Spiders and Snakes
Now that the weather has turned cooler, I'm finding little granddaddy longlegs in different
corners and occasionally a small one will drop from the ceiling of my shower. I do not like
spiders. When I'm confronted with them, I'd like to do what I saw in a meme on social media,
which is take a flame thrower and burn my house down to kill a single spider if it's hairy and
scary enough! The granddaddies, I can tolerate, if only because I can grab a tissue and scoop
them up and out. Anything hairier or scarier, I'm not going within a country mile of it without
my flame thrower.
It makes me think of a song from my childhood. Jim Stafford released "Spiders and Snakes"
back in the 1960's. Besides being about Spiders and snakes, it also featured my name! One of
the fun things about having an old-fashioned name like Mary Lou is that it shows up in a song
or two from the past. I have a theory that I can tell your age-the range, at least-by which
song you quote or sing to me!
"Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson came out in 1961 which was before I was born. So if that's
the song you greet me with, I'll know you are likely older than I am, or had parents who were
big Ricky Nelson fans. I looked up some trivia about the song, and it was at number one in
Norway for 14 weeks! Norway! It's been covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Led
Zeppelin-can you believe it!?- and the Statler Brothers.
"Spiders and Snakes" by Jim Stafford came out in 1974 and featured verses that were spoken,
then a chorus which was sung. A shy boy asks to walk a girl named Mary Lou home from
school and they go by the swimming hole. He gets all silly on her and picks up a frog to shake it
in her face. And her response is "I don't like spiders and snakes, and that ain't what it takes to
love me...like I wanna be loved by you." I was waaay too young to pick up the innuendo but
thrilled that a song had my name in it!
The third song came out just a couple of years later in 1976, but when Tom Cruise danced to
"Old Time Rock and Roll" in Risky Business in 1983, it renewed interest in Bob Seeger and
brought his Mary Lou back to attention. It was originally on the Night Moves album, and like
the Mary Lou in Spiders and Snakes, she wasn't the girl you'd wanna bring home to momma.
""I wanna tell you a story 'bout Mary Lou / You know the kind of woman make a fool of
you...Mary Lou," the song says, "she took my diamond ring. Mary Lou, she took everything!"
Of the three, I prefer Ricky Nelson's. Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart is a way better
reputation than, "Mary Lou, she took my Cadillac Car" or the fast little girl who let that boy
take her to the woods!
We don't talk much about reputation these days. Time was that your name was your most
precious commodity. We tend to talk now of "branding" and the value of name recognition
rather than the character qualities that are associated with a good name.
Perhaps you know, as I do, of businesses that have a bad reputation for price gouging, or poor
customer service. Or you may know or have worked with someone who didn't do what they
said they'd do, and you get a sour opinion of them, after a time or two of waiting for their
integrity to show up.
Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better
than silver or gold."
A friend of mine and I had a discussion a few years ago about a certain presidential candidate.
My friend Robert engaged me in conversation about which candidate I was planning to support.
I'm sure I waxed poetic about choosing the lesser of two evils, and how I planned to vote for
the candidate whose platform more closely resembled what I thought about the economy and
foreign policy. Besides, he had a cool theme song! Who wouldn't vote for someone who used
Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" as their anthem!
Robert didn't shame me or shake his head in disappointment. Instead, he asked a question. "If a
man cannot be faithful and loyal to his wife, the single most important relationship of his life,
can you trust him to be faithful and loyal to a country full of people he doesn't know?" The
candidate's reputation as a womanizer was a deal breaker for my friend.
I heard a comedian say more recently that this particular candidate showed us who he was when
he chose his theme song from an album called Rumors that was by and about people who
cheated on each other.
Mic drop, right!?
Reputation has fallen to the wayside like other old-fashioned values. The infamous are famous;
being virtuous doesn't hold the same value as being notorious. I could reel off a list of single-
named individuals, and you'd be able to tell me what they are famous or infamous for, and what
their reputation is.
Dr. Henry Cloud, in his book Integrity, describes what he calls the wake of a person. "You can
tell a lot about a ship as you look at its wake," he writes. "If it is in a straight line, you get a
feeling that the boat is steadily on course, and that the captain is not dozing at the wheel, or that
an engine or a shaft is not somehow out of whack. But if it is wavering, you begin to wonder...
In other words, what the wake looks like can tell you a lot about the boat itself."
