Saturday, June 16, 2012

YANK!

This is not Maya.  Maya is cuter. :)
This morning I took my dog, Maya, (a.k.a. "Jog Dog") our for a run. The grass was still wet from the morning dew and the sun was trying to break through the fog.  As we headed home, we ran behind a row of cars in a parking lot. Any of them could back out at any minute. (OK, maybe not. I am the only one crazy enough to be out running at 6 AM on a Saturday morning.)  But still - as Maya & I jogged by the row of parked cars, I thought about what I would do if one of them suddenly started backing up.  There was only a few feet between us and the cars.  I would have to YANK Maya out of the way very forcefully.  Red brake lights...small white--- PULL!  I'd tug on that leash with a lot of force.  "Jog Dog" would be lifted off her feet and pulled out of the way before she could become a speed bump for an SUV.
I would not have time to warn her.
I would not have time to explain her options.
There was no way I could jog up to her, kneel down and say:
"Hi Jog Dog, it's me, Top Dog.  Anyway, see this silver Honda SUV here? Yeah, the one backing up.  Well, it is about to spin its big black tires in reverse and crush you. So I am going to give you a mighty yank, which is probably going to hurt, but I have to do it OK? Otherwise, well, uh, you're gonna die."    By the time I would have gotten the word "Hi" out, we would have been bumper stickers. There would be no time to tell Maya about what was to come.  No time for a gentle warning.  There was only time to YANK.   She might have yelped.  She definitely would have looked at me like, "What the heck was that all about?"  She might run a little scared for awhile.  She may avoid me for a time.  She would have no idea that I had literally just saved her life.  She wouldn't appreciate the fact that I just instigated a life-saving, albeit painful, measure on her behalf.  Even if I pulled her to the safety of the sidewalk, sat down to pat her and explain my actions she still wouldn't get it.
"Yes, Maya, I know it hurt, but it had to be done.  I want you around.  I want you as my Jog Dog for many more years to come.  If I hadn't done it, you would have been dead meat." 
Treat?  Did you say treat?
Never mind Maya.

Human beings are the only ones who try to figure out why there are on this planet.  We ask the big question:  "Why am I here?" Dogs?  They just "dog."  They do what dogs do and don't question why they wake up each morning.  Why am I here?  Is it to sniff?  To drool?  To scare cats?  They just get up, sniff, drool and scare cats.  It helps that they don't have imagination, long term memory, or reasoning.  We do.  While the birds, dogs and cats are being birds, dogs and cats, we humans are sitting around with our powers of reasoning and imagination asking ourselves, "Why am I here?"  "What am I supposed to do while I am here?'  We search for meaning; we search for ourselves, until we ultimately realize we are on a search for God.  When we find Him, He fills that emptiness inside, quells the longing, answers the ultimate "why?" and closes the gap.  I know I have a missing puzzle piece in my heart and He is the only "peace" that fits. I find Him and in Him, I find myself.  I am still in the "finding" stage, probably always will be - but that's why it's called a faith journey, right?   
So I'm on the journey, trotting along, beautiful day, good music on the ipod and then YANK!
Ouch! 
I look around and ask, "What was that all about?" 
Usually when the "Yank" happens I blame another person or a situation for the yank.  My boss yanked me.  My family member, neighbor - the stranger in the supermarket - YANK! This job yanked me!  This sitution tugged me!   I am suddenly thrust in another direction and a bit sore from the pull.  I am confused.  I start to ask why this is happening to me.  I want to go back to trotting along.  What happened to my peaceful morning jog?  GOD GIVE ME BACK MY PEACEFUL MORNING JOG & TAKE AWAY THE PAIN!  That is usually how my prayers sound immediately following the YANK.
I don't know it, but I might have just been saved from the tires of life rolling over me. I may have just been saved from myself.  I may have just been given a "new leash on life."
Now I am not going to say that when bad things happen to me God causes them (like I said in a past blog I leave those arguments to the theologians) but I do know that God can DEFINITELY work through and in the tough tugs of life.  Here is what I am trying to wrap my head around after a recent YANK.  When God pulls me, He always pulls me the RIGHT way and he is always RIGHT THERE with me all the way.  He doesn't yank and run. 

He is definitely pulling on me right now.  I'm fighting Him a little bit because I think I know what's best for me. (I think I am Top Dog.)  I just want my morning jog back.  I just want good 80's music on my ipod and the wind in my hair.  I just want to be pain free.  Maybe not.  Maybe that YANK I just received is exactly what I needed to keep me out from the under the SUV and headed in a new direction - His.

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