It just works better that way

Today, I was walking in the fields.

Oreo, my black lab, joined me as I rambled along in dialogue with the Lord. She doesn't mind a bit of benign neglect as I amble along, as it gives her free rein (literally, no lead, no rein on her) to wander the fields.

As I climbed over the stile into the field, I spotted a stick, the perfect size for fetch. I didn't come out here to play, I came to pray. And yet, perhaps the Lord wouldn't mind a bit of both. I do a quick spot check, trying the idea on Him, and as I feel no divine objection. I snatch the stick from the ground, waving it around to catch Oreo's attention.

At first, she seems surprised. She was already exploring the myriad smells in the grass. Somewhat reluctantly she leaves her occupation and trots over to me.

I throw the stick for her. She runs after it for a few steps and then is almost immediately distracted by what must be an enticing smell for her, as she veers off to her right, leaving the stick neglected and alone on the damp grass.

I walk over and pick up the stick. Hey. Come here. Look. You love this. Are you ready? Are you ready?! As I rile her up, I believe I see a flicker of remembrance behind those eyes. I throw it again. This time she is off like a rocket she grabs the stick and joyfully returns it to my feet. Dancing around, occasionally lunging toward the stick playfully, as if to urge me to throw it again before she grabs it, carrying it away herself.

I can she she is now fully engaged and she loves it! I throw it a few more times, and she chases it down and brings it right back. Then, a funny thing happens. I pull my arm back to throw it, and she darts off full speed, but in the wrong direction. She wrongly anticipated where it was headed. As it lands off to my right, she is off to my left. She completely misses it and runs franctically back and forth trying to find it.

I mutter to myself as I stomp off to retrieve the stick. I pick it up and call her. She runs over to me again, dancing around and waiting for me to throw it.

I pull my arm back and she's off, but, again, in the wrong direction. But this time, I'm watching more carefully and I don't throw it immediately. I wait for her to turn her head back toward me, and then I release it in the opposite direction. She pivots like a cheetah and scampers back across the field and full speed toward where the stick is headed. The stick is on the ground for mere moments before she scoops it up on the run and brings it back again.

We repeat this pattern a few more times, until I notice a subtle change in her behavior. She still anticipates where the stick will be thrown, but now she is streaking away from me with her head fixed back over her shoulder.

She is eager to play. She is eager to run. But now her eye is fixed on the master.

It just works better that way.

Wandering

She bounds over the stile and is off like a rocket.

I climb to the top and watch with joy as she enjoys the field stretched out before us.

My dog, Oreo, is not supposed to go into the fields without me. She knows she is supposed to wait at the bottom of the stile as I go ahead. I have trained her with many treats to wait for me to go first. Sometimes the fields are full of cows and they don't respond with joy when she goes rushing in among them. The horses don't care much for her exuberance either.

So, I go first to make sure that it is safe, then I release her with a quick "okay" and she flings herself into the freedom of the fields with reckless abandon. She races here and there investigating everything and simply enjoying the freedom the fields bring. She can run hundreds of meters in virtually any direction. No leash, no fences, no limitations to her curiosity, just the distant hedges marking the edge of her temporary paradise.

I love seeing her free. I love her just being herself. Running. Sniffing. Rolling. Leaping. Romping. It makes me smile to see her just being a happy dog. She comes back to check in every few minutes, and when she does she gets another treat.

We both look forward to our walks.

As we reach the bottom of the first field, I call her to me intending for her come, sit, and receive a treat while I go over the stile first. She pauses, looking back at me over her shoulder, but doesn't come back.

Instead...She bounds over the stile and is off like a rocket.

This time I'm not smiling as I hurry to the stile, whistling and calling her. As I peer over I see her off in the distance leaping over yet another stile. She's not paying any attention. She's no longer even trying to obey.  She doesn't care about the treats. She is just gone.

As I hurry through the mud to close the distance between us, I see her cross into yet another field. A field where I know there are horses. Having seen her get kicked in the head once by a cow, I'm not eager to see her confronted by the horses.

I have now broken into a run and am yelling her name, not that she can hear me as she is easily 300 meters away and has disappeared over a hill in the adjacent field.

