Friday Blog

Don't Just Do Something, Sit There!

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Dog standing on an overstuffed chair

Last week I mentioned our dog Pogo and how he illustrates my often chaotic relationship with God. He is a pure bred (he was never registered but we have his pedigree papers) Australian Shepherd who came to live with us about 5 1/2 years ago when he was 1 year old. We adopted him from a family that had gotten him as a puppy for their (young adult) son. When their son joined the military they found themselves caring for a dog that unfortunately mom was allergic to - so the dog had to go! When we visited to assess the compatibility fit between him and our home we discovered that he was a very high strung, high octane animal, he had 3 speeds - off, full throttle, and warp speed. He could go from full off to bouncing off the walls in a half second.

When he came to live with us his previous family had called him Finn but we quickly noticed his insane ability to "bounce" so we changed his name to Pogo (as in pogo stick). To illustrate his jumping ability, after we moved to Texas we were out in the back yard and there was a stick that had fallen out of a tree and caught on the cable TV line. When I stood underneath it and stood on my tip toes I could barely touch the end of the stick (it was about 8 feet off the ground.) Pogo came over and saw us looking at the stick and jumped up from a dead standstill and grabbed the stick, pulling it off the cable! I have watched him jump over 4 1/2 to 5 foot high barriers.
 
True to his Australian Shepherd breeding he is high energy and seeks to herd everything, which means he has to investigate everything - if he even THINKS he sees (or hears) something he has to go check it out RIGHT NOW! We have to take him for walks in the dark otherwise he will be dragging us all over the neighborhood as he tries to investigate EVERYTHING. Over the years we have noticed that there are several things that will trigger him - if another dog walks by on HIS street he goes from peaceful rest to full stress instantly, if he sees (or hears) a motorcycle he has instant escalation, delivery trucks are always an instigator (one Amazon driver will come to the window and wave at him as he delivers packages).
 
And then there is the mail carrier - I worry that he is going to explode! You can almost see his blood pressure rise. If he is in the house he races around from one window to another, from the living room to the bedroom and back again. How many times have I heard him "spinning his wheels" as he races around the corner, feet slipping on the laminate floor, desperately trying to find traction as he crashes into the wall, but he keeps going. If we are outside the mail carrier won't stop at the house - fortunately Pogo somehow thinks he can only bark at the mail carrier if he is in the house so when he sees the mail truck he races to the door, his whole body shaking until he is inside and starts barking and carrying on.
 
I have no idea what it is that triggers him so but you can see the stress and anxiety in the way his whole body trembles. You can hear it as his breathing goes from quiet and restful to hyperventilating almost instantly. The one thing I do know about these events is THERE IS NOTHING he can do about them. They will all pass, life will go on and everything will get back to normal. His barking and carrying on will not change the outcome in ANY way!
 
How often does God look at me the way I look at Pogo - "why are you getting so excited over that, it is not going to bother you, and it is no worry of yours." So often I get worked up over things that I have no control over, will NOT harm me, and in the overall scheme of things are relatively inconsequential, yet I think that I MUST do something about them. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul informs us that peace is part of the fruit of the Spirit. In John 14:27 Jesus tells us that He gives us peace - not like the worlds peace, but true inner peace. So often we read Paul's declaration in Philippians 4:13 that "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" and interpret it as saying "God has given me the power to do whatever I set my mind to do." That is NOT the proper context for that verse. If you go back to verse 11 you find Paul stating "I have learned to be content in whatever state I find myself in." He goes on to identify humiliation and exultation, fullness and hunger, abundance and poverty. Verse 13 tells us HOW he can do that, "I can do all [these things] through Christ who gives me strength." In John 14 Jesus flipped the script - instead of encouraging us to "don't just sit there, do something" He is telling us "don't just do something, sit there!" This is a reminder that it is not about what WE do, but what HE gives. In John 16:33 Jesus tells us that in this world there will be trials but He has overcome the world. Yes, in this world crazy and undesirable things will happen but we can have peace in the midst of the turmoil.

 

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