Scottie house cleaners

It’s been a few years since I had Scotties who wanted to help me clean the house. The old pack helped with the vacuuming. This bunch, being five-months young, are loaded with energy, and they want to help with the floor mopping after vacuuming.

Now, it’s a lot harder mopping  with their help than vacuuming with their aid. All they do with the vacuum is bite at the vacuum head and bark. The mop is a whole new opportunity.

I have to push hard on the mop handle to keep them from stealing the mop cloth. The slightest pressure release means that they can get under the plastic mophead, loosen the cloth from the Velcro, and quickly run away with the cloth shaking it like a rag.

Watching them is great entertainment. Bernie, the larger of the two, will do this all day if I have the energy.

Bottom line, these puppies, with all their energy and antics, are a laugh a minute. Even though they make my work harder, I’m expecting a high return on my time investment. I’m expecting many years of love and joy from these little critters.

Some time ago I wrote a column about a Scottie’s view of God, saying that we, their keepers, are probably seen by them somewhat the way some people see God.  Using this case of mopping makes me think about God’s gift of free will.

I could have shouted at the puppies to stop their play, and acted like the “angry God” so many people seem to believe in. But because I’ve been a Scottie Mom to many puppies, I’ve learned that letting them play, expressing their free will and enthusiasm helps them grow up to be happy and well-adjusted adults. It helps them see life as a positive thing, and it lets us build a warm, trusting, and loving relationship. Just like the kind of relationship we could have with God.

I recently finished a marvelous book, “Ring of Truth — A Translator’s Testimony,” by J.B. Phillips. He asserts the idea that love of God and people is the central theme throughout the Bible. Phillips asserts that the view of an angry God is a misunderstanding, perhaps as a result of the many translations the Bible has gone through.

Phillips, an English Anglican minister, who lived through the bombing of London during World War II, ended up spending most of his free time during and after the war translating the New Testament into understandable, modern language for younger people (who are in their 80s or 90s now).

During the war years in England, the 1611 King James version of the Bible was the authorized version. Phillips discovered, while reading the New Testament to young people as they huddled, terrified in shelters during bombing raids, that the KJV language made the meaning of what he read nearly impossible for younger people to comprehend and appreciate.

As a result, he began translating sections of the book into “modern English.” The famous author C.S. Lewis received a copy of some of Phillips’ work and wrote Phillips a letter saying that his work was “like cleaning an old art masterpiece, which gave the audience amazing new insights that had been lost over time”.

Lewis’ encouragement changed Phillips’ life, resulting in his translating the entire New Testament and writing many other books.

The bottom-line is that for many years following the war, spent translating the New Testament and more, brought Phillips closer to the Bible than all his years of schooling, and time as a minister had done. Ultimately, he grew much closer to Jesus Christ and his message, and saw the loving richness of the entire Bible message that had been missed in his training.

Phillips’ work, and that of others like Emmet Fox, teaches us that God gave us free will, which lets us do many things He would not recommend for us. Even so, everything we do teaches us to be more unique, more of an individual.

The more familiar we become with the Bible’s symbols and deep messages of love and trust in God, the fewer mistakes we make. Through our free will we bring ourselves more in line with God’s will, bringing us more prosperity and peace.

Unlike the Scotties, we have much higher gifts to be gained and higher spiritual responsibilities. For example, Jesus is to “sit at the right hand of God,” as Phillips says, this is symbolic, not to be taken literally. But the symbolism is important. Jesus said we could and would do everything he did. So this means we will “sit” close to God. Some say we are meant to be His companions.

My “one-minute manager” style of training the Scotties allows them to grow into unique personalities. I let them play and do silly things. They learn the meaning of “no,” and they are praised for everything they do right, including listening to “no.” Since all good dogs want the love and praise of their keeper, they begin to drop the less desirable habits. They become more unique individuals, and they gain trust in my leadership.

When people wonder why God “lets us get hurt”, it is because we have chosen each direction or action we take. There is the natural law of “cause-and-effect”, also called “we reap what we sow.” If we are kind and loving, we receive goodness. If we are selfish and mean, we’ll get hurt. Put another way, if we live and think in the light, darkness can’t hurt us.

By staying in the light we have the opportunity to learn from our errors, becoming closer to God and more unique as individuals.

Eventually, we will listen to God’s thoughts about filling our hearts with love and kindness. Each improvement in that direction makes our lives better, reducing future mistakes.

A person’s heart sets the way… Proverbs 16:9