Safely Crossing the "Great Divide"

Many people know Mark Twain as the author of the American literary classics, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.And many also know Mark Twain as the author of many witty quotes that people like to throw around in their speeches and writings. Consider the following "Mark Twainisms":

“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow."

"It's not the the parts of the Bible I don't understand that bother me, it's the parts I do understand."  

I could have gone on and on with many more witty quotes from the pen of Mark Twain, or should I better say, the pen of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. That's right, "Mark Twain" was merely the pen name of Samuel Clemens. Clemens chose this particular pen name for himself because of his love of the Mississippi River (his boyhood dream was to become a steamboat pilot). The boatsman on a steamer would measure the river's depth. A depth of 12 feet or two fathoms was considered a safe depth. So when the boatsman measured a depth of 2 fathoms he would shout, "Mark Twain!" Clemens took this expression and used it as his pen name.

We as Christ followers carry a name that is also not our own. It is the name, "Christian." And just as Clemen's pen name "Mark Twain" would indicate to the riverboat's crew that safe passage was ahead --- so the name "Christian" should convey a sense of safety to those of us who are known by that name. For when the time comes for us to cross the river that divides this life from the next - as Christians, we know that we will cross safely to the other side! All, of course, by God's grace!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj