Was It Something I Said?

Friday, for the first time in ages, I checked my website statistics. Google Analytics tells me that in the past month 3,417 readers from 88 countries visited my site. My writing so fascinated these readers that they each spent an average of 39 seconds on my site.

Wow! Isn’t that cool!

As I passed my cursor over the Analytics world map, I wondered why anyone from this nation or that one would visit my site—then it occurred to me that they may be checking me out because of my site name, The Rabid Fundamentalist at www.cowart.info.

Funny why I chose to name my site that:

Back when I was young, for about ten years I worked part-time at a local newspaper as an Editorial Assistant—that’s the job title for a mail clerk who can be blamed for a lot of things that go wrong at a newspaper. Like the time I authorized renting a helicopter without asking a boss first.

Because of my night and weekend hours, about 80 per cent of the time I was the only person in the building while I worked.

When the team of editors became aware that I am a Christian, they began to tease me and called me “that rabid fundamentalist, Cowart”. The nickname stuck. I thought it was funny and when I passed along copy or notes, I signed as Rabid Fundamentalist. That’s how I was logged onto the computer.

Once, I decided to try my hand at writing by submitting a column about being a fundamentalist Christian; my first column was titled, Fun With Fundamentalism. A copy of that first column is at http://www.cowart.info/Rabid%20Fun%20columns/Rabid%20Fundamentalist/01rabid.fun.htm .

The editorial committee thought it was funny. They asked me to write a weekly column of religious humor.

I felt I was on my way. For a couple of months as I wrote that Rabid Fundamentalist column I dreamed of syndication, fame, and untold wealth.

Then one week I wrote a column titled The Party At The End Of The World. A copy of that column is at http://www.cowart.info/Rabid%20Fun%20columns/Party%20at%20End/Party%20at%20the%20End.htm

This column outraged some local clergy. I never saw them myself, but I understand that a delegation of eight angry clergymen visited the managing editor to protest.

The Rabid Fundamentalist column was yanked that same afternoon.

Through this circumstance I did not loose my job as mail clerk, but it seems that through this incident God called me to write obituaries for my next few years at the paper.

This pained me, but I suppose the Lord knows what He’s doing.

I think the Lord God is more interested in my walk with Him and in developing my character than He is in what I happen to be doing to earn a living.

As Saint Paul said, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him”.

So then, let me tell you about the time when I…

Oh.

Never mind.

You can stop reading now.

Our 39 seconds are up.