by Bro. Wade Parish
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She is a large beautiful dog, 92 pounds, a German Shepherd. Her name is Shiloh and despite her size she moves with the quietness of a ghost. More than once I have tripped over her because she had so quietly laid beside my chair I did not know she was there.
Actually she is not my dog. She belongs to my son whose present circumstances make it difficult to keep a dog. Thus my wife and I are dog sitting for who knows how long. I suppose its “pay back” because years ago when we were in school we got a dog we did not need and our parents wearily kept her for a while.
I did not want this dog and the dog seemed to know it. At first she would run whenever I came near. For several days we chased her all over our neighborhood. We seemed to view each other as adversaries. She’s been here more than three months now and we are learning to appreciate each other. Recently, while I was at the computer, she came and put her head in my lap. I gladly petted her.
Believing as I do that God speaks through our everyday encounters I think maybe God is teaching me how to love others more. Those folk you don’t like, is it possible you would like them if you knew them better? Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Perhaps that would be easier if we knew our neighbor as well as we know ourselves.
The first Americans, the Indians, had a saying that could help us do what Jesus taught. They said, “Never judge another brave until you have walked in his moccasins for three days.” Many times during my years of ministry I spent time with parishioners on their jobs. Knowing how they worked and lived all week helped me preach to them on Sunday.
A second grade teacher I knew had a problem student. The child was belligerent and rebellious. More than once this teacher had to paddle the child. You could do that “back then.” She decided to visit the child’s parents and talk with them. The child’s home life was so bad the teacher departed realizing it was no wonder the child was mean and hostile he lived in hostility every day.
Now, having thought this through, I am going to wake Shiloh and give her a treat.