Trudie and I went for a walk when I got home from work this evening. It seemed like it was 100 degrees but she was excited when I said "walk". Mostly I spell the word "walk" around her. (Dog owners will understand this.)
I used to think summer in Alabama was the hottest and most humid place in the world. Indeed it may be the the hottest and most humid place in the United States. I've lived in Florida and Alabama is hotter. In Florida you can sweat with anticipation. There's always a beach nearby somewhere. Not so in Alabama. But Hanoi is like summer in Alabama times 3. I was there in June. My buddy Chad and I drank iced coffee almost every day in a little roadside shop (they're all roadside shops on the streets of Hanoi) and we were dripping. I've heard people talk about Venezuela and parts of Mexico and how they shower and leave the hotel and they're sweating before they walk 25 feet. It's like that in Vietnam. You never feel, let's see.... how can I put this.... fresh. You never feel fresh and clean.
So I'm walking along tonight and I see a young dad from my neighborhood pulling his son in a little Radio Flyer wagon. I haven't seen one of those in years. The picture would've been Norman Rockwellian if it hadn't been for the cell phone. I know you've seen it. Mom pushing a stroller or dad in the yard with the kids and all the while they're on a telephone call. This cannot count for quality time. I mean, it's probably like negative quality time. For every 1/2 hour you spend with the kids on a cell phone you have to make it up double. Only for that make up hour you must give your children 100% of your undivided attention. No cell, no smart phone downloading email and no texting. It crossed my mind that in this case dad could have just hooked up a pack mule or an obedient dog to the wagon and accomplished the same result. Oh.... except dad wouldn't have gotten his exercise. Maybe he was really out there for exercise.
Perhaps I'm being a little harsh. I looked at the kid. He was playing with something in the wagon. He was otherwise occupied. He was probably only 2 years old and I wondered if he knew Dad was otherwise occupied. I wonder if he thought it'd be cool to have a mule or a dog pulling his little wagon.
Trudie and I walked our normal route. It's neat how a dog knows when to turn. They are truly creatures of habit. We turned on 43rd Street and walked up to 7th Avenue. Another left and there's dad and son again. He's still on the telephone. This time I hollered to him, "Dude, that's your son in the wagon and he's going to remember how you didn't pay any attention to him! How you couldn't finish work long enough to pull his Radio Flyer and talk with him about his day. He may have seen monsters in his closet and under his bed and you don't even know it! He may want to share his amazement with you about a caterpillar or a bird he saw singing outside his window. Hang up the phone neighbor! You're missing it."
Except I didn't really say that. I walked on and waved at them thinking about wagons, dogs and pack mules.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sweet Discipline
God disciplined Moses. It was hard. Moses pleaded with God in Deuteronomy 3:25, "Please let me go over and see the good land." After all it had been a tough road to travel. For all their time together the children of Israel turned away from God at the drop of a hat and it seemed Moses was always interceding. Moses had just declared to God, "You have only begun to show your servant your greatness and Your mighty hand." I picture a child imploring with all persistence, "Please Father, please!"
How does God respond? "Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again." Wow.... what are we to make of that? I've seen God as harsh in this text before. I mean really, all Moses did was strike the rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:10-12). He had just recently lost his sister too. Cannot a little latitude be given to a grieving brother? But now I strangely see an intimacy in God's words here. Like a parent who needs to be a little stern, "enough about this now.... I don't want to hear any more about it." As if to say, "I know what is best, you don't."
We don't always get what we want.
Fast forward to the end of Deuteronomy. God again reminds Moses what his sin cost him (Deuteronomy 32:48-52). Moses gives Israel their final blessing and Moses climbs Mount Nebo to die. God tells him to climb the mountain and look across at the land and then die up on the mountain.
Now picture Moses in chapter 34. He's up on the mountain, alone there with God. They had spent so many glorious days together; at the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, all those times in the tent of meeting, even at the burning bush where Moses first met YHWH. Now again he's on top of a mountain alone with his Father. Maybe God was smiling as He and Moses looked out across the land. Maybe they were both smiling when child and Father surveyed the green valleys, the shimmering brooks and the mountaintops in the distance. Maybe God parted the mist with His hand for a moment and said with pride, "Moses, this is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 'I will give to your offspring.' "
"Now Moses, lay down over here by this tree in the shade and die. Lay down and be gathered to your people." Maybe God softly spoke while Moses drifted off to sleep. Maybe He said something like this....
