Tag Archives: God

We have gone to the Dogs:

We have had at least 8 dogs that are and were not our dogs! Wolfgang was a black lab puppy my oldest son brought home when he was a freshman in college! Wolfgang would bite your feet (it hurt let me tell you) until you played with him – he did not run out of gas!!! Before we knew it he started running the neighborhood and – he was hit by a car breaking a hip and slowing him down! Nursed him back / he became my traveling pal! Hyper hyper hyper. Hip injury took it’s toll!

Then came Winston – Australian Shepherd – same son – after college! Dog got on the back of someone’s truck and got lost. Winston had our name / number on Veterinarian rabbies tag! Someone called Vet – Bet called my wife. She wouldn’t let our son have the dog back! Winston became my pal too – walk – walk – bounce up walk walk walk – Just like herding sheep – bounce up to look over sheep = me! Winston just got old! Made me cry the day he died!

Well then there was Scarlet – bad habit Russel Terrier – loved chasing cars – found her in the street one morning – sad. With Scarlet came Mick – bull massive – big boy – my wife managed to find Mic a loving home with kids! Both from – you guessed it the same son whose mom set down the law!

Whew! Thought I was finally free! Neighbors sold home and left dog behind – wife fed him – another pal – Brownie was the name we gave her! Unknown to use a hound dog must have been watching – cause little by little he came closer and closer! Brownie’s pal. I called him Little Bit becuase he won’t get close enough to touch! But Inch by inch- day by day, week after week Little Bit moved in. Unfortunately, Little Bit also loved to chase cars – not good!

After a time the Vet discovered found Brownie had had heart worms for a very long time – oh my! A few more tears!

Let your hearts not weary! Bailey, the other neighbors dog had obviously been watching and found an opening – another pal! Bailey was already old and soon began having trouble getting those hind legs to follow! Lots of consulting with the neighbor and the day finally came!

The cold of winter is here – but the signs of new life surround hidden in the wet cold ground around! It’s kinda like some how I managed to learn I can smell nature cooking a brew of nutrients from what appears as all the dead stuff that surrounds!

Took my tractor for a ride in the cold! She fussed a bunch and blew smoke as I started her up! But you know she started to purr as she warmed up to the chore of pulling a harrow in toe! Magic all around if one just open eyes and ears to listen for sounds – new birth mixed into the earths brew! Hills and valleys lie ahead for sure and treasures await for those open to search! Wow! The wonders of the spirit of life – Not for a single second did I think I’ll of anyone – not once did I encounter a trace of ill or hate!

Get it together folks – we are called to be in one spirit = united! The dogs figured it out – just say hi – I wish you a blessed day even when all I can do is only negotiate an inch at a time!

Designed to Balance on a Spiritual Scale:

Mercy and Justice

A pair = one flesh that cannot be separated without taking the life of the other. Mercy and justice are like a married couple of one man and one woman. The difference is what makes possible the creation of new life and the possibility of redemption. God created a balance that humans cannot escape without creating a mess! Will humanity ever turn to the spirit of the one who said these words? “Forgive them Father they know not what they do!” In those words lies the secret to humanity finding the way out of a self created darkness into the real possibility of hope! Can we overcome the magnetic field of selfie worship that seeks to isolate us as it strips away the balance that holds mercy and justice together?

Tail Waging!

With a New Year comes new beginnings and realities of time marching on! Each day something must die that we might have new life! We don’t think about that! This time of year reality can catch us off guard.

We have our sixth dog that is not our dog. It is the neighbors dog who has had the run of the neighborhood and has acquired multiple eating places. Things changed on an intense stormy day when this dog joined our fourth and fifth dogs, that also were not our dogs, in our garage to escape the heavy rain. Some weeks later our fourth dog that is not our dog passed and the fifth was hit by a car.

Then one evening when my wife was out of town a sudden storm with heavy rain rushed over the neighborhood. To my surprise I heard the neighbor dog knocking at the back porch door. I let her in and intended to let her back out when the storm relented. When it got late, the storm wasn’t running out of gas, so I let the dog spend the night. No good deed done in secret escapes my wife.
Well if I could do that! – magically a dog bed showed up in front of the TV. To my surprise another sprang forth in the bedroom. The sixth dog – not our dog – was crowned queen without my consent! Her 1st thrown was in front of the TV so she could over see us and another in the bedroom to watch us during the night. It must have been magic because overnight this dog – not our dog, began to model my wife’s pattern of shepherding. She would search the house until she found us and then attempted to guide us to where we were supposed to be. She would lay and wait and not go to her thrown/bed until we were in the right places.

Long ago our neighbor who is very busy with small children learned by watching the dog leaving the yard and the kids running after my wife’s car or mine when we came home. It was not a walk or a slow trot – it was a I can’t wait to see you run. The dog is 14 and the children made her nervous and my wife and I are slow.

Well the chill and cold of the New Year brought to light those 14 year old hind legs don’t want to work like they should. And during a recent long cold night her struggles intensified. Getting up has become a mighty effort but her desire to search for us just as intense! Her trips outside now require assistance and careful monitoring after. The time for traveling the neighborhood – not so much – it is obvious to our neighbor as well mother time is running short.

So many memories and pets! I have to ask! Who knows someone who is struggling, is broken in some way, lost in the neighborhood, looking to get out of the storm and the rain, just hoping someone will notice they exist, isolated in a crowd of busy people, praying someone will search for them and ask whats up and invite them in? How many have I am mad at you relative? A dog will receive us with boundless joy and eagerness all over if only our body makes a slight welcome motion – come and enter my safe space. Forgiveness is a dogs nature! How come we humans are so slow to reach out to humans beyond ourselves?

The dogs of my life – even those that are not my dogs have taught me much time and again – they never ever give up even to the end. Imagine we each have been gifted with scars, struggles, rejection, loss, failures and sin. Yea I mean you too – the one who thinks they have nothing to offer! Far far far greater is the potential of those willing to risk reaching way into the depths of their soul and setting free the breath of new life that can be carried on the wind to a soul wondering? Just say “hey I am thinking of you and hope all is well”! Amen – and then why is my tail waging?