In Ludington, Michigan, there is a street called “No Name Street.” I don’t know why.  Perhaps the city planner simply ran out of names when they got to this one.  Perhaps there was a comedian in the crowd.  But how would you like to live on “No name street”?  Imagine explaining that to the IRS! 

I.  NAMES ARE FUNNY THINGS.  My own name, which seems so simple to me, is often mispronounced.  They want to call it Strobie.  When they do, I tell them that I am a minister and each Sunday I get to wear a “robie.” I usually tell folks that it is to be pronounced like the “strobe light” and that I, too, have “intermittent flashes of brilliance.” Just how intermittent I leave for them to decide.  Also, just how brilliant. 

Over the years I have made a hobby of collecting odd and euphonious names. …