So here’s the start of a blog. Yet…another…blog. Really, it’s my journal, the stuff I think would be ok to make public and might help someone else. But if no one ever reads it, that’s fine.
This morning is overcast, a bit chilly, spitting rain. I walked Grover through the neighborhood to get my Monday morning exercise and time to wake up my brain. (Oops. That rhymed and that wasn’t my intention…)
Grover is a great dog. He’s gentle, sweet, playful. He’s really not temperamental. We have a couple of neighbors who he really doesn’t like, and he will bark and lunge at them. His behavior is surprising because it is so contrary to how he typically acts. He will also bark at other dogs, but I think it’s mostly because he really wants to get at them and play. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be aggressive with another dog.
So while we’re walking, he often pulls at his leash. He wears a sort of harness, where the leash connects around his chest instead of to his collar. And so as he pulls, I give a quick tug back and say, “don’t pull,” or “heel.” He’ll slow his pace to where there’s just a tad of slack in the leash, and then he’ll gradually speed up and be pulling again. He’s anxious to get to the next bush or tree that he can sniff. And then sometimes, when he sees another dog, he pulls really hard and starts to whine or bark, and all the “heels” and “leave its” in the world don’t seem to penetrate his little brain.
And as I was attempting to do some contemplative prayer this morning, I realized that I am God’s dog–maybe we all are. No matter how many times in my prayer I try to pull myself back with my centering word, “peace,” my mind pulls away and out and back and ahead, planning instead of staying by God’s side. Right now I’m in the sniffing the bushes state. Not really focused on any one thing, but just pulled by planning meals and picking up kids and preparing for the next Sunday at church and maybe interacting with some kids that seem to have fallen off the habit of church.
So what do I do when all this pulling at my leash happens? Install a WordPress Theme and write a blog post. Please God, keep pulling gently on that leash, reminding me that staying by you is all I need to do.
