Dear Friends,
It seems to me, God must look at our sins, like we do our beloved dog… when he rolls in carrion. Dogs are dogs, and those of us who have grown up with them, love them. They can be vexing, mischievous and willful. They can also be loving, delightful and playful. A dog as a stand in for a human being is not really appropriate… a dog is also trustworthy. I imagine that, to God, we are like dogs, playful, mischievous, vexing, willful, delightful and most of all, beloved. Our love for our dogs, and other pets, supersedes the material and deterministic. It is in the arena of the supernatural and probabilistic. Like God’s love of us. It is not as important to God that we don’t sin, but that it is important to us that we don’t sin, or sin as rarely as possible, because when we do, we are rolling in supernatural pig poop.
Our love for our dog is not dependent on it’s not being a dog, but we are disappointed and revolted, when she defecates then turns around and eats it. We cannot understand why they would do that? Especially when there is plenty of food available? You look at her and think, “Really? Seriously? You thought that was a good idea?!?!?!?! You better not even think about kissing me!” Isn’t that what God must think when he sees us sinning? He must think to himself, “Seriously?!?!?! You think that is a good idea? It doesn’t even occur to you how that could get you in trouble?” He of course knows, we are human beings, flawed in the flesh and angelic of soul, and that we are prone to eating our own poop now and then, metaphorically, yet loves us all the more.
When we sin in ways that are dangerous to us and others, it’s like a dog chasing a car. Don’t you cringe whenever you see a dog chasing a car? I do. You see the look of delight on their angelic little faces as they chase the giant… and it runs from them. The sweethearts are in seventh heaven when they chase a car, but we, in our knowledge of good and evil, that it is dangerous and always leads to tragedy. Using our reason we see what the dog only tangentially perceives. It is the same way with God when we chase cars. God sees the look of joy on our faces as we race next to certain death and he must cringe. To interfere would be to violate free will, and so he can only watch, as we eat dust and risk going under a tire. No matter how much fun it is, we need to stop chasing cars, for our own good.
Going to church without the proper mindset is like your dog jumping on the couch with dirty paws. You know they know better. Dogs are nothing but situationally aware. When they jump on the couch with dirty paws, they are testing us, just as we test God in a myriad of ways. The dog wants to know it’s limits, which limits are hard and fast, and which are flexible. The dog has the advantage of direct feedback though. Where we don’t. If we get an STD from sleeping around, heart disease from eating too much, shot in a fight, in a car accident because of our rage, or go to jail for breaking and entering, even that feedback is not direct, but transitory, and most of us can rationalize those consequences anyway. So we continue to jump on the couch with dirty paws.
It’s not that we are so repulsed by dog behavior, that we know it is not good for them, and since we love them so much, it breaks our hearts. Dogs live such short lives as it is without trying to shorten them. God must look down on us and wonder the same thing. He must ask himself, “It looks like they don’t even want to live?” Everywhere he looks, we are rolling in filth, eating our own poop, chasing cars and jumping on the sofa with dirty paws. We are vexing, mischievous, and willful… yet we are also playful, delightful and beloved. Due to free will it is up to us, to sin as we wish, or to try not to roll in it as much. Maybe we could try hard not to eat our own feces. As much as chasing a car is fun, maybe it would behoove us not to, once in awhile. God knows, we are only human, but he loves us nonetheless.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
