Logs, Hogs and Dogs

Earlier this summer our family went up to my parent’s cabin in the Park Rapids area.  The cabin sits on a lovely, level lot on a pristine lake that is rich with fish, towering pines, loons, eagles and mosquitoes.  In addition to the fearsome mosquitoes…and deer flies…and horse flies…there is a nemesis that lurks on the surface of the waters looking for a newly manicured lawn to invade.  All around the lake, land owners have implemented an infinite number of varied tactics to rid themselves of the fowl devils.  Yet, somehow these long throated Canadian demons of defecation, leave their disgusting green, black and white scat all over the lakeside lawns.

My parents do an exceptional job of keeping the lawn and beach clear of the excrement expelling enemies.  They have applied various efforts that have been moderately effective in keeping the unwanted animals from their shores, and when a few shrewd bird have somehow found their way through the gauntlet and left gifts of goose guano, my name sakes are quick to remove it from that land.

On this particular visit, our 10 year old Pomeranian was too quick for everyone and before the doo-doo could be dealt with, he decided to find it and roll in it…and roll in it…and roll in it some more.

“Ugh! You foolish pooch! What are…what…egads! Why!?”

Needless to say, this was an unfortunate moment of the weekend…and our lives.  Yet, we were committed to resiliently press on to a good time, which was only possible since my wife was willing to wash the dog in the lake.  All was grand…until, our less than learned puppy become a repeat offender.

What can you do but shake your head, drop your jaw and wish that you did not have a dog.  This reminded me of when I was a child.  We always had dogs out on our small pretend hobby farm and these dogs were just as foolish.  The indescribable nasty things that they would get into was incredible! It was not uncommon to find cow bones with rotting flesh or dead wood chucks drug home from nearby farms.  The dogs would often return, soggy and stinky after a day of wallowing in the swamp or even on several cases with snouts filled with porcupine quills after getting too close to resentful rodents.

The pigs that we raised were no better.  I remember taking a hose to the pigs to wash them off.  They seemed to like the spray of water but as soon as you turned the hose off they would drop back to the ground and roll in the mud.  The pigs were always covered in thick layers of wet and dry mud.

These animals loved the filth.  I think that if we are willing to take a broader look at what Jesus says in Matthew 7:1-6.  Jesus is wanting to pull us out of.  He does not want us to wallow in a life of filth and mud and fecal matter.  He is asking us to self reflect…to see our sin...and allow him to remove the plank in our eye that is blinding us from the life that He wants us to live in Him.

May we come to allow the transformational work to be done in us that Jesus wants done in us.  May our lack of capacity for change be filled with His capacity that is given freely to us.