The Name Of Your God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ezra, who is seven, was riding in the back seat of our car with a friend a few weeks back, and their discussion turned to God. He wanted to clarify things\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/2011\/12\/the-name-of-your-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Name Of Your God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ezra, who is seven, was riding in the back seat of our car with a friend a few weeks back, and their discussion turned to God. He wanted to clarify things\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/2011\/12\/the-name-of-your-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"What She Said\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-02T16:02:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-02T17:49:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/files\/2011\/12\/images.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tara Edelschick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tara Edelschick\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/2011\/12\/the-name-of-your-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/2011\/12\/the-name-of-your-god\/\",\"name\":\"The Name Of Your God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-02T16:02:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-02T17:49:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/#\/schema\/person\/fea68663271c01027260a02a32c4b529\"},\"description\":\"Ezra, who is seven, was riding in the back seat of our car with a friend a few weeks back, and their discussion turned to God. 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{"id":536,"date":"2011-12-02T11:02:06","date_gmt":"2011-12-02T16:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/?p=536"},"modified":"2011-12-02T12:49:59","modified_gmt":"2011-12-02T17:49:59","slug":"the-name-of-your-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatshesaid\/2011\/12\/the-name-of-your-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Name Of Your God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

His friend nodded, and Ezra began to count. \u00a0\u201cOne\u2026.two\u2026.three!\u201d<\/p>\n

The other boy shouted, \u201cJe-,\u201d but stopped short when he realized that Ezra wasn\u2019t participating. \u00a0His version of you-show-me-yours-I\u2019ll-show-you-mine was all a ruse.<\/p>\n

\u201cAha! \u00a0I thought so,\u201d announced Ezra triumphantly. \u00a0\u201cBut I wanted to make sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talking to friends about faith can be tough.<\/p>\n

Having \u201ccome to Jesus\u201d late in life, though, I seem to have a relatively easier time of it. Perhaps being raised by a new-agy mom and a secular Jewish dad, and spending most of my life as an agnostic, helps me feel comfortable in all kinds of circles. Whatever it is, I find that most people seem to enjoy the discussion.<\/p>\n

Despite living in the academic vortex of the universe, I\u2019ve almost never encountered negative reactions when talking about my faith. \u00a0My professors respected my decision not to work on the Sabbath, encouraged me to integrate faith into classroom discussions, and worked hard to provide helpful feedback when I wrote about Jesus. My kids\u2019 teachers were at first surprised when I didn\u2019t want the boys to make altars to their ancestors; but when I explained my perspective, they respected it, even if they didn\u2019t quite get it. Honestly, talking about faith just hasn\u2019t been tough.<\/p>\n

The truth is, though, that while I\u2019m comfortable talking about Jesus in any context, I don\u2019t usually feel the need to. \u00a0But a recent comment by Christie on my last post got me thinking. Responding to Fightin\u2019 Words<\/a>, she wrote:<\/p>\n

I guess also I wasn\u2019t quite sure what the post had to do with faith at all, and (as a religious studies academic on temporary hiatus) was surprised to find it hosted by Patheos, which encourages balanced views of spirit and faith.<\/em><\/p>\n

Which is a good point. \u00a0But I\u2019m not sure what to do with it. \u00a0I assume that one\u2019s worldview is at the root of all behavior, including mine, but I don\u2019t always think to make it explicit. \u00a0Should I?<\/p>\n

In my post, I could have talked about how important it is for me to respect the dignity of each person as created by God, which is why I find off-putting language less funny over the years. I could have talked about the prayer that went into our decision to homeschool \u2013 it wasn\u2019t simply a matter of educational and lifestyle choices. But should I always do that? \u00a0Even on a site dedicated to religious dialogue, is it always necessary to spell out the religious undergirding of our thinking?<\/p>\n

I work hard to be prayerful, in line with Scripture, and in community with thoughtful believers. \u00a0I fail often, to be sure, but faith informs my every thought, deed, and word. Certainly, I don\u2019t want people to have to devise covert schemes to get me to blurt out, \u201cJesus.\u201d If it\u2019s not apparent after a short while that I love Jesus, I\u2019m not being clear about who I really am.<\/p>\n

But maybe the blog can be like my actual conversations with people, yes? \u00a0Is it possible to build relationships via a blog, so that we come to know, by and by, the names of each other\u2019s gods? \u00a0If not, we can always resort to Ezra\u2019s plan. \u00a0Come on everybody, on the count of three\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"