Why Not a Dog?

Why Not a Dog?

Dogs anyone?  I don’t know too many people who don't own a pet.  If so, it is usually they are allergic, too busy to care for, or have no desire to obtain or raise this kind of gift.  I say gift, because though animals can be at times difficult to care for, costly, or messy…they bring a certain kind of love, and joy that no human can duplicate.  Especially, dogs.  Have you ever noticed how a dog has always been known as one of the most loyal pets to a human?  After all, they are like little mind readers.  They know our needs sometimes before we do.  They even try to convince us to take action.  Read further to get my drift about man's best friend.

Dogs Know When You Are Sad 

When you feel sad, your dog will feel it too.  He may become more subdued than usual, lose interest in his toys or even refuse his food.  Most often they will lay near you refusing to move until your sadness ends.  Many dogs will even try to lick away tears as they fall. 

In a study published in the journal “Animal Cognition,” researchers found that a dog was more likely to approach someone who was crying than someone who was humming or talking.  Furthermore, they found that dogs respond to weeping with a submissive caring behavior.

Dogs Can Sense Your Intentions

A dog’s almost psychic ability senses when something unpleasant is about to happen.  Along with barking as a signal, they will pace back and forth.  Their breathing becomes more intense.  They know when you’re about to bathe them even before you turn the water on.  I don’t know about yours, but mine high-tail it to another room to hide.

At least one study has shown that dogs read intentions by reading behavior. A 2011 study published in “Learning & Behavior” found that domestic dogs are roughly as intelligent as a 2-year-old human. That means that they are capable of understanding the meaning of roughly 165 words and that they can make sense of body language.  I believe ours understand more at times, they act almost too human in this household.  If I even spell the word (park), they immediately start panting.  Lately, the biggest fad with our precious pooches, is playing with a laser light.  They will chase it for hours if we could keep up the fun, and it's funny to watch them follow our son around the house knowing he has it tucked away in his pocket.  If we ask the dogs to find the laser, they immediately start looking for it. Also, If I put my tennis shoes on, they know momma is taking them somewhere and they are already waiting by the front door.

Dogs use eye contact and gaze to figure out what people are thinking. 

Dogs can Sense Diseases You May Have

If your dog has been paying particular attention to a certain area of your body, you may want to get checked out.  Various studies have confirmed that dogs have the ability to detect cancer and diabetes through their profound sense of smell. Some dogs are trained to warn epilepsy sufferers when they are about to have a seizure. A dog’s ability to sense disease comes down to an ability to detect chemicals known as volatile organic compounds or VOCs. VOCs are what allows us to sense odor and though some are toxic, the term generally applies to any chemical that can get into your nose because it is a gas. While humans can detect certain potent VOCs, our limited sense of smell is no match for what dogs can do.

Depending on the breed, a dog’s sense of smell can be anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 times stronger than a human’s. That means that a dog can pick up a scent that is up to 100,000 times weaker than any scent a human can detect.  A dog can detect a teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water.

Dogs Understand When You Feel Scared

If you feel scared, your dog will know about it in an instant. A dog’s sensitive nose can pick up on subtle scents, such as adrenaline, that he associates with fear and danger. Dogs, like humans, have a customary reaction to fear. Their hair stands up, their pupils dilate, their lips curl, and their stance changes. When they associate their fear posturing with human fear posturing, they gain an understanding of what humans look like when they are afraid. 

Dogs Sense When You Are Angry

If you come home and find your dog surround by garbage can debris or a sofa shredded, placing your hands on your hips and issuing a disapproving stare is often enough to convey your anger.  

You will know they know they are in trouble...when they stand with tail between their legs, and crouching to the ground.  A recent study found that dogs will display this behavior when reprimanded even if they haven’t actually done anything wrong. It is clear that dogs can sense anger, but it is also clear that they can’t always understand its source.

Dogs Know If You Are A Generous Person

Just as we judge other people based on their actions, dogs will also pay attention to how you act toward others.  An experiment organized by the University of Milan allowed dogs to observe humans in social situations.  The dogs watched one set of actors sharing their food with a homeless man and another group telling the man to leave in an aggressive manner. Afterward, the two sets of actors attempted to call the dogs at the same time.  Almost all of the dogs would respond to the generous actors when called and avoided the hostile group.