I continue running after her, concerned that she may get hurt, and wondering why oh why she would run away like this. We always have such a good time together! She has never run off like this before. It's not uncommon for her to go over a stile, but to run away entirely is a brand new behaviour.

As I go through yet another stile I come across some friends who have seen her. They point me in another direction; which is helpful as I no longer have any idea where she is headed or what she is doing. What has gotten in to her?!

Finally, I catch up with her and find her walking with another friend and his dog. I call out, and my friend and his dog turn and start toward me. Not my dog. Not Oreo.

No...Oreo, seems to have developed selective hearing. She doesn't even turn around. Then, she lies down and refuses to come to me. As I approach, she starts to squirm into the submissive position. She knows that she has run off, and she knows that nothing good will come of it. She has been away from me for at least 20 minutes while I ran through the fields pursuing her.

I put her on the lead and start for home, fuming!

What had started out as a wonderful shared experience was ruined for both of us because she decided to ignore me and run off. She doesn't understand or recognize the dangers, and even though she didn't get hurt this time, the dangers were very real. She knew there was freedom, joy, and treats with me, but she caught the sent of something she wanted more and was gone. She didn't care what I wanted. The end result was that she ended up on the lead and I ended up angry and late for a meeting. Neither one of us enjoyed the walk back.

But it was on the way back that God unfolded the parable to me.

As I fumed about the dog and grumbled under my breath about her behaviour, He gently called my attention to the previous evening.

I had heard his invitation the previous evening, but had run off. I felt His invitation to sit at His feet, open His Word, and spend some time together, but I didn't want to. I just wanted to play a silly computer game. I had worked hard and felt entitled to my own time, to do my own thing, so that is what I did. I ran off and did my own thing. I felt the tug several more times over the next couple of hours as I played  my game, but kept ignoring His promptings, pretending not to hear and running off again. Finally, at 4AM I collapsed into bed exhausted and dissatisfied.

The funny thing is that I really enjoy my times with Him. My times with Him refresh my soul and stimulate my mind. I am more myself and more full of love and joy, peace and patience, during and after my times with Him. When we do life together, it's great! It is much better on every level than a computer game, but in a fit of sheer madness it somehow seemed like a good idea to run from my all loving Father.

By the time we made it home I was truly repentant and grateful for my Master. I can't say Oreo felt the same. I can tell you that she was ready and raring to go on a walk again the next day. I can also tell you that she hasn't run off since. Our relationship is restored and full of joy and freedom again. And my relationship with the dog isn't bad either.

At Play in the Fields

As I was walking the other day through the fields, I realized again that my dog, Oreo, has become a part of my relationship with God. As we tramp through the fields around our town together, I notice things about her behaviour and occasionally God will nudge me to reflect on how that particular act might reflect something deeper. 

It is such an amazing adventure to live in a God bathed world. The more I realize His actual presence the more the opportunity for connection with Him becomes a reality. I am looking for Him, expecting Him to speak up at any moment. I am slowly learning what it means to actually walk with God; not just follow His principles or obey His Word, but to actually walk with God.

Yesterday, I went on a walk with Oreo and God. They were both with me the whole time, even when I wasn't consciously aware of their presence. On these rambles across the countryside, I generally let my mind wander. I don't keep a tight rein on it, but let it go where it will following the contours of the land and sky or pondering tasks and relationships. 

As I do so, particular items will come into focus and sometimes I turn toward God and start talking with Him about it; asking Him for His perspective, or a solution to a problem, or just sharing my heart about the topic. After talking for a bit, we lapse into a comfortable silence, like an old married couple.

But sometimes God breaks the silence and pipes up with something He wants me to consider. Ideas that are not my own intrude, or something unexpectedly catches my eye and draws my attention, sending me off on a different train of thought or initiating a prayerful dialogue with Him. 

Yesterday, it was the shear joy of the dog. We were walking in the wind and rain through a field of high grass when she just took off. She was leaping and running in wild circles in a sort of ecstatic dance.. She would occasionally come back to check in or just look my direction. The look of wildness and excitement in her face could only be described as joy. She was loving it, the wildness of the weather, the freedom of her body, the stimulation of the environment. She kept looking in my direction as if to say, "Isn't this great! Come run with me!" I smiled and walked on, unhurried, but enjoying her joy.

