Rare is the time that I get to relax. Time may not be the thing I’m short on, but the concept of relaxation escapes my grasp often. What my head believes and what is true often conflict, and even though my head says that a television should help me relax I do not feel much less busy after watching a movie or a television show. Similar feelings arise when listening to music, other art/entertainment forms or even spending time with friends.
A deep need for “stop” arrives in my mind. Physical or mental remedies are wasted on fulfilling this desire.
My heart sinks and it bothers me that I spent time to be entertained or to enjoy myself thinking that it would satisfy my need to be comforted, and time after time I leave those activities more stressed than before.
Rare is the time I get to relax, but it came to me today.
Something beckoned me to turn off the television, stop eating and pray. In the time of prayer peace came over me, and as I opened my Bible to start to read there was a sublime nature to the words. To be honest I don’t always know what God means for me when I read it, but I know that it’s true and good.
When I had finished praying, and when I had finished reading, and when the world seemed quiet and calm: I lay there next to my dog, and she moved close to me.
The kind of closeness that is felt when a dog snuggles up to its owner is not a new experience to me, nor is it overwhelming in any sense.
Dogs however amaze me. They remind me so much of humans, but more comical in almost every way. For what can I gain from a dog? My intellect cannot engage them, nor does my body lust after them and my life is certainly not fulfilled by them. Nothing do they offer, but a want to be close.
As I lay there patting my dogs head soaking in this moment between master and servant I can’t help but think of a parallel between God and I and my dog and I.
Nothing do I offer to Him, but a want to get close and somehow that’s enough.
As the metaphor continued my parents returned home and my dog lost interest. Soon she was not nearly as content as she had been, and began begging for scraps of what my parents had brought home. Even when I see her get what she desires from the table she’s never satisfied.