Dogs Understand If You Are A Pushover

Some of the more energetic breeds of dog, such as Labradors and Pit bulls, require a firm disciplinarian to reign in their wild behavior. Larger breeds sometimes don’t understand their own strength and can be dangerous if they suddenly decide to surprise a child or an old person with a hug.  Dogs rely heavily on social chain of command to determine what they are and are not allowed to do in a setting. If you want your dog to behave, then he or she needs to see you as the alpha in the relationship.

Dogs Understand When You Are Grieving

How much dogs can understand about death is still not fully understood.  There have been many stories of pets grieving for their dead owners, and many have kept up vigils next to their owner’s grave or previous home.  Losing a loved one brings a deep sadness that is very unlike other kinds that result from the breakup of a relationship or disappointment at work.  Your dog will understand when you are mourning a loved one and will most likely go through a grieving process of his own. He may become clingier or more attentive. Some dogs have been known to howl when experiencing bereavement.

Dogs Know If You Are A Good Person

Good, honest, trustworthy people have an aura of good energy around them.  New science suggests that, contrary to what neurologists previously believed, the heart actually has a stronger electromagnetic field than the brain.  It also sends messages to the brain, through neurotransmitters, that influence thoughts and behavior.  When we describe someone as being “goodhearted,” it means that the person literally has a force field of good energy radiating from their heart. Dogs have been aware of this magnetic field for centuries and will naturally gravitate toward those who emit good energy.

Dogs will also know if you are a good person based on your body language and how you treat others. If your dealings with others are just and fair, your dog will pick up on that based on how people react to you. Just as the dogs above were drawn to the more generous individuals, dogs are also drawn to those they perceive as more fair or trustworthy.

Dogs Understand When You Do Not Like Someone

When we gaze at something or someone we love, a chemical reaction takes place within our body.

Dopamine and serotonin are released into our system and cause a chemical reaction that leads to feelings of happiness, joy, infatuation and ecstasy.  The same thing happens when you look at a person you do not like. Except in this case the body releases a completely different set of hormones that are associated with hate, resentment and fear.  Your dog can detect these changes in you, and will most likely begin to dislike the person that caused your reaction.  

Of course, body language plays a role in whether your pet thinks you like someone or not. Keep in mind that any dog, even a gentle dog, may try to protect you from people it perceives as a threat.

I own two dogs.  Two girls with unique personalities.  One thinks she is a princess and dare not get her paws damp on rainy days, and the other would dance in the rain if I’d let her. 

One thinks she should get all the goods in the feeding bowls while the other unselfishly stands back awaiting her turn or on some days hoards her food by hiding it under furniture.

One is excitable, the other could care less, only gets worked up upon the others action.  Yet, both I have noticed are unconditionally loving.  I remember, when one our cats were pregnant and cranky.  Dixie, our oldest female Sharpie-Shepherd mix unfortunately experienced a run in with a few scratches to the face from Bella our eldest female feline. 

Yet, when Bella stopped feeding her litter, Dixie...a DOG mind you, stepped in and became a surrogate mother to these precious little ones, all five of them.  Dixie would gently corral them around her by their tails pulling them into her core nursing area.  It was simply amazing to watch!  A dog that was tackled by a cat to be so loving and tender towards her enemy's litter.

Our other dog, Millie who is a Border Collie-Lab mix also displayed such kindness towards our other pets.  The cats didn’t care for Millie at first, and yet now they affectionately rub up against her.  Millie always approached them playfully. When we had our finches and parakeets, Millie was fascinated like a child standing for hours at their cages, and never once harmed them as they flew through the house or walked on the floors.  Just amazing, especially after one of the parakeets terrorized her once..causing Millie to stand frozen in place...terrified to move.  We could leave the house for hours and let the parakeets lose and know that Millie nor Dixie would harm them.  Millie especially has such a special affection towards all the other animals.  If she caught a cat getting near the mice or bird cage she would chase it away. She is not only loving but protective.  