Then came the nudge...I realized that my birthright as a child of God is that kind of joy and freedom. The fruit of the Spirit is joy! I too can run with reckless abandon, playing in the fields of the Lord, because He is with me. His rod and His staff, they comfort me. 

Because He is with me and will not leave me or abandon me, because His eye is ever fixed on me, I can release my worry and hyper-vigilant self-protection. He is close, He will warn me if danger enters the field. He will call me back from my wild romp if need be. But he also walks on toward the destination that He knows, unhurried but not unmoved. 

He shares in my joy and spurs me on to love and good deeds, to the eternal kind of life that I long for! He knows the end from the beginning and He is working it all out for my good. My only task then is to walk with Him through life, tuning my ear to His voice and remaining open to His direction. All the rest is play in the fields.

Freedom or the Chain

Our family loves our dog. We have so much fun with her. The kids love to play with her in the garden and to wrestle and cuddle her in the house. She is well fed and well loved. We have let her know that she is a welcomed and loved addition to our family. We have "treat trained" her from the beginning. She has learned that we are the givers of all good things. She knows that the result of obedience is a treat, praise, and love. She knows that we are where she wants to be. She has demonstrated her desire to be close to us. Often, when the gate has been left open accidentally, even over night, she has refused to wander. We have even seen people outside of the gate call her and her refuse to leave the property.

So what is up with my dog these days?! She has run off 10 times in the last 12 days! Sometimes twice a day. When she first started the new behaviour, I did some research to see what could be driving it. She has been "fixed" and so she can't be wandering to find a mate. She is not unloved or failed to bond with our family. She is not neglected and is far from under fed. So, what is it that seems to compel her to disobey?

We have given more attention and have tried all the training tricks we know, our friends know, or we have been able to glean from the internet. Nothing has worked. So we have had to resort to the the chain. Only the chain will keep her from running off at a moments notice. We don't want to chain her. We want her to have the run of the garden as she has for the last 18 months. We enjoy the fluidity of the relationship when she comes in and out of the house and can freely roam about the property with us.

She has now lost the freedom found in a caring relationship because she has refused to accept the loving parameters. She has chosen the chain through her behaviour.

Yesterday, I was out in the garden with her. I was hanging laundry and "giving her lots of fuss" as the British say. I played fetch with her and gave her treats. I had her off the chain and we were having fun together. I went into the house to grab a bite to eat and check on the next load of laundry. 3 minutes later the phone rang. Someone was calling from their mobile phone to let me know they had my dog. They happened to be walking by and had caught her less than 50 feet from our house. She had just been experiencing all the best parts about life with our family, and had chosen to run off as soon as my back was turned. Crazy!

Then I remember my last week.

My wife left for a week of ministry in Asia a week ago Saturday. I had purposed with a friend whose wife was also going to be travelling to the event, that we would make good use of the time with our kids and our God while our wives were away. We agreed that we would have extra uninterrupted time in the evenings for solitude and silence with God. We would have more time to spend focused uninterrupted time with Him.  I as looking forward to the week for the special times with my kids and my God.

I had a great week with the kids. Although they were under the weather for much of the week, we had many special times together and made some neat memories together.

My week with God started out well. I had a wonderful extended time with Him on Sunday afternoon. Then, I flipped on the TV in the evening. It's not that I watched anything bad on TV, but I was just channel surfing. I watch 15 minutes of this and 30 minutes of that. I watched nothing at all but I watched it until 2AM.

My week was an odd sort of wandering. I had some really sweet times with God, seeing Him throughout my day, praying for my wife, talking with some friends. But each evening I would forget the sweetness of fellowship and simply go wandering on the TV, through the internet, just wandering. Looking for I don't know what. I just went wandering into the wee hours of the morning.

