what is my name?

Everyone likes a compliment. A very pretty young lady of somewhat limited smarts (please note no reference to hair color) visited her doctor complaining of sharp pains in her side. After the examination the doctor said, “Oh my, you have acute appendicitis.”

“Look, doc,” said the young lady, “I didn’t come here for a compliment.”

Compliments are powerful things. Mark Twain once said, “I can live two full months on one good compliment.” Most everyone I know feels better when someone says something nice about them. Some might call it polishing the apple but I would rather think of it as encouraging someone to do their very best. Even the most shy person will blossom when noticed by someone they admire.

A school teacher can transform a student’s bad attitude into a good one and help him become more productive simply by giving him a few words of encouragement.. They are mere words but words are often more powerful than swords and can cut and slash just as disastrously. They can also carry a smile and messages of hope, love and a new outlook on life.

Just about the best compliment you can give someone is to remember his or her name. I am a great fan of Horation Hornblower, the fictional British seafarer in the service of the King of England. In the series of books written by C. S. Forrester we watch Horatio as he rises from Midshipman to become the First Lord of the Admiralty. In one of his adventures the men have come to near mutiny on a long and toilsome voyage. The leader of the unrest is a large and hearty Englishman sentenced to jail or the navy. He had not a good word for his captain until, in the heat of battle, the captain calls him by name. The transition is immediate. In disbelief the sailor says, “He knows me name … did ye hear that the Captain knows me name.”

That seaman became the Captains Coxswain, his right hand man and body guard. Learn any language and among the first phrases you will learn... "hello, my name is," along with it "what is your name?" A person's name is precious guard it, share it and respect others and you will have a pleasant life pleasant and many friends.

What Is On Top Of The Washington Monument?

For five years I worked in “the City,” Washington, District of Columbia, at 1100 Independence Avenue, in the James Forrestal Building. Across the Mall are the wonderful museums of the Smithsonian Institution. They became my regular lunch hour haunt. On other days I would walk west to the Washington Monument and climb the 898 steps, up fifty landings to the observation tower on the top. Above my head and the heads of about 800.000 visitors who annually view the city from the observation platform, on the cap of the monument are inscribed the words, “Laus Deo.” The words translate to “Praise Be To God.” Only the Almighty and some highflying pigeons see the phrase. We are truly a nation under God.

Most interesting are the many panels and memorials found inside the monument on the walls as one ascends the monument, climbing the steps rather than taking the elevator. Except for occasional tour groups the monument has prohibited climbers since 1976. These panels or memorial stones, more than 100 tablets, represent the outpouring of love and respect for George Washington from all over the world. Many of them bear Christian sentiments such as this one from he City of Baltimore:

“May heaven to this union continue its beneficence. May brotherly affection with union be perpetual? May the free construction which is the work of our ancestors be sacredly maintained and its administration be stamped with wisdom and virtue.

Thee are those who would take this heritage away from us. The Washington Monument is a challenge they will find difficult to win.

Amazing Grace

Most people outside of the church are not aware of the story of that great and moving hymn that has reached far past the stained glass windows of the church and into the hearts of people in all walks of life. It was written by a scoundrel, a slave trader who rose from the depths of depravity to the pulpits of the great churches of England.

John Newton was one of the great Christian churchmen of eighteenth century England. He is remembered today for the wonderful hymns of the church that bear his name as author of the lyrics. Few people in or outside the church have not felt his inspiration in the words of "Amazing Grace."

John was born in 1725. His mother was a Christian and tried to teach her young son the way of Christ. His father was a seafarer and an agnostic. When John was seven, his mother died. By the time he had reached his teen years he had gone to sea. At twenty he was master of a slave trader and merchantman plying the African waters.

The young seaman sank into the depths of depravity. He was a drunkard and a tyrant to the seamen who served his flag. On one occasion he fell overboard and was saved by his harpooner who threw his shaft, piercing Newton's leg and dragging him back on board like a fish. Another time he was put ashore by his crew on a lonely stretch of beach where he wandered for a number of days until rescued by another ship.

During one of his rare visits to England he met a lovely young Christian girl and fell in love. She accepted his proposal but would not marry until he reformed his ways. His father had also become a Christian. For the next several years his father and his fiancee prayed for his salvation.

Through the amazing grace of God this rugged seaman was converted and became a man of God. God gave him fifty years more to serve Him and in that fifty years Newton's prolific pen gave us some of the most beautiful hymns of Christendom. For many years he served a church in London. His epitaph which he had written remains to be seen to this day: "Sacred to the memory of John Newton, once a libertine and blasphemer and slave of slaves in Africa, but renewed, purified, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Gospel which he had labored to destroy."

When I read Newton's story I marvel at God's grace. Then I feel relief that the same God who could use a man like Newton can also use someone like me. It is because of His amazing grace that we have the hope of Heaven. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I am found, was blind but now I see" (John Newton, 1725-1807).