"Moses, you will see greater things than real estate. You will again stand on a mountain. You will see Me, like you always wanted to, but you will see God in flesh. You will see my very son Moses! You will look into his human eyes, and see his face. You will stand on that mountain with another prophet, another one who faithfully spoke my words to an obstinate people. You both will stand there looking at My son and you will talk to him. His face is going to shine like the sun and his clothes will become white as the light. You will remember the glow you yourself experienced Moses. You will recall how your countenance changed. It was so bright the children of Israel couldn't look at you."
"But this will be more... so much more. This will be my lamb Moses. My spotless one. My only son. One upon whom I will pour unspeakable horror. He will buy the people Moses! He will redeem for me a people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation. Their hearts will finally be circumcised Moses. I will pour My Spirit into them and they will love me. They will love My son and walk in my ways because I will pour My Spirit into them and cause them to be born anew."
"Yes Moses, I do know what is best. You do not understand all these things now my child. Go ahead and look at this land but don't be sad or dismayed. You will indeed see it again on that day. Sleep now.... sleep."
How does God respond? "Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again." Wow.... what are we to make of that? I've seen God as harsh in this text before. I mean really, all Moses did was strike the rock instead of speaking to it (Numbers 20:10-12). He had just recently lost his sister too. Cannot a little latitude be given to a grieving brother? But now I strangely see an intimacy in God's words here. Like a parent who needs to be a little stern, "enough about this now.... I don't want to hear any more about it." As if to say, "I know what is best, you don't."
We don't always get what we want.
Fast forward to the end of Deuteronomy. God again reminds Moses what his sin cost him (Deuteronomy 32:48-52). Moses gives Israel their final blessing and Moses climbs Mount Nebo to die. God tells him to climb the mountain and look across at the land and then die up on the mountain.
Now picture Moses in chapter 34. He's up on the mountain, alone there with God. They had spent so many glorious days together; at the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai, all those times in the tent of meeting, even at the burning bush where Moses first met YHWH. Now again he's on top of a mountain alone with his Father. Maybe God was smiling as He and Moses looked out across the land. Maybe they were both smiling when child and Father surveyed the green valleys, the shimmering brooks and the mountaintops in the distance. Maybe God parted the mist with His hand for a moment and said with pride, "Moses, this is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 'I will give to your offspring.' "
"Now Moses, lay down over here by this tree in the shade and die. Lay down and be gathered to your people." Maybe God softly spoke while Moses drifted off to sleep. Maybe He said something like this....
"Moses, you will see greater things than real estate. You will again stand on a mountain. You will see Me, like you always wanted to, but you will see God in flesh. You will see my very son Moses! You will look into his human eyes, and see his face. You will stand on that mountain with another prophet, another one who faithfully spoke my words to an obstinate people. You both will stand there looking at My son and you will talk to him. His face is going to shine like the sun and his clothes will become white as the light. You will remember the glow you yourself experienced Moses. You will recall how your countenance changed. It was so bright the children of Israel couldn't look at you."
"But this will be more... so much more. This will be my lamb Moses. My spotless one. My only son. One upon whom I will pour unspeakable horror. He will buy the people Moses! He will redeem for me a people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation. Their hearts will finally be circumcised Moses. I will pour My Spirit into them and they will love me. They will love My son and walk in my ways because I will pour My Spirit into them and cause them to be born anew."
"Yes Moses, I do know what is best. You do not understand all these things now my child. Go ahead and look at this land but don't be sad or dismayed. You will indeed see it again on that day. Sleep now.... sleep."
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Dogs
Who can make a dog? Really, aren't they the most awesome creatures? Think about it. There are all kinds of animals that serve a purpose in the grand design of life but what about the dear old dog? A dog isn't vital to the food chain (well, at least not in most countries), he doesn't build anything or dam up a river or catch small rodents for the most part. My terrier Trudie caught a squirrel once but I think the squirrel was on his cell phone texting or otherwise distracted because that just doesn't happen as a rule. Most dogs I know of have no purposeful daily function. They're like really great little kids that don't talk, misbehave only occasionally and are hairy.
Not too long ago I used to consider my beloved aunt and uncle and think them a little misguided. Their children were grown and they had these two dogs and a home and this huge bus in which they would travel the country. They treated their little dachshunds as if they were children. They verbally expressed their love to the dogs in embarrassingly ridiculous language. One of their beloved weenie dogs was somehow injured, paralyzed I think, and they had an intricate little wheelchair-like cart for him. They would harness him into this when they took him for a walk. It was like a little doggie rickshaw but instead of carrying paying customers it carried his hind quarters. I remember squelching laughter the first time I saw this. Are you serious? It's a dog for crying out loud.
