A Dog's Life?

Is it really all THAT bad, Willie?



Introducing Willie, our mutt. She is a throwback to the old mountain hunting dogs of this area.
Did I say "she"? Yes, indeed. Our children were not very good at sexing puppies when this one arrived 9 years ago. A friend of Mary's found her in a box on the side of the road, and graciously decided we would be suitable owners. In keeping with our family's royalty theme in pet names, she was dubbed "William the Conqueror" (apologies to my British friends, at least the Norman ones). When I pointed out the error , they amended the name to "Wilhelmina" (apologies to my Dutch friends). Anyway, she doesn't seem to mind- I hope you don't.
Willie's standard morning walk is through the rice fields and along the river across the road from our house. She has a great time catching mice, rolling in dead fish, and sniffing at everything. It is a good time for my wife and me as well. Walking the same route nearly every day, we notice little, gradual changes over time. But when we get home and I tie Willie up for another day of boredom in front of her house, she is left with a very different set of memories than her human companions. We see the changes; she smells them. She arrives home with a lot of data we are unaware of.
We humans get used to thinking of ourselves as pretty much in the know, but there is a lot of stuff out there that we just aren't getting. And, that is just physical data. We are even less aware of vital spiritual information. It is good to rememer that we aren't as smart as we think, and to take the time to learn from our Creator those things of the spirit that we so greatly need to know, and so easily overlook.