I was talking over the video conference system
with daughter Erin recently when we decided to put
in a Google search for her husband Peter Cornish to
find which of his research publications could be
accessed.
Sure enough, it was possible to find his doctoral research on the internet, though after having read through the abstract I'm certain I would need a course in RNA before I grasped what he was dealing with.
That led me to Google my name to see how I was known to the world. The top of the list was a "Restoration Voice" article from one of my sermons in Mount Ayr called "Needed: A Change of Heart."
In fact that was the only easily found mention of me. Way down the list was a mention on e-Bay of the book I wrote many years ago on "Our Heritage of Humor," about the humor in church publications.
Mixed in the long list were items about other Alan Smiths -- the soccer player, the photographer, the artist -- and a bunch of other citations that didn't refer directly even to an Alan Smith. There was nothing about Alan Smith the publisher or Alan Smith the editor or Alan Smith the father or husband.
The more I thought about it, however, the more I was pleased. The first thing the world would know about me if they came looking was that I was someone trying to share the message about Christ and how we need a change of heart to follow him.
Wouldn't it be great if the first thing people knew about each of us was that we were follower of Christ?