God is the giver of all good things, and I experienced this last week, but I also experienced the wandering. I am so grateful that He protected me. I could have been wounded on my late night wanderings. There certainly is a lot of crap, a lot of dangerous stuff for my soul that I could have pursued. Even when I stumbled across it, He gave me the insight and the power to turn away. But, I should not have been lingering in those dangerous places.

Why did I wander? I don't know all the answers. I think part of it was loneliness. I was missing the interactions with my wife, but instead of turning to my ever present Friend and Confidant, I filled the lonely place with noise and information that does not satisfy. There were moments of such sweet fellowship with God throughout the week, but there was also so much mindless wandering!

I don't want to wander. Neither do I want to be like my stubbornly rebellious dog who refuses to be trained. I don't want to be chained. I have experienced the slavery of addiction as well as the chain of the law. The law can help to harness, but it cannot bring true freedom.

True freedom is fount in trust and birthed through relationship. If I will learn to trust that the parameters the Father has given me come from love, if I will learn to heed His still small voice, I will find the freedom that comes from submission to my Good God. I am finding it, bit by bit, one day at a time.

Houdini the dog

When we first brought Oreo, our dog, home, she would find amazing ways to get out of the garden. I took to calling her Houdini, after the famous the escape artist.

I came up with several different plans and adaptations to her environment to try to keep her in, only to get a call from a neighbour to come and pick her up, yet again. We trained her and eventually, she stopped escaping.

She is now full grown and has no problem leaping onto and over the wall, but she doesn't. In fact, we often find her peering over the wall at us from on top of her dog house as we return home. Even when the gate is left wide open, she won't leave. Over the last 18 months she has decided that she likes it here and isn't interested in leaving. 

Suddenly, this seems to have changed. My dog is doing her best impression of Houdini again.

She has run off 3 times in the last 2 days. Twice people in town have found her and called the number on the tag for us to come retrieve her. The third time was this morning when we found her patiently waiting outside the gate to be let back in for breakfast. We have no idea how long she had been roaming the neighbourhood.

Our theory is that the dog is searching for my wife. They have formed quite a bond. My wife is in Asia for a week, and Oreo seems to be pining for her. On one level this is very sweet, but whatever the reason for the wandering, we have to stop it for her own good. 

What the dog doesn't understand, is that it is dangerous for her to be wandering around out there. She could be very easily hit by a car, or get into some other dangerous situation. She is not particularly dumb, for a dog, but she simply doesn't understand the ramifications of her choices. That is why we have to protect her with walls and gates. That is why we have to put her on the chain when we bring her back. That is why we have to manufacture small consequences to protect her from the unthinkably bad consequences. 

Once again, I find myself thinking about God. 

Why do I run off? Why do I feel the need to wander when everything I need, everything I really want is freely offered to me by my Master? If I'm honest, it can be fun to roam, but that's only because I haven't tripped over the consequences yet. So, God puts parameters around us. He says, "Your life will be better if you stay close to me and if you live within the fences I put around you." But somehow the fences beg to be jumped. Something in me wants to leap over and see if it really is as dangerous as all that. 

God graciously, kindly metes out the discipline that I need to train me. He doesn't want me to pay the price for my sin. He has already done that. He doesn't punish His children, but He does train us for our own good. He gives us small consequences to prevent us from bringing the larger consequences on ourselves. He has already paid the ultimate price and received the consequences in Himself. Now, He offers abundant life, a life within limits...good limits. 

I hope that my dog will remember that she likes it here. I hope that she will stop wandering. I hope I'll stop wandering too.

Another Dog Blog

My dog just ate more of her bed.

I knew that something was wrong because she looked guilty and pseudo repentant as soon as she saw me. I went toward her and she immediately threw herself on the ground and turned over. As I approached I could see the fluff all over the floor and knew what had happened.

The irony of this is that scattered all around her bed are a dizzying array of chew toys: rope ones, plastic ones, bone ones, wooden ones. She enjoys those toys. They all show signs of her oral affection, but now they are neglected as she grovels before me. She is repenting for chewing the only thing in the room that she knows is off limits.Why does she do this?

Why does she choose the forbidden thing when perfectly legitimate things are all around her? She obviously understands that there will be negative consequences for her choice. That doesn't prevent her from doing it though. She chooses the thing that she knows is bad rather than the any of the many things that are good.

