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Dogs and Things
 The wonderful TV ad for St. Jude children, a child who had been deep in pain and medicine for such a long time, finally gets to go home and the first thing she wants to do is hug her dog, her real dog, not a stuffed one, a comical one, a cuddly one, that would surely have to be moved now and then. What she longed for was Her friend the dog who, I gather, has not been able to wander on St. Jude stairs to see his mistress.
How many of us love our dogs first. They don’t have to be trick dogs, or particularly sharp looking dogs, or friendly dogs with tongues hanging out ready to give a lick kiss to a mistress or master or you or me. Dogs have no distinct moment when they show their love whether others are around or not. But a dog - we all gotta have a dog, big, medium, or squatting the ground like a Dachshund. When my brother died, he had almost a dozen Dachshund’s in his bed - surrounding him so no one could get near him. They knew something was wrong. Maybe they knew about death when breath ended. They knew something was off kilter, and it was like a police squad who won’t leave their best officer who just got removed from life.
Police dogs are amazing companions too. At Grizzlies basketball games, usually there is a big guy with one of my favorite dogs, the Belgian Malinois, whose specialist, I think, is sniffing drugs and illegal things. But I give him a tap on his nose and in my soul, I say a prayer that one day I can find a Malinois to gift my husband Roberto for our accumulating dogs. We have two Rottweilers, one Cimarron, and the traditional black dog named Black who decided he wanted to live at our house, and consequently Roberto outlined a lot and a room for him. Black had been a neighborhood dog for a decade, I think, since various tossed food to him. But Roberto let him in the gate, and that was that. So now he walks with me daily when I do my three miler. He doesn’t need a chain, He knows the ropes, where to lift his legs to remind other dogs he was there; he stops to see all his buddies (who are not on chain either - only one fierce Rottweiler looks vicious and growls fiercely,) but soon we pass the few small houses and reach the dirt road, which we haul up and down for climbing a bit, and then land on the edge of the Rio de La Plata so Black can cool off, step in, lay down somehow, and has a round of water between the tall grasses. He loves the shade they make. and when he’s ready to go, we keep on going along the edge of the river, passing by every day a couple of patient fishermen who have the one stick in the sand holding up the long pole silent at the other end, at that moment. The fishermen brought their fold up seats and watch the movement of their simple bobbling hook. Black and I walk on by so as not to interrupt their peace, and soon we are off the sand and back on the crude road so I can climb up a hill or two more and we have to pass a fierce parking dog (tied up) and then slide in the cool grass at our entrance where Black goes back to his resident and I take off my shoes and sigh with relief.
We don’t get much dog relationship in the Bible. Surely there were all kinds of dogs whether owned by queens and kings, but also just ordinary types that accompanied their owners who were laborers and probably helped corral the animals the kids had to herd from and to home. They trusted these animals, these dogs who shepherds and kids relay upon to keep them all safe. Now some workers will judge one day to be better or worse than another. But others with a positive spirit, judged all day to be alike. And there are those who live by routine - like dogs and children who herd the sheep and keep the stock in good shape so it can be useful as a sale or a meal.
And of course, the herders, the shepherds must feed not only the animals but also themselves far from their homes because the better green grass is quite a distance from civilization. So, in Roman, the writer brings up the point that some can eat anything, but the weak can eat only vegetables daily. It’s a situation that depended on the day and I’m sure where the shepherds and kids were wandering through. It was urgent that one doesn’t pass judgement on other servant and worker, some thinking one day is better than another, of course, and others seem to judge all days to be a like, too routine, not productive. The hard workers let everyone think what their minds think. And for some reason, they observe one day better than another in honor of the Lord and they will celebrate as they eat, giving thanks to the Lord. Of course, there are those who abstain eating for a day or so, to honor Jesus and to give thanks back to God. It isn’t relevant whether we are to live to the Lord, or we die to the Lord. Life or death, we are the Lords, all men and women and animals belong to God and that includes dogs, cats, horses, sheep, cows, elephants and ants, whatever animal or bug or fish swimming in the oceans, whether they are treated with love or have rough abusive lives. Most don’t have much choice about their lives, but one prays good people come along and do right by the many animals whether they are in the circus or the zoo of a home or the ocean where too much garbage is wiping out those who need the oceans to survive.
Maybe this is how and why Christ died and lived again so that we had no doubt that he did create those things His Father had produced when he made the heavens and earth. For this reason, be animal, beast or human, we live and die on earth, and those who can speak and think must remember that every tongue must give praise and love to God because we all know and must acknowledge that He was here and by being here, Christ gave us hope of life forever in His Kingdom, yes, with our dogs, cats, horses, Ladybugs and animals that were part of our lives.
Yes, every knee shall bow before the Lord, and every tongue shall give praise to God, and each of us, all of us, the good and the bad, those who saw the Lord and those who did not see him, but through knowledge, they will be accountable to God for ever, whether on earth or in the heavenly kingdom to which we all fight to enter and be with God forever. Ever tongue will praise God because every heart has known Him and loved Him and worships Him everywhere over and under and sideways. Wherever we chose to die and fill the earth with some part of us, maybe we can bring our pets and bugs and herds of animals along to keep us smiling.
~ Rev
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audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com
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