Posts tagged where

What do I have a GIVENNESS NOW to?

Where the wash was.

“See I am doing something new!  

Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  In the desert I make away, in the wasteland, rivers.

It is I, I, who wipe out, for your own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.”  Isaiah 43:19-20, 25

Lent.



…remind me that the rains which once ran, will run again, in this desert.

I have a GIVENNESS NOW to where the wash was.

What do I have a GIVENNESS NOW to?

Where best friends won’t be left behind.

Why is “DOG” spelled backwards “GOD”?

I don’t know.  But I do know that dogs depict the nature of God.  


Our family dog was a beautiful tri-colored Beagle named “Freckles”.  We enjoyed her for 14 years.  I was somewhat surprised how much we grieved when she died a few months ago…especially me.  

My brother’s family dog was a beautiful black Labrador named “Emmy”.  They enjoyed her for 14 years, too.  And he was surprised, just as I was, of the grief, the sadness, the loss, when she died a few days ago.


Perhaps, I’m too “Franciscan” or “Narnian”.  

This story reminds me…I’m not:

A man and his dog were walking along a road.  The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.  He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years.  He wondered where the road was leading them.  After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road.

It looked like fine marble…At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.  When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the  street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, ‘Excuse me, where are we?’

‘This is Heaven, Sir,’ the man answered.

‘Wow! Would you happen to have some water?’  the man asked.

‘Of course, Sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.’  The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

‘Can my friend,’ gesturing toward his dog, ‘come in, too?’ the traveler asked.

‘I’m sorry; Sir, but we don’t accept pets.’

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed.  There was no fence.  As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book…..     

‘Excuse me!’ he called to the man. ‘Do you have any water?’

‘Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there, come on in.’

‘How about my friend here?’ the traveler gestured to the dog.

‘There should be a bowl by the pump, ’ said the man.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.  The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.  When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

‘What do you call this place?’ the traveler asked.

‘This is heaven,’ he answered.

‘Well, that’s confusing,’ the traveler said.

‘The man down the road said that was heaven, too.’

‘Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That’s hell.’

‘Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?’

‘No, we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.’


Fill the water bowl.

Take a long drink.


I have.

With Freckles.


I have a GIVENNESS NOW to a place where best friends won’t be left behind.