I Have Become A Shark!

Yesterday’s blog posting mentioned that my recent reading alternates between two books, a 16^th Century diary and a Google computer manual.

The diary of Richard Rogers, a Puritan minister in the time of the first Queen Elizabeth, resonates with many features of my own life. For instance, he’s trying to write a book (Seven Treatises On The Christian Life) but he keeps getting interrupted by the affairs of daily life.

He bemoans the fact his own book shelves groan under the weight of good books which he had not gotten around to reading.

And one day when he was down he talks about writing his own diary then says, “Reading the writings of an other brother about his estat an houre and longer, I was moved to write and to bring my hart into a better frame…”

In other words, over 400 years ago, he was a blogger.

He got a lift by reading the daily diary of someone else whose writing resonated with his own heart.

Isn’t that exactly what those of us who read other people’s diaries, journals or blogs do?

We build each other up by sharing our common experiences.

Often in reading blogs or diaries I’ll say, “Hey, I’m not the only one! I know exactly how he feels; I feel the same way. I’ve thought that way myself”.

When my son Donald introduced me to computers and helped me set up my website and blog and on-line book catalog, we realized that much of my content would be of a religious nature. That’s a real part of me. So we resolved on a couple of guiding principles for my sites:

For instance I will never poke fun or ridicule anyone else’s religion; my own faith carries enough material to be ridiculous all by itself.

I do not reveal anyone else’s secrets. The only person who should be embarrassed by what I write is me.

I would try to be honest and show an unfiltered Christian life from the inside — not as it ought to be but as it is for one particular guy, me.

I hope that my testimony and writings will attract readers to commit themselves 100% to the Lord Christ because He is worthy.

And, since I believe that Christ redeems us purely by His grace, I will not carry any ads trying to sell anything.

The Scripture says, As ye have freely received, so freely give.

“By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast”.

The Prophet Isaiah called out, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

“Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not?… Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near… Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon”

We have nothing of value to trade to God.

He is not short of cash.

He is not a peddler.

He is Giver.

Since one of the biggest criticisms outsiders make against Christians is money, and since I do not wish to put a stumbling block between any reader and God, I chose not to try to make money off either blog or website.

I’m even uncomfortable offering my books for sale in the on-line catalog but I try to keep that endeavor separate from my daily writings.

But…

See those little fish around the shark?

Those are remora, commonly called suckerfish.

Yesterday as I played around with the Google manual exploring advanced search features, I used my own web addresses to test things.

Imagine my shock when I discovered that some suckers have pirated my web address directing readers to ad sites hawking fake Rolex watches, home mortgages, jewelry, timeshare condos and all sorts of other sleazy deals to cheat people out of their money.

Immediately I called Donald who manages all the technical features of my site and he examined these suckers.

He explained that as my website has attracted more and more readers, some sleaze noticed and piggybacked his own site on my name so that Google searchers may arrive at his cheap ads for shoddy products.

Donald says that in Geek Speak, such people are called remoras.

He says I should be flattered that my site is popular enough to be worth their attention.

He said that means I have become a shark.

He said that little sucker fish feeds off the crumbs I leave behind.

Not exactly.

I looked up suckerfish in the encyclopedia and here’s what I discovered:

Remora (rĕm`ərə), any of the several species of warmwater fishes of the family Echeneidae, characterized by an oval sucking disk on the top of the head. With this apparatus (a modification of the dorsal fin) the remora, or suckerfish, attaches itself to sharks, …. In this way it travels without effort, feeding on scraps from the prey of these larger creatures…. Largest and most common remora is the shark remora, or sharksucker, which reaches 3 ft (90 cm) in length and attaches itself to sharks; it is found along the Atlantic coast N of Long Island in the summer. Remoras are classified in the phylum Chordata …

The host they attach to for transport gains nothing from the relationship, but also loses little. The remora benefits by using the host as transport and protection and also feeds on materials dropped by the host. There is some controversy over whether a remora's diet is primarily leftover fragments, or actually the feces of the host.

There is no controversy in my mind about what they can eat.