Name is Mud

I always heard the phrase, “your name is mud” referred to Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who doctored a young man's broken leg in the middle of the night. What's so bad about that? The man happened to be John Wilkes Booth, who broke his leg in the escape after assassinating President Lincoln. After splinting Booth's leg and letting him rest a few hours, Dr. Mudd allows Booth to leave. Mudd tried and convicted as a conspirator and sentenced to life in prison. Depending on who you ask, he was either wrongfully convicted, or let off easy. Having the name "Mudd" is to have a ruined reputation, and an infamous name. But, apparently John Badcock coined the phrase some 40 years earlier. Nonetheless, history is far kinder to Dr. Mudd than John Wilkes Booth, a name that goes down in infamy. It’s a rotten name and he ruined it by his wickedness. "The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot," (Proverbs 10:7).

How will you be remembered? How will people talk about you when you're gone? I don’t think we should spend our time worrying about what other people may think of us. I am proposing we consider our life and our works. I can’t change what someone thinks, but I should consider my way, and how my life is impacting those around me. Am I concerned with eternal matters? Is my focus on myself or on others and my God? Do I live in light of eternity, or in light of the incandescent glow of the cell phone and social media? The memory of the just is blessed  and the name of the selfish, self-centered wicked will rot.

We can’t worry about what people think of us now because some of history's most favored and beloved men were hated while they were alive. In Charleston, around the Capitol Complex, there are statues of Abraham Lincoln and Stonewall Jackson. Both are held in high esteem now (by most), and both were not well liked (by most) while they lived. In fact, the more selflessly we live, the better we’ll be remembered, but usually the more disliked we are in the present. It's the life of a prophet (Matthew 23:29-32).

I thought of pastors in my life, who have gone on to be with the Lord, where the very mention of their name reminds me of the good they did for me or my family. Men like Medford Caudill, Reggie Moore, and Don Pennington. I could go on and fill this space simply with the names of dear Christian saints who are remembered for their kind and gracious works.  You don’t know these men, but their name is blessed in the Newell home. You don't have to be famous to leave a mark on someone. I suppose it goes both ways. There are some others who also have left a mark on me, but we’ll not mention their name. We’ll just let it rot.