What's in a Name?

A family member recently went to Washington DC to attend a concert by some group on tour. When I asked my wife, who was the group, she thought it was something like Princess Snowflake. The last time my family member attended a concert it included well-known rappers. Princess Snowflake is hardly a name for a rapper.

Princess Snowflake sounds like a character in a Disney animated movie.

The actual tour headliner was Alison Wonderland who is into electronic dance music (edm). She is an Australian DJ, a classical musician and a trained cellist. Her stage name has a certain ring to it, and is hard to forget.

This exposure to “edm” got me thinking about what’s in a name.

When you call upon the name Princess Snowflake, I can’t help chuckle. It’s a fun name with political overtones and an unlikely name for a serious musician

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When you call upon the name Alison Wonderland my writer side kicks in. The “Alice in Wonderland” tie-in is clever and impressive. I hope my writing could be as unique.

But there’s more. Some name you call upon can have life changing experiences far beyond a fleeting laugh or a clever play of words.

"Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." (Romans 10:13)

Have a blessed day, enjoy a good laugh,  and take time to hear the music.

Robert Parlante

September 2017

You Can't Go Home Again

“You Can’t Go Home Again” was a novel by Thomas Wolfe published posthumously in 1940. It’s a tale of a character trying to go back to his earlier roots to recapture fond memories and their positive impacts. While the goal was to relive the positive aspects of life, going back in time tempts us to recast personal history to remove the possible downside from some experiences.

My niece recently embarked on a road trip with a similar objective. She wanted more information about the house and the surrounding area where her father had lived. Her dad was the eldest of the three brothers in the family, with I being the youngest. We had lived in a coal mining town, and I had not seen our old house for decades. My maternal grandparents lived several homes away. My niece had lived in an urban neighborhood throughout her early childhood.

Here is what we learned from the road trip:

My niece’s early childhood two-family house was once pristine and was now in disrepair and uninviting. What should have been a time for fond memories was now a time for sadness.

My grandparents’ home was essentially the same except all vestiges of farming and homesteading were gone.

My home where I was born looked picture-perfect with the garden plots and fruit trees being replaced by well-manicured grass.

Life in the coal mining town had clearly changed. My parents lived through the Depression era and devoted all arable land to growing food. My early life revolved around planting and harvesting, neighborly support during the food preserving times and family nearby who watched over each other. As I scanned the picture of my childhood home, I saw warm memories but now they had faded into history.

It is a different time now compared to the past. One cannot go back in time to relive an old memory. Our best option is to place our trust in the Lord and create a new and heartwarming memory today.

Robert Parlante

September 2017