There are two things you can rely on in troubled times, your religious faith and your dog. But wait, there’s a catch. You have to ASK for help from one of them.
If your faith is strong, it will support you through any crisis. The thing is, you have to affirm your belief and ask for help. Even so, it seems like sometimes the Creator is too busy to pay attention. And you’ve probably been told by a friend or relative that “the world doesn’t revolve around you.” So, face it, that’s true.
But if you have a dog, you are the center of his world. Think… Your friends and family may not know you need emotional support and you “don’t want to bother them,” but your dog, the one always at your side, will know when you are troubled. He can sense your stress, pain, or panic. Dogs know their job and instinct puts them by your side, comforting you without questions, criticism, or conditions.
You don’t have to ask your dog for understanding. That’s in his DNA, more so than any other living thing or person. That’s why there are therapy dogs and they are a whole lot cheaper than therapists.
So, when you really need emotional support, call your dog. I know, you’re thinking of your parents, children, or your best friend. They’ll drop everything when you call… Really? How about, “Just a minute” or “Can it wait ‘till tomorrow?”
Sure, they love us but they “have a life” and you are not the center of their world. Conversely, you ARE your dog’s whole world. If you are depressed, disadvantaged, or diseased, the total and uninhibited adoration of a dog is a huge boost both emotionally and mentally. And caring for your dog is physically good for you. Right, movement is good for the psyche.
Paul Harvey, a top radio personality who cleverly told The Rest of the Story, made a book by Lorna Olitch a best seller. So God Made A Dog is still available on Amazon. This quote sums it up: “Humor, joy, pride, and pleasure, all these feelings swirl around and mix together in the soft glow of our thoughts concerning human companionship with our dogs.”
Call your dog and he responds. Call your kids in the middle of their favorite TV show and they are suddenly deaf. And your husband’s cell phone doesn’t work on the golf course.
Look at it this way, The Creator has a million things to follow up on. YOU are not the most important thing in the world. That is why God made a dog. The dog has only one job, one goal. Survival? Perpetuate the Species? Nope. Regardless of what you learned in science class, none of that is why God made a dog.
The dog’s sole reason for being is to comfort and protect people. No other animal will do that! Cats are comforting but totally incompetent at protection. Horses are fun, but don’t feed them and you are more likely to get kicked than adored.
Admit it, we humans are prone to make mistakes. We are defenseless without a weapon and we get easily lost. If we lose our job, our home, our savings, little by little, friends disappear. But not your dog. Your dog is the only living creature that devotes its whole life to you. No matter how bad it gets, your dog won’t call it quits. Even if you abuse or starve him, your dog will not forsake you.
We are told we must go to church or at least bow our heads in prayer in the privacy of our home. But the Creator has a lot to do. In fact, that job is never ending. One of the NetPlacesNetwork.com writers is Dr. Roberta Lee who earned FOUR PhD degrees, one of which is in Religion. Dr. Lee says when God made humans, He knew they would not be perfect because we are the most complex creature on this planet. She reminded us that there is indeed a reason d-o-g is God spelled backwards.
Read that again, thoughtfully. Creation could have made you perfect but then you would need nothing. So, The Creator, with unfathomable wisdom, knew you would need something to lean on, something to protect you even when you aren’t aware of danger, something to put you above all things, all instincts, and even life itself.
So God made a dog.
Look down at your best friend. Your dog is the epitome of faith. Your dog believes in you, trusts you, and will never-ever forsake you. When you think about it, Dr. Lee is right. Like God, your dog asks only that you believe in him.