Why do we do this?

Of Sheep and Obedience

Yesterday I was out with the dog, crossing a field filled with sheep.  As it is Spring, there were many bleating lambs in the field with the flock.  As we entered the field I could see the dog's muscles grow taut beneath her shiny coat.  She was excited and ready for the chase.  But these are not my sheep, not my lambs.  I cannot let her run wild, as fun as it might be for her or for me to watch.  She could well injure one of them, or worse yet, develop a taste for them. I have heard more than once of a domestic dog in the area chasing down and killing sheep or even injuring cattle.  

So, I need for the dog to obey me.  I have been training her to obey my voice.  I have been giving her treats and rewarding her for choosing to obey rather than just running off and doing whatever she feels like doing at any given moment.  It is clear that obedience doesn't come naturally.  She is pretty sure that she understands what would be best for her, or most fun for her, in any given moment.  Only she really is a dumb animal.  She doesn't recognize the subtle threats of disease or long term consequences for disobedience; heck, she doesn't even see an approaching car as dangerous.  She just doesn't get it.  So, I need her to obey for her own good.

As we enter the field I debate whether to put her on a lead.  I reflect on how well she has been obeying on the walk thus far.  I wonder if she can handle the freedom of being off lead, or if she would be best served by having the experience of freedom and the rewards I will lavish on her when she obeys.  I decide to give her a chance to choose obedience.  I pull the lead out of my pocket to provide a visual reminder of consequences for disobedience.  I can see from her submissive posture that she recognizes the possibility of consequence.  Ten, I give her a treat to remind her that I am the giver of all good things.  We start across the field as I call her to heel.

I can see the tension within her as she starts to quicken her pace and move toward the sheep.  I call her back.  She looks back over her shoulder...and returns to me.  I give her a treat.  As we start walking on, I can see that she has her eyes fixed on a little lamb nearby.  She is watching it move and drifting towards it.  I call her.  She does not look back.  I call her again, but it is as if she doesn't even hear me.  Then, quick as a flash, she is racing across the grass toward her prey.  Now I am shouting her name and running after her.  I can imagine the consequences that have never entered her mind.  The lamb hears the commotion and turns to flee, but this only encourages the dog to pursue.  Instinct has taken over now, like something out of "The Call of the Wild" she is a primeval hunter returning to her roots.

I keep calling to her and, just as she is about to close on her quarry, she looks back.  I am shouting, gesticulating wildly, and fervently insisting that she return.  After her quick glance back she continues on, careening into the flock.  The lamb disappears into the mass of hooves and wool and so she takes one of the sheep down.  She stands over her prize, unsure what to do with it now that she has knocked it over.  Then, she looks up at me rapidly approaching and slowly starts to return.  Moments later I am relieved to see that the sheep is back on it's feet and rejoining the skittish flock.  No harm done.

She comes back, groveling all the way.  She knows she has disobeyed and she sees the lead in my hand.  She knows she deserves the lash.  She is right.  I give her one swat across the bottom with the leather lead and give her a tongue lashing that I only wish she could understand.  She makes a big show of submission and obedience, but I can see that even then, in her moment of punishment, her attention was divided between me, her master, and the tempting flock still close at hand.   Even in the midst of the consequence she was thinking about how she might be able to slip away again.

Lord have mercy!

Chasing Bubbles

Today was a wild day at the beach.  The wind was howling and  I was able to walk along the sandy expanse of the ocean floor exposed by the retreating tide.  The sun was still low in the sky and cast a shimmering glow over everything.  The water was choppy and the waves rough as they pounded the beach with foamy repetition.  The bubbly foam pushed up and down the beach by the waves.  As the waves retreated bits of foam and some bubbles were stranded on the wet strand.  These were blown sideways across the beach. 

As I enjoyed the wild expanse and watched the oncoming rush of clouds my dog, Oreo, ran wild.  We had the beach to ourselves and she ran here and there snapping at the wind and rushing at the waves.  But today her favorite game was chasing bubbles.  As she ran along, she would catch the movement of a bubble running across the top of the wet sand and would immediately change directions and attempt to grab the bubble.  As she pounced on or closed her jaws over the bubble, it would immediately burst and disappear.  She would pause for just a moment as if puzzled.  Then another bubble would catch her eye and she was off again.