Then I married into a dog family. I came from cats. Mom always had cats and they were kind of cool. They were aloof and complex. They didn't really require much attention and always seemed to be up to something sinister. I liked to bother them until they flipped on their backs and did that hind leg kick-scratching thing. I always came away a little bloody but that didn't stop me from doing it. A little masochistic now that I think about it.
But then I married into dogs. Immediately I spotted that same devoted parental behaviour I saw in my aunt and uncle. One time my mother-in-law's dachshund (oddly enough another weenie dog) wandered off and there was full scale panic until she returned home. Another time my wife's schnauzer developed what turned out to be a harmless fatty tumor and it brought her to tears. What's up? I remember thinking. It's a dog for crying out loud.
The trick is you can't look into their eyes. Once you start looking, really looking deep into their eyes, you're hooked. My wife had Mattie the schnauzer a couple years before I came into the picture. I remember petting the dog one time and she looked up at me with those big brown eyes that said, "I tolerated you for awhile but now that I see you're going to hang around I guess I'll let you love me". Before she looked away I was hooked.
Now I live alone again.... except for Trudie. I really hope I'm not weird. I hope I don't dote on her like my aunt and uncle did their dogs but I'm afraid I do. I know she's just a dog and I don't ever want to become one of those mentally unbalanced souls that can't relate to humans because they shower all of their waking attention and affection on an animal. I don't want to cross that line. What amazes me and fills me with inspiration though is a Creator who can fashion a creature whose sole purpose seems to be to make me happy. I've never seen such excitement register in such a little hairy body as Trudie's when I come home from work! She is devoted to me completely. She may not be able to kick-scratch but she lives to fetch and play Frisbee! When I lay back in my recliner and she cuddles up in my lap I drift off to sleep and all is right with the world.
Just don't look long into their eyes. You will be hooked.
Not too long ago I used to consider my beloved aunt and uncle and think them a little misguided. Their children were grown and they had these two dogs and a home and this huge bus in which they would travel the country. They treated their little dachshunds as if they were children. They verbally expressed their love to the dogs in embarrassingly ridiculous language. One of their beloved weenie dogs was somehow injured, paralyzed I think, and they had an intricate little wheelchair-like cart for him. They would harness him into this when they took him for a walk. It was like a little doggie rickshaw but instead of carrying paying customers it carried his hind quarters. I remember squelching laughter the first time I saw this. Are you serious? It's a dog for crying out loud.
Then I married into a dog family. I came from cats. Mom always had cats and they were kind of cool. They were aloof and complex. They didn't really require much attention and always seemed to be up to something sinister. I liked to bother them until they flipped on their backs and did that hind leg kick-scratching thing. I always came away a little bloody but that didn't stop me from doing it. A little masochistic now that I think about it.
But then I married into dogs. Immediately I spotted that same devoted parental behaviour I saw in my aunt and uncle. One time my mother-in-law's dachshund (oddly enough another weenie dog) wandered off and there was full scale panic until she returned home. Another time my wife's schnauzer developed what turned out to be a harmless fatty tumor and it brought her to tears. What's up? I remember thinking. It's a dog for crying out loud.
The trick is you can't look into their eyes. Once you start looking, really looking deep into their eyes, you're hooked. My wife had Mattie the schnauzer a couple years before I came into the picture. I remember petting the dog one time and she looked up at me with those big brown eyes that said, "I tolerated you for awhile but now that I see you're going to hang around I guess I'll let you love me". Before she looked away I was hooked.
Now I live alone again.... except for Trudie. I really hope I'm not weird. I hope I don't dote on her like my aunt and uncle did their dogs but I'm afraid I do. I know she's just a dog and I don't ever want to become one of those mentally unbalanced souls that can't relate to humans because they shower all of their waking attention and affection on an animal. I don't want to cross that line. What amazes me and fills me with inspiration though is a Creator who can fashion a creature whose sole purpose seems to be to make me happy. I've never seen such excitement register in such a little hairy body as Trudie's when I come home from work! She is devoted to me completely. She may not be able to kick-scratch but she lives to fetch and play Frisbee! When I lay back in my recliner and she cuddles up in my lap I drift off to sleep and all is right with the world.
Just don't look long into their eyes. You will be hooked.
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