Dogs seem to think it’s their job to simply be with their people, wherever they go. Our dogs follow me from room to room, outside, into the garden, next door to the guest lodgings. They jump into the car with me whenever they think they can get away with it.  They go with me wherever I go. One cat, Kismet, does too. It’s a little parade of one human and three animals, trotting along behind! If they happen to be snoozing when I relocate myself, then I soon find them running to meet me wherever I went. Why do they DO this?

Is it simply the sense of fidelity that Fidos are famous for? Some dogs are so tuned in to their people that they pick up on slight head movements or a certain flash in the eyes or a smile. These are not overt gestures such as a shout or a  command. These are very subtle innuendos. But a sensitive dog will notice, and be ever aware and poised for the next one. Why? Why do they care? Is it just a built in “heed the alpha being” instinct? Heed the alpha being….meaning the one who is clearly in charge. Alpha. I know a Being who describes Himself as the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and End. The Endlessly Be All, End All… not of one species but of all creation everywhere! The Alpha Being: God.

You see, I often think about this when I see the dogs do this following-me-around-thing. I think,”Gee…this is how God wants me to be – in step with Him at all times. Following the lead of His Spirit always. But I “lord it over” the dogs sometimes in ways that God never “lords it over” me…as if I’m really something! Well, God really IS Something…in fact, Everything! Yet He desires for us to come to Him willingly, of our own hearts’ desire. He never “makes” us heed Him. Just as the dogs follow me of their own hearts’ desire…just to BE WITH me, we have the opportunity to follow God’s Love and walk in His grace…just to BE WITH Him. Yes, He is always with us. But we are not always consciously with Him. We must choose to be, which is a moment by moment choice that I describe as “momently.” Mind you, I do not succeed at this! Maybe 30-40% of my waking moments (and  I’m probably being very generous…, and it’s ever so much easier to do alone than with people! 😉 )  am I consciously attuned to being in step with my Lord, Jesus Christ, the Alpha Being. But I’m practicing His presence, and it does get easier to do, not because of me, but because of His incredible faithfulness and grace to meet us where we are and to return to us many times the energy that we put forth toward intimate fellowship with Him.

There are jokes/ponderings about DOG being GOD spelt backwards. And I know that some dear animal enthusiasts proclaim this is no joke, no coincidence at all. I don’t, however, think dogs are backward gods. But my dogs certainly do create pause for thought about my God. Their faithfulness to a very imperfect me,  far exceeds my own faithfulness to my absolutely perfect, unconditionally loving God. Dogs sometimes let us down in some of their other doggy ways, but even in those less appealing characteristics we can see reflections of our own rebellious ways. To me, this is what can make dog man’s best friend..if we have eyes to see. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have ears to hear the endless barking rampages in the middle of the night, as Pepper tears around the property snuffling, snorting and screaming at all possible imagined intruders into her people’s space. But then she is protecting us, isn’t she? Hmmm…