Are you okay with the name your parents gave you?  Did they put a lot of thought into it?  My dad and I have the same first names, so my mom called me by my middle name in order that we may know who she’s calling for. Some people hate their names, and others take steps to legally change it.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of The Scarlet Letter, added the “w” in his name in order to disassociate himself with his great great grandfather, who was a judge in the Salem witch trials.  What would it take for you to change your name?

The Scottish judge, Lord Jeffrey, said, “A good name, like good will, is got by many actions and lost by one.”  While your name may be quickly forgotten after death, it would seem that you would want it to be respected in this life. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.”  Would you rather have the riches?

Does God care about your name?  Or is He more likely concerned with what you have made of your name? It seems that promoting your name by your achievements would have some pride in it.  Is it possible that, when people see us, God wants them to associate us with the name of Jesus?

Maybe you should Google your name and see what others think about you, if they think about you at all. Either way, God loves you, and your name is written in His Book of Life.  Isn’t it?

There was a fellow being interviewed by Fox News today.  He is the national security advisor for the Christian Action Network.  Who are they, and what do they do?  Well, a former editor for Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority Report” started the CAN group.  His name is Martin Mawyer, and he said that the organization was “created to protect America’s religious and moral heritage.”

Does our religious heritage need preserving?  And how do you protect it?  I guess you could remind everyone over and over that we started out as a “Christian” nation, but there will always be those who will challenge that fact, because most of our forefathers believed substantially different things from what our Christian churches teach today.

And why do Christians need a national security advisor?  Don’t we have God? Won’t He protect us?  Or does He only help those who help themselves?  What about helping the helpless?

This group also promotes CPA’s.  No, not certified public accountants. Christian Political Activists. What do they do?  From what I’ve read their goal is to take over America for God.  That is, they want to put fundamentalist Christians in all levels of the government, so that all laws can be in complete alignment with God’s Word — the Bible.  I personally don’t see how you can get the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to agree on “Christian” laws.  Is it doable?

Neither Jesus (in the gospels) nor his followers (in the letters) seemed to advocate Christian political activism.  Why should we?  How about our daily walk with Christ?  How we relate to family and friends. How we relate to enemies.  Do we really need to pour our money and time into forcefully wrenching our government from the sinners?

Maybe we should pray about it.  What’s that?  We already did?  I wonder if God just isn’t into this movement.  Or maybe we didn’t get the answer we were looking for.  So it’s up to us.  Or is it?

Nobody wants to be a scaredy-cat, but I believe that everyone is at one time or another.  For some people you can read fear on their faces.  With others you would swear that they weren’t afraid, but their fear is kept inside, building up as stress, the silent killer.

Why do we fear?  Is it because we always anticipate the bad?  That guy might make good on his threat towards me.  Is my husband having an affair?  Will my husband come home in a bad mood and hurt me?  Am I doomed for another heart attack?  So many in my mother’s family died of cancer.  Am I next?  Why won’t my grown children take my advice?  I only want to keep them safe.

The Bible says that we should fear nothing and nobody except God.  Why should we fear God?  Is that just a King James word for worshipful respect?  If so, why don’t we change it?  As it is, it looks like we should be afraid of our creator, who has the “power to throw you into hell.”  (Luke 12:5)  What kind of relationship is that?  Is that what they call a healthy fear?

What about the fact that “perfect love drives out fear?” (I John 4:18)  Shouldn’t that be our focus?  Can love and fear co-exist?  Maybe it would work because love transfers our attention to others, and our pride keeps trying to push our own concerns for ourselves to the front.  Perhaps that tension is necessary for our spiritual growth.

Fear is binding.  It stifles us.  It causes us to react, rather than to act.  We all talk about freedom in Christ, but we live as though we are still in the grip of fear.  Can we dare to be free?  Is the Devil pushing our fear buttons?

Who is in control?

Not sure.  For a few weeks my wife and I have visited a local Unitarian Universalist (UU) church with the goal of establishing a communicative link with someone other than ourselves.  The reason we have selected a church atmosphere over any other venue is because of our faith.  We are followers of Christ, but our peculiar form of doctrine (or lack thereof) makes us not quite comfortable with the plethora of churches available — both denominational and non-denominational (which is really just a title; they mirror other denominations).

