A Dog's Life

My wife and I are dog-sitting for a few days for our daughter. His name is “Fitzgerald Muenster”… “Fitz” for short … and his personality fits! He is a French Bull Dog, small and strong like a bull, handsome and charming like your typical Frenchman, and smart as a whip. But he is also fun and really funny.

When I take Fitz for a walk, he struts up the street like he owns the town. If a car goes by, he gives it a serious warning. And if another dog would actually have the nerve to attempt to walk on our street (excuse me… his street) he will go into full guard-dog mode to protect me. I really enjoy the little guy, and I think he likes me to, although he totally loves my wife a whole lot more. (Maybe something to do with her cooking?)

Anyway, at one point my wife and I needed to go to the store and we had to leave Fitz behind at home. As we were leaving, Fitz jumped up into my leather recliner and made himself comfortable (doesn’t he know he is violating the master’s chair!} and just yawned as we left.

While we were at the store, I kept thinking about Fitz being alone at home. He is a dog after all, and therefore has no idea where we went, when we are coming back, where his next meal is coming from, or even scarier than that, he has no idea if we will ever come home! And yet, upon our return, there he is lounging upside down in my recliner, with the tip of his tongue hanging out, probably dreaming of French female canines. Apparently not a care in the world.

And that got me thinking… Maybe we can learn something from Fitz, who isn’t much worried about anything. I mean, look at us, we worry about everything. We don’t know what tomorrow has in store. We don’t know if or when the pandemic will end. We don’t know if our boss is going to close the business down, or whether our kids will graduate, or how we are going to pay for our parents’ medical care. Our worries and questions are so many, and yet it seems like the answers are so few. But don’t we already have the answer, the answer to the most important question of all? That in the end, all of us if, we simply believe, will make it home.  

Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you alone, because you were made for it.

~ C. S. Lewis