Behind the Blog: “What’s in a Name?”

This was one of the first posts I composed when I decided to jump back into blogging last fall, but I failed to post it for whatever reason. I held onto it because I though it worth sharing eventually...and I guess eventually became today. Full disclosure, I am providing it now because the post that I was planning to publish this morning needs more work. Hopefully this is still worth a read. 

Blogging is an odd beast. In a sense I feel that it is an entirely self-indulgent waste of not only the author’s time but the reader’s also. A great many blogs (like my prior one and arguably this one, for example) seem designed to do nothing but provide a soapbox from which an individual (or group of individuals) can share with the world a shallow and completely self-involved outlook that they feel is of utmost importance, whether it be on a very serious specific subject, consistent utter nonsense, or a little bit of both. On the other hand, blogs, even banal ones, can be immensely useful in enriching the lives of both the author and his/her readership depending on whom fulfills those roles. 

Considering this opinion on blogs in and of themselves, I found myself at a bit of an impasse when creating a new one. I wanted to create a blog that certainly pinpointed my highest value (encouraging others in their pursuit of Jesus while also reflecting on my own) but also left the door open for the random tangents and occasional oddities that I knew I would want to share (for example, that I am working toward publishing novels and that I am a Lego enthusiast).

So, what to name it?  Well, “livin’ life lovin’ Jesus” was the name of the now-abandoned blog my wife and I began in March 2012 to chronicle life in preparation of the move, but our use of that name was done with little thought at the time, other than I thought it kind of catchy. I was very saddened to see the name go to waste when the blog was deleted. Therefore, I salvaged it in late Spring as a placeholder while trying to develop a new name for this blog.

But upon further reflection, the name worked really well for what I intended to do here. I wanted a name that reflected not myself but my highest value and the focus of my endeavor. Additionally, I wanted to avoid putting my own name into the title as a means of further self-elevation but also wanted to convey a certain amount of individual connection to the previously identified highest value.  Thus, inserting the Christ-for-Jesus name swap and using “Living Life Loving Christ” seemed to work. "Living Life" is certainly an activity I am doing that also lends itself to certain surprises and less serious pursuits. "Loving Christ" is the heart of not only this matter but all matters while I am living life (yes, even during the less serious times). The conjunction of these two concepts truly captures the essence of what I am intending to express here—what living life looks like in light of loving Christ, at least for me (and others to whom I link on occasion).  

Not really sure why I felt like sharing this but that is that,
C

Funny thing. As I look back at this post composed so many months ago, I feel like I have been very guilty of the self-indulgence mentioned in the first paragraph. If I were to look at the full content provided here in the last few months, who would be the focus: me or Christ? I think we all know the answer to that question, and it's one worth examining as I develop posts and look toward wrapping up the sixth month of publishing here.