Monthly Archives: October 2011

Without a Wag

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Our dog Jack has been a gem of a pet from the beginning. The absence of a bark was what first drew our attention to him as he sat in a chain-link cage at a pet rescue center, awaiting adoption. Sitting quietly in his assigned cell, he looked sad compared to every other dog, all of whom were barking, pawing at the cage doors, even leaping up and down.

When we learned he’d been in the cage less than an hour and was only 9 months old, we brought him home. True to his demeanor at the shelter, he’s been a docile, quiet dog for the 8 years we’ve had him, friendly to other dogs in the neighborhood.

Last week an unfriendly yellow lab whose owner had shouted out a caution to us, began wagging as he and Jack did their circular sniffing. “Wow!” she said, anxious over her dog’s response to ours. “I can’t believe it! He isn’t being aggressive!” It was as if Jack had taught him to wag.

But this week something sad happened to our wagging Jack. His long tail seemed unable to show the cheerful emotion it always had. It hung limply as if he’d had a stroke-of-the-tail. He seemed nervous, unsettled, hovering close to one of us at all times. Because he’d never been a complainer, we couldn’t tell if anything hurt.

All of us have days when we don’t feel like wagging. Our spirits hang limp and even the effort to smile seems too much. It’s no fun for others to be around us, and that works both ways; we don’t want to be with others, either. At that low point the unconditional love of God kicks into high gear.

No bad mood or sour disposition can discourage him from wanting to be with us. When we’re bad company for others, he’s moves close to spend time with us. Best of all, when we don’t feel we can go on, he supplies a reason we can. Our doldrums are an easy fix for him, if we just ask.

God even cares for animals. We googled, “Can a dog break his tail?” and found online help. The most logical explanation for Jack’s limp tail is soft tissue trauma such as a bruise. We thought back over the last few days and remembered a moment when he’d fallen backwards while trying to jump into the back of a car. That same leap used to be easy but this summer has been iffy. Most likely he landed on the base of his tail in a crooked way, because it was that night his tail stopped wagging.

The online vet assured us, “It’ll resolve in a few days,” good news for all of us, especially Jack. Next week he turns 9. What would a birthday party be without a wagging tail?

“The Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.” (Psalm 32:10b)

Helped by Highlights

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Klaus recently taught me how to use a Microsoft Word tool I didn’t even know existed. “If you press ‘control’ and ‘f’ together,” he said, “a box comes up with an option to highlight certain words in a document. Let’s say you’re wondering how many times you’ve used the word ‘dog’ in one of your posts. Type it in, click ‘highlight all’ and all the ‘dogs’ will be come up in yellow.”

I tried it, loved it, and have used it daily ever since. This morning I was thinking about the beautifully bright highlights on the computer screen and thought, “Wouldn’t it be spectacular if I could highlight God’s messages to me in bright yellow?” I could be absolutely sure I was following his advice, making correct decisions, and catching every sin. There would be no wiggle-room for mistakes or detours.

He could also highlight every blessing in yellow so I wouldn’t miss a single one. Although it’s easy to spot the big ones, the little ones often slip past me unnoticed. God knows my tendency to focus first on the faded parts of life, the grey zones, the black things. They loom large, dominating all things visible, and he could help significantly with lots of eye-catching yellow surrounding all the good stuff.

When I was in journalism school, we studied advertising signage and learned the most attention-grabbing color was yellow (on a black background). It’s arresting and easy to read, commanding our attention. That’s exactly what I need.

God could certainly do this. But he doesn’t.

Actually he could do lots of stuff to make things easier for us but doesn’t. Why is that? Since he hasn’t highlighted the answer, I’m not sure. But since my relationship with him is daughter-to-father, I’ve tried to analyze it by studying human parenting strategies.

Teaching youngsters most effectively is simple. We issue the rules, then hope self-discipline will come after they experience natural consequences. For example, if we open the oven and say, “It’s hot! Don’t touch it!” they usually touch anyway. But a little burn teaches them flawlessly. Had we printed the word “hot” on the oven door in captivating yellow letters, it wouldn’t have been very effective.

Another example: when we teach a teen to manage a debit card, we can highlight our counsel: “BIG FEES FOR OVERDRAWING!” But more effective is having to pay $36 for going in the hole. None of us likes to obey advisory signs, and most of us aren’t very good at it. And that’s probably why God doesn’t highlight anything in yellow for us.

He knows it wouldn’t do a bit of good.

Whatever his reason, I’m not going to stress over it but will find my highlighting-fun by way of “control-plus-f.”

“I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go.” (Psalm 143:8)

Squeaky Clean

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Last week Louisa impressed me by washing all the windows in my cottage, inside and out. She carefully locked each one afterwards in preparation for winter winds and removed the screens, carrying them to the basement for storage. The window glass is so clean it seems there isn’t any at all, like we’re living among the trees. And it’s absolutely lovely.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our inner selves could be that squeaky clean with no smudges or smears?

Today at an early morning prayer gathering during which a group of us were interceding for others, God reminded me I needed to spend more time in prayers of confession for myself. He reminded me that just because I don’t shoplift or embezzle money or worship idols, I’m still guilty of sin, and it needs to be cleaned up every so often.

Job of the Old Testament is a tremendous role model for all of us. God’s description of him was “blameless,” meaning he lived a life without willful sin. But he wasn’t the only one. Dotted through Scripture are others of the same caliber such as both parents of John the Baptist who were also labeled “blameless.” And several others referred to themselves as being blameless before God.

Whenever I ask the Lord if he sees anything in me that’s blame-worthy, his answer is always, “Yes,” followed by the specifics. It’s as if he says, “The window to your soul has gotten cloudy. How ‘bout cleaning it off?”

All of us want to be clean before God, but it’s hard to agree with him about specific smudges. Most of us jump to defend ourselves, even to him. And maybe that’s the main reason he’s never referred to someone like me as “blameless.” Maybe Job and the others didn’t self-defend but instead quickly responded to God’s charges with ownership of guilt and immediate requests for forgiveness.

Each of us is born with a sense of right and wrong, along with a conscience to prompt us. We can choose to run from wrong or walk as close to it as possible. But God can look at our hearts as easily as I can look through my clean windows. He sees everything in there, and is keenly interested in all of it, though he’s looking at one thing above all others: our intentions.

Despite the smudges and smears on the glass, if our honest longing is to be clean before him, his response is always to pull out his supernatural Windex and work washing wonders within us. He deals harshly with willful sin but lavishes grace when our underlying purpose is to please him.

So, although I’d love to be “blameless” before God, until I get there, I’ll work on just being “squeaky clean,” much like Louisa’s windows.

Lord, “keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression.” (Psalm 19:13)