Shakespeare once asked, “What’s in a name?” One of the customs that has arisen on the Pacific Crest Trail thru hike is the assignment of trail names. There are no set rules or protocols but it is generally accepted that you should not choose your own trail name but let others have that honor. That is risky but typically someone will notice something about you and slap a name on you. You don’t have to accept that name but if you reject it you should say so immediately. On the first day of our PCT hike, within a couple of hours, a young man walked by wearing a crisp, brilliant white shirt. My first thought was, “who wears a white shirt on a hike for 5 or 6 months in the dirt?” He walked up to us and introduced himself, saying, “Hello, I’m Doctor Mindbender.” He had apparently assigned that name to himself. I thought to myself, “that sounds kind of pretentious, I think when I see him again I will call him Nurse Mindbender.” You know, chop his ego down to size. However I realized that would not be very kind or gracious of me and after all I am a Christian and a Pastor, no less.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Jerry and I have the trail names of Strider and Snowdog respectively. I gave Jerry his name because I saw that he had a long stride and walked much faster than me. He reminded me of Strider (Aragorn) from Lord of the Rings. He wasn’t familiar with that character but he liked the name because he has a personality that is easy going and takes things in stride. Jerry gave me the name Snowdog because when we passed through the deep snows on Mount San Jacinto, I was able to traverse the snowfields faster and easier than him. He recognized an ability in me that I didn’t know I possessed.

We still have a lot of snow ahead of us, and it remains to be seen if I will live up to my trail name. Tomorrow we begin the ascent of Mount Baden Powell which is still heavily snowbound at 9400 feet elevation. Later in May we will approach the Sierra Nevada’s which also have record snow levels. There is a lot of fear mongering about the conditions there and a lot of hikers are planning to skip the Sierra’s and shoot up to Oregon, hike to Canada, and then return later in the Summer to finish the mountains when most of the snow has melted.

We don’t know yet what we will do but as I contemplate the challenging conditions before us I have a peace and feel calm and confident, because after all, “I am Snowdog! Hear me howl!” The name that has been assigned to me seems to give me an inner peace that I can do this.

All of us go through life carrying “trail names” that have been assigned to us, or that we have acquired along life’s journey. Some we are aware of, some are not. Some are earned or deserved, some are not. Have you considered what trail names have attached themselves to you and how they may be affecting your life? God intercepted Jacob on the trail and gave him a trail name. He said, “you will no longer be Jacob (conniver and manipulator), you shall be Israel (Prince with God). That name changed his destiny.

Most PCT trail names are just clever or cute. Many try to press the boundaries of appropriateness (or trample over those boundaries). Some are just silly and insignificant. Unfortunately, so too are the lives of those who seek no higher calling or purpose in life; who aspire to no transcendent reputation or persona. They are ultimately just insignificant. God wants to give us a new “trail name” that can shape us and guide us toward a meaningful life. He said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it (Rev 2:17).”

I pray that the Lord will reveal any and all inappropriate, inaccurate, judgmental and confining “trail names” that have been slapped thoughtlessly on you and show you the new name and new identity He wants to shape within you and manifest from you.