dog-blog

it was toddler-tuesday at the jungle yesterday-
so i cut out of work early
to take my little girl to jump into the ball-pit
and ride the carousel.

we were driving up santa teresa
on our way to the freeway when all of the sudden,
traffic came to a screeching halt.
the light was still green- what was going on?
with all of the cars stopped,
i saw what was mighty enough
to stop dozens of cars and s.u.v.’s in their tracks-
a tiny brown chihuahua- not even a foot tall-
was running in and out of the traffic lanes-
having the time of its life.

my wife was cringing
as that little dog barely escaped getting hit by cars.
i looked around for the dog’s owner-
and there he was- standing on the meridian-
just across from in-n-out burger.
he knew better than to run in and out of traffic!

with traffic stopped, he was able to get into the street-
but the dog kept running!
it ran into blossom hill and around the corner.

its not hard to figure out what happened:
the dog was on a leash or in the owner’s arms
and wanted to taste freedom-
and somehow- it got away.
and that dog’s freedom
was about to lead to a very painful death-
a death that would not only kill the dog,
but hurt the driver
and passengers of the vehicle that killed it-
and hurt all of the people sitting in traffic,
watching it happen.
so dog just kept running-
completely oblivious to the danger around.

i’ve been meditating on psalm 23-
especially that first line:
“the LORD is my shepherd…”
God is watching out for me-
protecting me-
and has put boundaries in my life-
to keep me.
but there is this drive inside to run-
to break away and live outside of those boundaries-
to be “free.”
but just like that dog- what is mistaken as freedom
will only lead to a very painful and public demise.

the psalm ends with the line:
“surely goodness and love
will follow me all the days of my life…”
its been said that this phrase “follow me”
might be better understood as “pursue me”
or “chase me.”

and like that dog-
life will so much better if we allow
the good things that are chasing us
to catch us.