building had collapsed on several people, some killed instantly, some not so fortunate. Sererena knelt at Amena's side, stroking the woman's hair. "I'm not going to survive this am I my lady?"

"I'm afraid not Cara." The lady held back tears. "There is blood filling up in your lungs. I'm surprised you are not dead yet."

Amena laughed weakly. "It's a blessing from the Lord, sister. He is giving me a chance to speak to you one more time. And I want to say to you this," She coughed. "Do not grieve for me, sister. For I am not sad in my last moments. I am glad and glorifying God for I will see Him soon. 

"I wanted to tell you something that you have forgotten, sister. You have turned into the woman that Joel saw you as: beautifully radiant of tranquility and peace. And I know that one day, you are going to change the world with your love and courage and strength." 

Amena coughed up blood. "We love you sister of mine. Joel, God, and I, and we couldn't be more proud."

Her eyes seemed to be seeing elsewhere. "Oh, it is so beautiful." And with those words, Amena died. 

Sererena closed Amena's eyes. "She is gone. She is home."

And as per the wishes of Amena's parents, she was not burned in a pyre, but instead buried by the shore. 

Time went by. The lord of the castle died, leaving Sererena as his only heir. Immediately, her first action was to disband the law governing choice of worship. Later, church buildings were constructed, and services held. And while Sererena lay on her deathbed decades later, the verse that was left unfinished on her lips was the one she had quoted to Amena so long ago: "yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." 1 Peter 4:16 ESV