Four-Legged Faith

Move over, "Fluffy" and "Fido." You've been replaced - by Lutherans whose faith has influenced the naming of their pets. Responding to a call in the July issue of The Lutheran, readers not only reported faith-full names but also served up stories to go with them.

Not surprisingly, Martin Luther is a driving force for some pet owners. "We named our dog 'Lute' - short for Lutheran," wrote Steve Tangen, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church, Dickinson, N.D. "We wanted to be an ecumenical household, so we decided if we got a cat, we would name it 'Cat' - short for Catholic."

Judith Helm, a retired ELCA pastor living in Cary, N.C., named her brother and sister cats Martin and Katie. "They are Lutheran cats, after all," she said.

Of their greyhound named Martin Luther, Earl and Donna Dinger, Denver, Pa., wrote: "He doesn't show any tendencies toward preaching and theology. However, he does appreciate good music and 'sings' very well!"

Elizabeth and Leonard Notto, Tucson, Ariz., adopted an abused dog, Shad, who had been kept outside in the Arizona heat. "It was like being in a fiery furnace (Daniel 3). We renamed him Shadrach," they said. "He's loved, spoiled and enjoys the doggie door. He stays in the house where it's nice and cool!"

One Sunday about 16 years ago, a pastor of Holy Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Red Bank, N.J., announced: "Many things come to the church door, but this morning was a first - a box of kittens." Lorraine Ayres, Little Silver, N.J., took one home and named it Tabitha - this set a precedent for other family cats named after Cornelius, Thomas, Priscilla, Benjamin, Timothy, Andrew and Keturah.

Mona Lackore's family had a string of bad luck with cats that had anything but nine lives. So she named the next one Moses Methuselah in hopes of a long life. "He did survive significantly longer than his immediate predecessors," said the Willmar, Minn., resident.

Jean Johansson, Minneapolis, said she'd like to be able to say she has a deep reason for naming her Shih Tzu Shiloh. "I honestly just like the way it sounds," she said.

Roberta Palen, Virginia, Minn., rescued from a cat sanctuary a Main coon who was "cowering in a corner because he wasn't used to so many other cats." Believing he needed a strong name and because of his colored fur, she named him Joseph. "I later found out his caregiver at the sanctuary was a sister (nun) of St. Joseph."

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