Fake Dogs

As the glow of the Super Bowl fades, and the post season withdrawls begin, there is light beckoning from New York City-the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!!!  Known as the Super Bowl of the dog show world, it is two days filled with nearly 3,000 dogs at Madison Square Garden.  Now days, you can go on line and watch all 3000 dogs in their individual breed classes.  Back in the olden days, (like 5 years ago) you could only watch the groups compete for best of show on t.v. but oh, the joy for me.  Even though I'm sure I'll spend plenty of time in front of my computer watching a seemingly endless parade of dogs, I still stayed up and watched the groups last night. 

I have two purebred dogs, both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels which is the pretentious name for lazy but sweet lap dogs.  One I named after a literary hero and he does not live up to his name.  He is actually a bit of a rogue.  The other I name after a t.v. character who is a bit of a rogue, and he is the epitome of a literary hero. Go figure.  It is of the latter that I write today, Alistair, the dog who is, among other things, discerning.

As I sat on the couch with the boys watching the show last night, during the hound group, Alistair suddenly leaped to his feet and seemed to be staring at the screen.  We've had both t.v. and dog for a long time, so I doubted that was what caught his attention since he'd never done it before.  But sure enough, it was the close up of a Beagle that had him riveted to the screen, and as the camera panned to the next dog, a larger hound, he got off the couch and stood in front of the t.v., just staring.  This is the dog who, thinking a dog three doors away might invade his front yard will bark his hair off to warn the household of an intruder.  He never made a sound, just watched the dog on the screen. After a minute, he went to the back door, looked outside, came back to the t.v, took one more brief look, returned to the couch and went back to sleep.

Here's what I think happened. Our t.v. is in front of a window, and it would seem he thought he could see a dog outside-but something wasn't right.  After watching the dog, he suspected it wasn't real, he checked outside to be sure no one was there, and went back to sleep.  I think this makes him smarter than the dog who sits and watches and barks at the t.v. when they see a dog-if your dog does that, don't feel bad, we've always know Alistair was exceptional. ;) He's just not interested in fake dogs.

Most of what you see on t.v. isn't real. Even reality t.v. is barely real.  There is lots of stuff that looks real when in fact, it isn't.  But like a Beagle in High Definition, it can look awfully real.  I dig shows where people bring in things they think are priceless, or sometimes they think is junk, only to discover it's true value.  Sometimes they are ecstatic, sometimes, they've been had.  I feel really bad for the people who have been had.  I feel sorry for their despair, and angry at the one who sold them a fake dog.

 I've talked to too many Christians who have been had, by teachers, books, even well meaning friends who have counseled them from their feelings rather than the Word of God.  It's heartbreaking. I was once one who spent considerable time with fake dogs, as a Christian, and you can trace the greatest wreckage of my life to that period of time.  Until one day, it occurred to me, that there was a source, a starting point, a place to begin again.  So I picked up my long neglected Bible and beginning in Matthew chapter 1, began to read. And read. And read. And weep. And get it.

How I love the truth.  I love that there is truth. I love that I can know truth. I love that YOU can know truth.  I love that it's right there in front of us, in black, white, and sometimes in red.  I love that the Spirit of truth will guide us in all truth (Jn 16:13). I love that even when you been had so badly that you told everybody the fake dog was real, Truth takes you back. 

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life....." John 14:6

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