Opus 2024-443: Dark Thoughts: Leash Laws

I am sitting on the porch in the dark of the morning.  If I were a pagan, I would say that the sun was still asleep.  As a modern, I know that the Earth has rotated just far enough for me to see the beginnings of sunrise.

Enter the dog walker.  I’ve mentioned this one before.  It’s a lady that wears a multicolored radiating vest that shines out in the dark.  She has a dog on a leash if you look close enough.  When she came this morning she once again interrupted my meditation on the nature of God, and what it must be like to be in eternal being with an awareness and a personality and power.  Does God get bored?  What does it mean to be created in the image of God?  So many different rabbit trails to go down and most of them in my current form of finite human being are impossible to terminate satisfactorily.

As I watched the dog being walked, I had insights into what it must be like as God leads us along.  They would be going along just fine when suddenly the dog would have a “squirrel” moment.  It would dash off to the side and start sniffing with great vigor at some spot on the ground.  I don’t have any idea what it was sniffing.  The lady walking it probably didn’t want to know either, but she initially patiently allowed the dog to have it’s time for curiosity. Eventually, they turned and moved on again down the road.  I don’t know if the dog had sniffed enough or if the lady jerked his leash.  Either way they moved ahead on their appointed rounds.

In my inquisitive moment of mind, I saw parallels between how God deals with his people.  At least he kind of deals with me that way.  He is taking me on a walk.  I am on a journey.  I’m hoping that I am on what one translation calls, the Highway of Holiness.  But every once in a while I get these sudden squirrel moments and get off on a tangent.  God is very patient.  He allows me to investigate.  But eventually it’s time to move on.  The lady walking the dog knows how far she’s going, when she will turn around, what the total route is, and where she’s going to end up.  The dog is just happy to be out, sniffing the air.

I realize that God is not just out taking us for a walk.  I realize that since I’m created in the image of God, I have much more in common with Him than this dog has with the lady on the leash.  But there are parallels, which I find interesting.  How easily we get distracted.  I’ve also noticed that when older dogs are being walked in the neighborhood, they tend to know to stay on task and not get pulled aside by every little bit of interest.  They are on their way and trusting the person they are walking with.

So trust God.  Rejoice in your little side trips when you think you’ll find something interesting.  Trust that eventually God will get you back on track.  Try to make it you looking for the track rather than him jerking on your leash.

homo unius libri