Greetings Dear Reader,
I began this line
of thought with a story of two dogs. It was
a reflection of our two natures and the truth is that the nature we feed is the
one that wins. We could stop there and
go on our way enlightened and better followers.
You know me better than that.
Here then is another
story of two dogs from the ancient sage Aesop:
A man had two
dogs: a Hound, trained to assist him in his sports, and a Housedog, taught to
watch the house. When he returned home after a good day's sport, he always gave
the Housedog a large share of his spoil. The Hound, feeling much aggrieved at
this, reproached his companion, saying, "It is very hard to have all this
labor, while you, who do not assist in the chase, luxuriate on the fruits of my
exertions." The Housedog replied, "Do not blame me, my friend, but
find fault with the master, who has not taught me to labor, but to depend for
subsistence on the labor of others."
First, I want to
say something about the Hound in the story.
He misses the value of the Housedog.
The Housedog has a very important role in the household structure. Aesop states clearly that his job is to watch
the house. This job is no less important
than that of the Hound. The Hound has
taken up an offense without truly seeing the value of his companion; without understanding
the work by which he is offended.
I would also like
to consider the Housedog and his understanding of his role. He too does not see that is work carries
great responsibility in caring for the household’s safety. He does not understand the wisdom of the
master in teaching him to guard the home.
He does not see the value of his assigned role.
Further, the Hound
has questioned the wisdom of the master in doing with his dogs as he will. He hungers for something that is not his and
for which he is not intended. There are
a couple of key applications here that follow with the refining of our hunger. One is to understand that we do not always
understand what we judge. We increasingly
speak empty words without knowledge. We judge
others without learning who they really are.
In this, we feed hatred instead of love.
We dine on offenses instead of peace.
We also do not see the
value of what we do in many areas. We
assign worth to things based on the opinions of others instead of measuring how
things further the love and peace in the world.
Our understanding of fair and equal is skewed by our opinions instead of
our love for the Father and each other.
We constantly feed the hunger to capitalize or socialize the world instead
of seeing that true peace and freedom are only found in dealing with every
human lovingly.
When we feed anger
and offense over injustices real or manufactured, we abandon the only fuel that
can resolve true injustice. We must use
love and humility to battle the things in the world that are not good. Hatred and anger never yield peace. They are the path to violence and
darkness. They are the food of eventual
evil.
If I am going to
nurture my love for every human, I must not feed my offenses. In truth, I must see everyone through the eyes
of Christ and his love for them. The social
issues that confront us all require that we love as Christ does. That means that I need to take up very few
offenses. I must become lovingly
unoffendable without being blind to the need of others. This is and always will be a hard place to
stand. It is, however, the path to peace
and the way home. I hope you will walk
it with me, Dear Reader.
Wishing you joy in
the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus
said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of
Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new
and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
#aramisthorn
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