Another Lesson from a Dog

Wiley

My sister's dog, Wiley, has been living with me and my husband for almost three months. He is just a puppy, and he needs lots of attention. Recently he has started to guard the dog food with a ferocity we have never witnessed in him until now. We put out three bowls in the morning and evening; one bowl for every dog. Wiley likes to eat from all three bowls, and he doesn't like to let Zip or Nova, our two dogs, eat from any of the bowls. He hasn't quite learned to share very well yet, and because of that he has put on a few pounds. At first Hiram (my husband) and I didn't notice Wiley standing guard over the food bowls. I usual put out the food in my morning rush to get ready for work, so I don't sit and watch them eat. And Hiram usually fills the bowls as we are fixing or eating our supper, so again, we don't watch them eat. We noticed Wiley had gained quite a few pounds--more than just the typical puppy filling out, though that is what we attributed his weight gain. But last week when we did watch the dogs eat, Wiley bounced from one bowl to the next, not allowing the other dogs to eat at all even though there was plenty of food to go around. Our dogs do not go without food; they are well fed and loved members of our family. Wiley must know, after 3 months of this same feeding routine, that there will always be food every morning and every evening as sure as the sun rises and falls, and yet still he guards the food as if he doesn't know when and where he will get his next meal.

Jesus said in Matthew 6, "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, and what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them." And yet, many of us still hang on to food, clothing, and other material things like we don't have enough when the reality is that many of us living in the US and sitting in pews on Sunday have more than enough. Then why do so many refuse to share, to hoard, to guard what they claim is theirs? "Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be." Many hearts are given to the treasures we hoard for ourselves while many in our own very community don't have access to the basics such as shelter and food. Maybe it's time we all read the parable of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18), and recognize that many of us (Myself included! I'm a product of consumerism!) also would have a hard time letting go of all our possessions, but letting go of all we have and all we are is exactly what Jesus calls his disciples to do when we choose to follow him. Too often we forget that greed--ever so prevalent in our culture--is a sin. So too is gluttony, and who can argue that we are gluttons in more ways than just food gluttons. In another parable Jesus says, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." When we stop greedily guarding ours as ours and only ours, then just maybe God will be able to use what we have to help others who do not have. John Wesley said earn all you can and save all you can, so that you can give all you can. The truth is that many of us live lives centered on self, and with a little more attention and intention, we will be able to give much more than we think we can; but yes it may involve sacrifice. If all your basic human needs are met, then you have enough to help make sure others' basic human needs are also met.  So ask yourself: WWJD--what would Jesus do? "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the son of man has no where to lay his head." Are you ready to follow Jesus?