Our spiritual journey has been both exciting and somewhat lonely.  We were steeped in Christian fundamentalism, but after 35 or so years of our married walk together, we began to question some of our doctrine.  Like the validity or purpose of the Rapture and Tribulation, how the world will end (if it ends) and why is an eternal torture in a burning hell necessary?

We started taking Jesus at his word.  He prayed to God and called him his father, so we wondered how he could be God at the same time.  Sure, he said “my father and I are one,” but that could just mean that they were of the same mind, like “my father and I are just alike.”  So there goes the trinity.

And we struggled to find definite comments or teaching from the Son of God to support the main stream salvation/end times position that so many promote.  The only thing that we could come up with is that Jesus wants us to be nice (pardon the oversimplification).

We went from organized church to house church to no church.  We tried a couple of Methodist churches because they seemed rather innocuous.  But we felt that getting involved outside of worship service might put us in a position of revealing our beliefs, thereby making us and them uncomfortable.  Our next stop – the Unitarian Universalists.

We had done some research on the UUs and learned that they were tolerant of all religions and were big on encouraging human kindness.  So far, so good.  We have attended three “worship” services:  one on remembering UUs who have passed on; one on doing your own thing; and the last one could have been titled, “Is is possible that I’m a humanist?”

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It’s finally here.  After 43+ years of “workin’ for the man,” I am now my own man.  No more rushing to work, dragging back to the house, then squeezing food and sleep in between before it starts over again. Now I enjoy walking in the park every day with my wife and dogs, getting free coffee and doughnuts with the other old folks on senior day at Kroger, waiting for my car to be fixed rather than leaving it, and being able to hop in the car whenever my wife says, “Let’s go to …” — any time of the day.

And, thank God, I have lived 59 days of it so far.

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Another snow day.  I live in the foothills of northeast Tennessee.  Unlike the snow-slammed northeastern states and parts of the country that are used to big winters, we practically close down when a handful of flakes team up and stick to the road.  So I’m not complaining.  I don’t have to go to work, and the snow is beautiful.

There’s something about the white, clean-looking appearance of snow.  When it falls gently and begins to muffle the sounds of city life, a peaceful scene soon emerges.  One of my daughters used to live in a state that had a lot of litter and a lot of snow.  (I won’t name the state; I don’t want to make Sarah Palin mad.)  The great thing about the snow was that it covered up the litter, making the landscape look clean.

Religious preachers and teachers throughout the ages have used the snow analogy to address man’s sin and the promise of cleansing.  “Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18)  They add in the paradox of Jesus’ blood being the cleansing agent.

I suspect that the teaching is much like the snow in real life.  It covers, giving the appearance of clean, but underneath remains the mud, dirt and litter.  Even though we’re “washed in the blood,” we continue to sin.  We don’t need our sins covered; we need to be rid of them.

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For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
I Corinthians 2:16

Viruses of all sorts can be annoying. When what seems like a short-term bacterial infection doesn’t go away, it can turn out to be a virus. It’s a nasty bug that hangs on forever and must finish its course until the body’s natural immune system gets rid of it.

A computer virus is equally annoying. I write from recent experience. What was particularly frustrating was that I was paying for a service that provided firewalls and security devices to protect from just such an invasion. In the process of getting my computer functional again, I had to wipe my hard drive — that is, erase all of my files and reinstall the basic operating system. If you don’t have a backup of your files, then you have lost everything. I did recently back up my files, but, thankfully, most of my thoughts and scribblings are safe on the worldwide web (?).

I’ve read that our minds are like super-powerful computers. That we record and catalog virtually everything over the course of our lives. Every thought, printed word, spoken word, sound, image and smell. I believe it because some of the oddest rememberings from my distant past can pop into my active thinking at any time.

The good memories are a blessing to relive. The bad ones? Well, you just wish they would go away. They can consist of hurt or ugliness that you have received or witnessed, or they can be reminders of ugly things that you have said or done. I believe that our mind is the seat of our soul and is the area in which God and his enemies do battle.

