City Metaphor #1: Walking the Dog

I'm not really a city person.  I grew up in the suburbs, and wide open fields, endless skies, and the sounds of crickets and coyotes in the night, and Canadian geese by day, will always charm me.  

That having been said, I've now spent the better half of a decade in some big city or other, and as a result, I've had quite a bit of time to absorb various aspects of city life.  Usually I find that the city impedes my ability to sense and see God because it is filled with so many distractions and all sorts of noise (both literally and metaphorically).  But there's one aspect of city life that has spoken to me--and continues to speak to me--in a spiritual sense.

New Yorkers love their dogs.  Boy, do they love their dogs. Big ones, small ones, multiple ones...I see dogs and their masters everywhere.  It's not as if I didn't see people out with their dogs in the suburbs, because I did.  But given the crazy population density here, combined with the fact that I walk every day as part of my commute, I see many many MANY more dogs here than there.   

I often walk behind dogs and their masters as I'm walking down the sidewalk.  I quite enjoy it, not just because dogs are so cute, but also because they give me a lot of inspiration.  

You see... secretly (not so secretly anymore?), my dream is to be like a dog.  

Now, lest you think I've completely lost my marbles, I should explain.  When I see a dog with his master, here's what I see:

• The dog adores and finds joy in his master.  He doesn't care where he goes, as long as he goes with the master.  He could go the same place, via the same route, every single day, and the dog won't find it boring.  He will just be happy, because he is with his master.  I want to be like that with Jesus.

• The dog trusts his master.  The master may take him someplace he's never been...may take him to meet other dogs...may let other humans pet him...and the dog is cool with all of that.  The dog has no reason to fear, because he knows he will be fed, housed, loved, taken care of. He knows his future is secure.  He trusts his master.  I want to be like that with Jesus.

• The dog is sensitive to his master's leading--most of the time.  It's called a leash.  The dog has freedom to wander, and sometimes the master has to wait for the stubborn dog who is too busy sniffing at a flower or captivated by a squirrel.  But most of the time, the dogs I see go where there masters tug.  Or, even more impressively, they know their master so well that they seem to walk in tandem with their master - knowing when to stop and when to start, when to move over, when to step aside.  I want to be like that with Jesus.

Here's to a closer walk with Jesus!

City Metaphor #2:  The Subway Platform is coming up next (just thought of it yesterday)