I wanted to share a little bit about the blog's name. Some of you out there may be wondering how I came up with such a title as "The Second Knight Passages" since, on the surface, it may not make a lot of sense. In fact, the word passage is one of those words that, if you try to say it over and over again, will start to hang up in your mouth a little bit. If you add in the rest of the words it becomes a complex title to speak. It reminds me a little bit of the tongue-twister: Sally sells seashells by the seashore. Maybe it's just the letter 's' that causes such consternation. Try not to say it five times fast, it won't be pretty.
Anyway, before I talk myself out of the title let me fill you in on its origin. If you notice on the book info page (or if you happened to have read it already) I have a book titled The Second Knight: How I Overcame Intrusive Thoughts. The book is my testimony of how the Lord helped me overcome one of the toughest trials I've ever faced in my life. I love the title of this book because it really conveys a sense of mystery about what happened and people find that intriguing. Coming up with the title of a book or even a blog feels somewhat like creating an inside joke to me. I know what it means, my editor knows what it means, and people who've read it know what it means. But, if you haven't read it yet you're not in on the fun. I have always loved catching on to an inside joke in movies, TV, and other stuff like that so I'm happy to play that game with you.
So, without giving away that sense of mystery or any spoilers, I will simply say that the title refers to something that the Lord showed me during my trial that conveyed the need for me to grow in Him. In essence it started me on a journey of growth from one place spiritually to another. So I wanted to convey that sense of journey in the title of the blog as well as distinguish it from the book. I tried out several words which didn't seem quite right. It turns out that when you use something like 'the second knight' in your title it causes a lot of things to sound like the title of a fantasy novel. And while I can appreciate a good fantasy novel that is not the direction I was headed with my blog.
Eventually the word passages came to me and I thought it fit just right. If you look up that word in the Oxford Dictionaries you will find that it has four main meanings. 1) The act or process of moving through, under, over, or past something on the way from one place to another. 2) A narrow way, typically having walls on either side, allowing access between buildings or to different rooms within a building; a passageway. 3) The process of transition from one state to another. And 4) A short extract from a book or other printed material.
I was pleased to see that the word could rightly be used to convey the idea of taking a journey as well as convey the idea of writings in short bursts or small chunks, which is what writing a blog is all about. So, that is what I named my blog. I am on a journey to grow in Christ and The Second Knight holds a special place in my heart. I hope you will continue on the journey with me as I write my passages and we will both get to know Jesus a little better each day.
Phillip