{"id":875,"date":"2021-07-20T08:11:34","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T12:11:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=875"},"modified":"2021-07-20T08:11:34","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T12:11:34","slug":"a-dogs-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/20\/a-dogs-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dog’s Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Throughout July we\u2019re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible\u2019s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom.<\/em>

David E. Sharp, a senior airman in the United States Air Force, returned home to Georgia after serving in the Middle East in 2002.

Overwhelmed by residual trauma from his deployment, he felt little joy.  He picked fights and drank too much.  A friend encouraged him to get a dog.  He adopted Cheyenne, a brown and white American Staffordshire Terrier puppy \u2013 a breed closely related to the pit bull.

Sharp\u2019s state of mind, unfortunately, continued to spiral downward.  Two of his military buddies committed suicide.  \u201cI couldn\u2019t deal with what was in my head,\u201d he remembers.

The veteran went to his room and picked up the handgun his father had given to him years earlier.  \u201cI was crying and calling myself a loser.  Then I pulled the hammer back, put the barrel in my mouth, and my thumb on the trigger.  And as soon as I did that, one of the weirdest things happened.  This little pup, who was maybe six months old at the time, came up and licked my ear, which distracted me.  So I took the gun out of my mouth to ask, \u2018What did you do that for?\u2019  And then she came over and sat down in my lap and put her head on my right thigh.  The pistol was on my left.  I understood it was an ultimatum.  To choose her or to take my life. 

\u201cI chose her, and I never looked back.\u201d

In 2009 Sharp founded Companions for Heroes, formerly known as Pets for Vets.  The organization unites dogs with military veterans and front line workers, offering free vet care for a year and unlimited access to a trainer.  The vets choose the dogs themselves.  Sharp reports that happy matches occur about 98% of the time.  For many, finding an animal companion is the first in a series of positive choices that gradually bring hope and healing to a wounded soul \u2013 and a fresh shot at life.

The story of Cheyenne and David Sharp is the leadoff tale in Rebecca Asher Walsh\u2019s remarkable book Devoted: 38 Extraordinary Stories of Love, Loyalty, and Life with Dogs<\/em>. 

Dogs are indeed extraordinary.  Many of them establish connections with their human companions that defy explanation. 

Walsh recounts the story of a man who suffered a serious stroke.  His dog ran to get the phone, even though he had been taught to do so only when asked.  He put the phone into his owner\u2019s dialing hand.  But that was the hand paralyzed by the stroke.  The dog promptly shifted the phone into his still-functioning hand so he could dial 911. 

An elderly couple were trapped outside in a severe winter storm.  Their dog dug a tunnel in a bank of snow and pulled them both to safety.  Walsh describes the incredible role played by dogs who provide comfort to teenage girls testifying in court in the presence of their accused rapists.  It\u2019s not uncommon for a victim to become traumatized during cross-examination.  Her dog, sitting alongside, will sense this and promptly draw close, lowering her blood pressure. 

Then there\u2019s the story of the Great Dane who stood between his owner and her violent boyfriend.  He absorbed the blows and injuries, refusing to leave her side.  When she arrived at the domestic violence shelter, she was told, \u201cNo pets allowed.\u201d  She refused to enter unless her dog accompanied her.  That case of mutual loyalty between dog and human ultimately revolutionized the animal companion policies at many shelters.  As Walsh points out, a number of abused women over the years have stuck things out with their violent partners because they don\u2019t want to leave their dogs behind.

Dog owners are quick to affirm that they\u2019ve rarely had human friends as loyal as their canines \u2013 which is why so many beginning Bible readers are disillusioned when they discover the absence of \u201cpet verses\u201d in Scripture, and that dogs actually seem to be singled out for scorn. 

During Bible times, people of low status or questionable morals were frequently called dogs.  The apostle Paul identified some false teachers as \u201cdogs and evil workers.\u201d (Philippians 3:2)  Goliath was personally offended when the Hebrews could only send out a runt like David to face him in combat: \u201cWhat am I, a dog?\u201d he mocked.  Dogs licked up the blood of the wicked Queen Jezebel when she was thrown from a window, and licked the sores of the poor man named Lazarus in Jesus\u2019 parable in Luke 16. 

Then of course there\u2019s the verse from Proverbs that every Sunday School kid loves to quote: \u201cAs a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.\u201d (26:11)

So, what\u2019s up with the Bible and dogs?

Historical context is helpful.  Even though canine domestication had already been underway for thousands of years in various parts of the world, dogs in the Middle East during Bible times were not pets.  They were typically feral creatures.  When roving in packs, they might represent a serious threat to personal safety.  No ancient Hebrew could ever have imagined Chewy.com, the Westminster Kennel Club, or a cartoon character named Underdog arriving just in time to save the day. 

The internet is rife with articles claiming, on a biblical basis, that God must have it in for dogs.  But it would be an extraordinary mistake to extrapolate the biases of an ancient culture into God\u2019s standing orders for humanity.  Just because the earliest Hebrews, for instance, did not swim or take vacations and were terrified of the ocean doesn\u2019t mean you should cancel your summer trip to the beach.

More individuals and families than ever have welcomed dogs, cats, birds, geckos, and guinea pigs into their lives \u2013 and those numbers have only risen since the beginning of the pandemic.  For many, animal companions have proven to be life-enriching, even life-sustaining friends.  And we should keep in mind that Isaiah\u2019s vision of God\u2019s new creation features wolves, lambs, lions, and oxen \u2013 and yes, even snakes (check out Isaiah 65:25). 

Even though pet ownership is a comparatively recent global phenomenon, doesn\u2019t the Bible have anything to say to those who share their lives with animals?

It does.  And as you might expect, Scripture\u2019s one and only verse on that subject just happens to be found in Proverbs:

\u201cGood people care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.\u201d  (Proverbs 12:10)

To that we can add Proverbs 20:6:  \u201cMany will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?\u201d  As John Grogan observes in Marley and Me<\/em>:

“A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes.  A water logged stick will do just fine.  A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb.  Give him your heart and he’ll give you his.  How many people can you say that about?  How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special?  How many people can make you feel extraordinary?\u201d

Dogs just might turn out to be some of the world\u2019s best exemplars of three virtues that God cares about a great deal:

Loyalty, humility, and unconditional love<\/em>. 

Living a dog\u2019s life?  We should all be so blessed.
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Throughout July we\u2019re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible\u2019s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. David E. Sharp, a senior airman in the United States Air Force, returned home to Georgia after serving in the Middle East in 2002. Overwhelmed by residual trauma from his deployment, he felt little joy.  He picked fights and drank too… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[35,279,123],"class_list":["post-875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-animals","tag-pets","tag-proverbs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875\/revisions\/877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}