Fearless Faith

Are humans’ best friends (dogs in particular) just what the doctor ordered? After being gone for a few days and sharing a reunion car ride with our dog, she peeked over the back seat with one of the most doleful I-thought-you’d-never-come-home-again looks imaginable. In one short moment she reminded us how much our animals support and sustain us. We are the ones who generally look after their basic needs – food, water, exercise, health – but they are the ones who chase tennis balls, bark at falling leaves, and watch football by resting their paws on our feet. And chasing bunnies in the wood pile? It is hard to know just how much of it is purely for show.

They believe in us, and remain unequivocal in their loyalty, even when we fall prey to ill-conceived notions as we go about the tasks of each day. They don’t care if we use the wrong expression at times, for most of their cues are non-verbal and less cumbersome than using real words. They sense our moods, needs, frame of mind and whether to commiserate with us or keep their distance. Their vices are few and I am sure they would plainly reveal them all if someone would translate.

What a better place our world might be if we walked paw-in-hand around the pasture every morning, or with friends or family or both? Would we find clearer evidence of the Maker’s presence and bring that element into the heart of our work of each day? Could we greet each person we meet with the same unfettered joy and enthusiasm that dogs dispense when we leave them alone for several hours, let alone a few minutes? Might they help us recognize the difference between play and aggression?

Recent spates of hatefulness worldwide have widened the gulf between accountability and what most of us regard as morally unbearable choices. It is never as simple as we would hope. San Diego song writer Linda K. Williams wrote, “When Jesus said love your enemies, I think he probably meant don’t kill them.” That’s an ideal worth pondering and likely made much simpler from a dog’s perspective. The rest of us, however, are faced with the difficulty of knowing what to do, what actions, to take, and how to respond at a distance. It begins on our own hearthstone where we must first love God with all our heart and mind, then share that love deeply and unabashedly with those around us. From there we trust in the ripple effect that defines goodness and sacredness. If not us, then whom?

While I wrote, the dog kindly refrained from comment even though a heavy sigh escaped her jowls once or twice. “When he needs me, I will come,” she seemed to be offering. She is more right than wrong in that understanding. The structural violence reported everyday is as insidious as the missiles that strike. When will we begin to grasp that the breadth of peaceful opportunity is wider and faster flowing than we can possibly imagine? It will not be achieved, however, until we decide once more that life is more sacred than it is disposable.