As I watched this I began to wonder how much of our lives we spend chasing bubbles.  How many times does something catch our eye and we are off in a flash to get it?  We chase down our quarry and just as we close our fists on the object of our desire we find that it is not as substantial as we imagined.  We lay hold of it only to find that it does not deliver what we anticipated.  But, rather than learn the lesson we are almost immediately distracted by another opportunity, another thing that we can pursue.  Surely this one will be different!  Surely this time it will be the thing that makes us happy, eases our pain, gives us enduring pleasure, or fills our soul!  But again we find that it fails to satisfy.  Rather than stopping to wonder about the futility of the game, we frenetic pursue the empty spheres. 

We find that all around us others play the same game with subtle variations.  We have different preferences in our pursuits.  The bubbles we chase may be slightly different in size or color, but our perpetual idolatry is continually encouraged by our hungry flesh, the world around us, and the enemy of our souls.  God calls us to something different.  He calls us to walk with Him.  He calls us to rest in Him, to trust in Him.  He calls us to engage with Him.  He will fill our souls and leave us strangely longing for more at the same time.  He will give us substantial pleasures to enjoy as we walk with Him.  He is a wild and free Father and loves to give good gifts to His children.  Real gifts that we can sink our teeth into, the most important of which is God Himself.

Getting Ahead

I hesitate to write this blog because it is yet another blog about a dog.  Although I am reading scripture, praying, journaling, involved in community, and have weekly accountability meetings with a couple of men, the Lord seems to be speaking to me most clearly, at this time, during my walks across the countryside with my dog.  I am not sure why that's the case, or how long it will continue, but I am afraid that my blog may have a few more "dog entries" before long.

The dog, Oreo, is growing so fast these days and is now able to climb over most of the stiles herself.  It has been fun to watch her grow in size and in confidence.  She is no longer completely terrified when we meet a larger dog and approaches the horses and cows we meet on her own.  She even went so far as to chase a flock of sheep the other day, which she thought was great fun. 

A couple of days ago I was out again with Oreo.  As we walked the now familiar paths she ranged farther afield.  At times she was 50-100 feet ahead of me.  I smiled at her confidence, and watched as she climbed up and over a stile at the far side of the field.  She looked back at me just before she dissappeared over the other side, as if to say, "Are you coming!?"  When I came to the stile and looked over, she had wandered on ahead even further down the path we often take.  What she didn't know is that I was going a different direction that day. 

I had a different destination in mind.  The beginning stages of our path were the same, but I decided to take a different path through some fields that we had never walked before.  Oreo was running ahead.  I enjoyed her exuberance and laughed to myself as I watched her explore.  I was less amused when I was calling her to follow me but she kept to her own path. 

Later on the way home, I was reminded of the danger of getting ahead of God.  How often do I run on ahead assuming that the path today is the same as yesterdays?  How many times to I get confused when He turns left when I thought we were going right?  How many times am I impatiently looking back at Him asking, "Are you coming with me or what?!"  I need to learn to fix my eyes on Him.  I need to wait upon the Lord instead of assuming that the natural or familiar path is the one that He has marked for me.

As I approach the new year I am wondering about the future and what it will hold.  I am hoping that this year I will not get ahead of God. 

The Giver of All Good Things

It is funny the way that the Spirit will just tap you on the shoulder sometimes and point out a lesson that is right in front of your face.  It happened again on my walk this morning.  It involved the dog again.  I have been training her to respond to my command to "come" by rewarding her with a tasty treat when she does so.  This has been working wonders.  She has started to realize that when she obeys there is a really positive payoff.  She is starting to identify me as the giver of treats, and to come when I call.  I reward her for staying close to me with words and pats and with the occasional surprise from a pocket full of canine culinary delights.