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If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things that you don’t get that you don’t want. Oscar Wilde

Attitude defines who you are.  For the moment, for awhile or for the rest of your life.  I work in a doctor’s office (administrator), and I have learned that all illnesses or diseases fall into one of two categories.  An acute condition is a temporary flare-up that, when treated, will eventually ease up or go away.  A chronic condition is one that will constantly inflict; the symptoms can be treated, but the illness will be your lifelong companion.

How you and I view life is often impacted by the circumstances we encounter or the people that invade our space.  On a grander scale, our religious training will shape how we deal with life.  God is Almighty, but what would Jesus do?

Attitude is a necessary part of our development.  It can be positive or negative.  It can also be apathetic, but I would throw that into the negative category.  Attitude is important to one who lives alone, as well as for those of us who interact with others through work, church, school or social activities.  It contributes to you accomplishing a goal or making someone miserable.

Attitude is what uniquely makes us human and is the driving force behind our actions through word or deed.  It is far greater than just mindlessly performing a task.  It generates our determination, our love, our anger and our hatred.  The Bible speaks a lot about the range of emotions that God’s created beings go through in their relationship with him, as well as their dealings with one another.

I have become more conscious lately how attitude affects my life.  More importantly, God has been teaching me a lot about my own attitude, even taking me back through the years to see where I had failed and disobeyed, and how my attitude was the culprit.  Many of us don’t realise that we are conveying a negative attitude.  Even what we might consider an obedient, submissive attitude may, in fact, be a resentful or bitter attitude.

Bad attitudes are founded in pride.  Our self defense behavior is often getting us into trouble.  Returning hurt with greater hurt.  Or worse, displaying sarcasm or smugness before we are able to be hurt.

Our attitude sets the pace for how we will face each day.  It must be disciplined, as any other characteristic of life.  My wife likes to say that we choose to have joy.  And she’s right.  But choosing it, then doing it brings the challenge.  And nothing is worth it’s salt unless it is tested.  Anyone who participates in group interaction, be it work or play, will easily attest to the fact that our hackles are armed and ready at the first sign of threatening behavior against our pride.

For many, as they grow older, they become more cynical, pining for the energy, freedom and pain-free days of their youth.  My life is going in the opposite direction.  I’m beginning, albeit slowly, to be more thankful each day for what God has already blessed me with.  I told a friend recently that, for all we can complain about, we need not look far to find someone who has it a lot worse.

I’m also thankful that God loves me enough to check me when my attitude is heading in the wrong direction.  I believe that we were placed on this earth to help others, primarily in being able to develop attitudes, beginning with our own.  One day at a time.

Anyone reading this blog could probably not help but notice that I reference Scottish author George MacDonald fairly regularly.  In fact, one of my favorite MacDonald quotes appears on my home page.  George MacDonald lived from 1824 to 1905.  He was a pastor, poet and novelist.  I’d never even heard of him until a few years ago, but I am firmly convinced that God sent him my way, because my exposure to his writing has literally changed my life.

I like to read.  I wouldn’t exactly call myself an avid reader, but I have enjoyed reading various books, as well as magazine and newspaper articles over the years.  A large part of my reading of books has been in the area of theology.  But I am naturally drawn to a bookstore and can be found browsing a variety of subject matter.  Oddly enough, I hadn’t utilized the library as much as I should have.

Back to my encounter with George MacDonald.  I went through a reading dry spell a while back (more like several years back), and my wife offered for me to look at one or two of her books, novels by MacDonald.  She thought I might like them because of the frequent religious/Christian dialogue by the characters.

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We are at the end of Autumn in our region, a season of beauty that too quickly fades into the chilly deadness of winter. Each season has its highlights of splendor, but Autumn has a special attraction in that it displays a final burst of glory preceding a long sleep, only to awaken into the new morning of spring.

I am blessed to live in a mountainous area with so many varieties of trees, each having a leaf that turns a unique, brilliant color that blends so well with that of its neighbor. Before this seasonal show begins, the hills and mountains are carpeted with various shades of green, looking luxurious against the blue sky.

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