He goes on to say, "At the end of the day, we must look back and see if the wake of our work is
profitable or not. If it isn't, it is time to ask ourselves some hard questions. The wake is the
results we leave behind. And the wake doesn't lie and it doesn't care about excuses. It is what it
is. No matter what we try to do to explain why, or to justify what the wake is, it still remains. It
is what we leave behind and is our record." (pages 16 and 17)
It's a good way to think about your name, your reputation. Is your name, or your business name,
synonymous with good service? With integrity? With prompt payments? With generosity?
What is the wake you are leaving behind?
We switched internet companies because the one company promised certain speeds, and when
technicians came to install more equipment, they'd tell us that the service we were paying for
wasn't even available yet. The company didn't have the infrastructure to support the high-speed
internet we needed to work from home. Imagine our excitement when another company
promised a certain speed, and when we tested, we got more than double what the company
promised. They under-promise, and over-delivered.
Which company would get our recommendation? Easy choice, right?
How can you make sure your business, or your name has the best reputation? Here are five
ideas:
1. Be true to your word. Even if it hurts. I remember the first time I misquoted a price to a
customer for a large ticket item in my business. She was so excited to get the package at
the significant discount, and by the time I delivered the product, I was going to lose every
bit of my profit and more. "Should I tell her I made a mistake?" I asked my husband. His
answer? "No. Next time you'll be more careful." He was right! I never made that mistake
again! But that customer returned and paid full price the next time because I kept my
word. People remember when you don't do what you say you're going to do.
2. Be fastidious about paying your bills on time, and gracious while waiting for payment
from others. This is a hard balance, especially if your business is new or small and every
payment could make or break your budget. Margin is especially important; keep a reserve
that will cover unexpected expenses, and will also enable you to make things right with a
customer if there is a dispute.
3. Own up to your mistakes and make them right as quickly as possible. That may entail a
financial renumeration or a new policy. Be open to ways that you can serve better.
4. Return or repay anything you borrow and do it quickly. When you lend, do so without
expecting it returned, as Jesus said.
5. Bill honestly! If you offer a service at an hourly rate, document your hours worked and
offer a fair accounting of your time.
I like how The Message Version says 1 Peter 3:13-18a:
" If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer
for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin,
keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and
tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.
Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.
They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing
good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad.
A good name takes a good long time to cultivate. Be sure to make decisions with your
reputation, your wake, in mind... not to please people, but because God is pleased with your
good name. We used to send our kids out with the tongue-in-cheek admonition, "Remember
who you are; you are a Casada and you belong to Jesus. Don't embarrass either one of us!"
They understood the value of our name.
What adjectives would you like attached to your name? to your business?
Fair. Honest. Compassionate. Generous. Punctual. Considerate. Joyful.
She has integrity, a sense of humor, a welcoming smile, she doesn't show favoritism, she treats
everyone with respect.
"Be very careful, then," Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "how you live-not as unwise but as
wise." (Ephesians 5:14). Like the spiders in my house, it only takes one good shot from a flame
thrower to destroy your good name. Be so good that, when people speak ill of you, no one will
believe it!
Father,
Names are a big deal to You. Names signified the character of a person, from Jacob the
Deceiver to Peter the Rock...and now we who believe bear the Name of Jesus. Like the
believers at Antioch who were called Christians-little Christs-help us live up to the name
we've adopted. Help me grow my business with Your name and my name in mind, revealing
the character of Christ in every transaction and every encounter with prospects, customers,
clients, and associates. I want to make you proud and be proud of the name You've given me.
Help me remember who and Whose I am.
These things I pray in Jesus's name,
Amen.
Oh my word! We've reached a dozen podcasts... I meant to celebrate last week. I read that of
the thousands of podcasts most don't go past episode 10, so I'm so excited that we've achieved
a small but significant milestone! The first of many, I hope! Thank you for listening so far!!
Would you help me with a couple of goals? Between Apple and Spotify, and a couple of other
platforms, we have just over 800 downloads. I'd like to get that number to a thousand this
month!
And we have about 70 followers. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's 70 MORE than when we
started at the end of July! I'd like to hit the milestone of 100 followers. I'm told that at 100
followers, we become more visible and accessible on all the different podcast platforms (and
there's a bunch of them!) Would you help spread the word? Hit the share button if you think
this or another episode would encourage someone under your influence. Or link the episode in
your social media. I'd be ever so grateful!
And leave a review! We have 21 ratings and 12 thoughtful reviews, and I'd love to see 100 of
those! If you have a favorite episode-there still so few that you might can pick one!-make a
note of it and write a little something about it.
Thank you for so many positive responses via email, social media, and in person. Keep growing
yourself and your business! I'm so grateful you're here to Talk & Pray!
