Dog? God?

When I was 12, my parents bought me a cocker spaniel.  His name was Bucky.

I had begged for months to get a dog and finally they broke under the intense pressure of an unrelenting 12 year old boy. 

After the initial fun of the first few weeks of having a dog wore off, my mom and dad had to constantly remind me to feed Bucky, give him fresh water, give him baths and…pick up piles. 

Fun times.

My dad finally got tired of having to remind me so he sat me down.  He said “Eric, you’re the closest thing to God that Bucky will ever understand. 

You see, you can open doors.  He can’t.  You can open cans of food.  He can’t.  You can do so many things that he can’t and so he thinks of you somewhere in the God-level.

Are you anything like God?  Do you provide for him before he needs it?  No, you have to be reminded. 

Do you take care of him like God takes care of you?  No, you really don’t.

You need to step it up because you are failing.”

Talk about lighting a fire…

This is not to say that I didn’t have to be reminded to pick up piles or feed him, but my dad’s story got me to thinking every time I didn’t want to do something for Bucky.

God doesn’t neglect me and I shouldn’t neglect Bucky.  I decided I was better than that.

It was a great life lesson to learn early.

I’ve noticed that kids aren’t as patient as dogs. 

Kids let you know when they are hungry. 

Their dirty diapers stink…your nose requires that you do something about that.

But, just like the dog example above, kids see their Moms and Dads as the closest thing to God that they will likely see on Earth. 

We can drive, open up tight lids, braid hair (Elise, not me), spend money, etc…

Half the things we say they don’t understand. 

We are so complex and different from them.

We also have the capacity to love them like God loves them…or we can choose not to.

Looking at my track record, it’s a little embarrassing that I represent God in the way I do.

I remember one time when I was correcting Noah,  I was looking directly in Noah’s eyes and  I was telling him what he had done wrong and how I was deeply disappointed in what he had done.

As I was speaking, God hit me with a skillet.

I realized that I was speaking to Noah at that time and place, but that the words that I was speaking and the facial expressions I was making were going to be put in his archival memory and would be pulled out one day for him to speak to his kids. 

His kids would in turn do the same….and on and on…

It was at that point that I realized that I was speaking to future generations of little Bruntmyers yet to be born. 

I began to understand the duty that I had to Noah and all of my kids to speak to them and everyone that would come from them…to look in their eyes and see the generations that were to come…to understand that the behaviors and attitudes that I displayed on a daily basis in front of my kids would be replayed years and years later in their own lives with their own children.

Hopefully the children we have or will have and the generations to come from them will see God through the parenting that we do today.