May 28, 2017 – Name

Shakespeare penned, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Most often I stay in the poetic sense and imagine a beautiful, sweet smelling flower. Yet, as someone who loves to garden, sometimes the mention of a rose carries thoughts of thorns and a very temperamental bush that spreads disease. The sweetness becomes secondary to the frustration of persevering. When others hear our name, do they immediately think of a sweet child of God? Or, do they recall a temperamental soul whose outlook on life breeds pain and remorse? When life is hard, let The Holy Spirit lift you above your struggles. Choose to see the sweetness and love above all in your life.

 So then, you will know them by their fruits. – Matthew 7:20

Family Name

The family name is very important in my home. We all strive, within our own individuality, to hold onto the same morals and convictions of the faith taught us from generations before. We hope that when one gets to know any member of our family that they will know beyond all certainty that it is God who guides us and sets our path. Christ conveyed this reflection to His disciples. They desired to know who God was and Christ told them, “To see me is to see the Father”. Christ, in all purity, demonstrates the bond of the family. As we grow into adulthood and seasoned adults, we must remember our roots. We must embrace the teachings of our forefathers. We have been given the way to travel. It is up to us to seek this path with diligence, desire, conviction and the integrity and morality of our Lord. In this, we will all be one family, and to see each of us will be to see Christ. 

Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father’? – John 14:9