I watched her this morning as she wandered father and farther away across a field.  Her nose was glued to the ground.  I called her.  She popped her head up and looked at me.  I called her again.  It was as if I could see the debate in her little doggy head.  Then, she took off like a rocket toward me.  She was about halfway towards me when she suddenly changed directions.  She shot off on a new trajectory.  Soon, she had her nose down in a pile of cow manure and was munching away.  I called her again, but she wasn't budging.  Again, and she popped her head up and looked at me inquisitively, as if surprised that I was still there.  Then, she bolted straight towards me.  She received her tasty treat when she arrived, albiet more carefully than usual as I didn't want a hand smeared with cow manure from her muzzle.

I was laughing about this scene when I felt a gentle poke.  I am just like the brute beast.  I know that God is the giver of all good things.  His pockets are bulging with things that delight me.  When I draw near to Him, He is quick with a word of affirmation and is so kind to me.  I love to be close to Him.  But then I catch of whiff of something.  I forget that He is there.  I wander off in curiosity.  I wonder about what this new smell might hold in store.  He lets me meander and perhaps a smile drifts across His face at my inquisitiveness or my enjoyment of the field where He has led me.

Then He calls me.  I become aware of Him again.  I remember what it is like to be near Him and I am off like a rocket towards Him.  Then, I catch a whiff of something else, and my pace towards him slakens, my concentration on Him is broken.  Quicker than I know it, I am off in a different direction, forgetting the gifts that He is holding for me.  He patiently, and sometimes urgently, calls me again.  Oh yeah, that's where I was going!  As I refocus on His face, I can hardly remember how I forgot, or how I failed to reach Him, and I am off again in pursuit of the One who loves me, the giver of all good things.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

I love to walk across the countryside.  I enjoy being out in nature with just my thoughts and my God.  As I walk, I pray, and my prayers are sometimes shaped and triggered by the things that strike me as I walk.  It could be a flower, the weather, something in the sky, or some kind of animal behavior.  The countryside is mostly rolling farmland that gently slopes down toward the cliffs at the sea.  There are well worn paths cutting through the fields and across the hedgerows.  In order to cross the boundaries you have to climb over stiles.  Most are made of stone and are quiet old.  It has been fun to explore the various paths through the fields and along the coast.

Lately, I have had additional company in the form of our new puppy.  She minds pretty well these days and has been an interesting addition.  I have been training her to go over the stiles.  Over the last week or so she has really be catching on.  It's been amusing to have her clamor up to the top only to be stymied by the last big step.  She has to wait for me to help her over the last bit.  This is all well and good for now, but she will soon be too heavy for me to do this easily over the tallest stiles.  However, there is a solution near at hand. There are conveniently located gates through which the livestock can be driven near these tall stiles.  So, today I decided to have her go under the gates and wait for me on the otherside while I went over the stile.  She already knows how to sit and to stay so I led her under the gate and told her to sit and stay while I backtracked and made my way over the stile.

Before I had made my way down the stile, there was a little face peering over the top of the stile inquisitively from the field I had just left.  Instead of trusting that I was not going to leave her, she had quickly and quietly followed me back to the stile to cross over the way we always had.  She repeated this behavior at the next stile as well.  It seems it was just too much for her to believe that I really meant the instructions I had given her, that I wanted her to do something different than she had done before.  Shea already "knew" what I wanted her to do from previous experience.

As I laughingly reflected on this talking about it alternatively with my dog and with my God, I was suddenly struck by the lesson.  How often do I assume what God wants me to do instead of fixing my eyes on Him and waiting for His direction?  How often do I assume that the way I have always done it is the right way, even when He seems to be directing me to do something different?  Going over the stiles was the best way for the puppy when we started our walks together, but it is time for her to start learning how to do it differently.  She is growing, and is ready for a new way.  It will take time for her to unlearn the old way and for the new way to feel right, to become the new normal.  It should be relatively easy as she is a young dog who is full of trust and a desire to please.

I wonder how easy it will be for this old dog to be trained by my Master.  May I be filled with trust and a desire to please Him.  May I learn to listen and not just to assume because I have "been down this path before".   May I surrender my pride and self-reliance, my feeling that I know the right way.  May I be willing and able to receive His direction and to follow His instructions even when they don't "feel right" as He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.