I stand amazed at God’s creation all the time.  My husband had questioned if dog was God spelled backwards since only a dog has been known to show unconditional love.  I couldn’t find any Biblical reference to it, and as a matter of fact only found that the Bible mentions a dog in very negative terms. 

However, the dog is a part of God’s creation and I believe they are a gift to humanity.  I don’t believe in bad dogs, I believe that dogs can be trained to be bad.  However, I do believe that dogs do have the ability to love unconditionally, and how would they know to do that but through what God has instilled in their making?  

I personally have experienced the loyalty of dogs who wouldn’t leave my side for days when I was sick, or grieving. They refused to eat, or even go to the bathroom.  On some days when it was difficult to get out of bed, my dogs would prompt me by standing over me and staring in my face saying, “Come on momma, get up!” or actually grabbing my arm with their paw pulling at me.  All I can say, is that if a dog can love unconditionally, then it has to be because God created them to be: 

Devoted + Obedient + Genuine 

If you are lonely a dog will be happy to keep you company.  

If you need someone to love there aren’t many other beings that can love you the way a dog can.

If you seek loyalty unto death, look no further than a dog.

If you need a laugh, the dog knows just when to offer comic relief.

And if you give your heart to a dog he will not break it.

No, I don’t think that dog is God spelled backwards, but I do believe that God who loves His children so much...created this wonderful being…a gift to humanity that carries the characteristics in which He desires from us.  God desires from us devotion, obedience, and a genuine heart that loves him with our whole being.  

Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

I believe that a dog could teach us a trick or too about character, how to love unconditionally, extending grace when another hurts us, laying down our life for another, comforting in times of mourning, illness, or sorrow...watching out for folk by detecting a defective heart that is broken, and encouraging it to keep it beating.  Yes, a dog.  Why not?

  

If God could use a donkey to get a point across to keep someone on track (Numbers 22:21-39), then why not a dog? 

-Brenda A. Graff

Publisher

Food For Soul Magazine

To Be or Not to Be? What was God Thinking?

To Be or Not to Be?  What was God Thinking?

                The other day while in discussion with my husband a question came up that stumped me for a second.  I really hadn’t given this particular subject much thought prior.  The subject of human creation came into play.  Why did God create us?  What was He truly thinking at the time of designing this human race and melting pot of unique individuals from one end of the planet to the next?  Why would the God of our universe, heaven and earth want human interaction?  Let’s rewind the clock a bit and step back several thousands of years ago to creation, approximately 4004 BC according to some Biblical and not so Biblical scholars.

Genesis 1:1-31

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

So apparently the earth was empty, lifeless, and lacking light.

The Hebrew definition of void:

bohuw bo'-hoo : a vacuity, emptiness, void.

chacer khaw-sare' : lacking; hence, without:--destitute, fail, lack, have need, want.

There was a distinct desire for God to design the earth, He felt it was too dark, desolate, and not serving a purpose.

It’s much like that junk drawer that most have in their kitchen.  It’s packed with unidentifiable objects that were stored for who knows what purpose, but never accessed or utilized.  They lay dormant, not serving a purpose for years!

I wonder how long God looked at the earth, and said to himself… “Hmmm…what should I do with this round thing I’ve created?”  I wonder, did He bounce it like a beach ball or toss it back and forth with the angels?  Did He juggle it with other planets? Did He decide to make a hole-in-one as he walked and pondered over the greenest golf course ever created?

Well, obviously not according to Genesis 1:1-31

To me, this draws interest on the very fact that God felt and He saw.  He felt the earth needed something, He saw it was empty.  He also had a need…a need to create more.  This began a tailspin of creation, from the moon and stars to vegetation, and animals.  What was missing?  What could possibly make this now new existence even better?  You guessed it…man.

Hebrew definition of man:

'ebyown eb-yone' : in the sense of want (especially in feeling); destitute:--beggar, needy, poor

The words needy, and poor stood out to me.  I looked up the word poor to find, it had the exact same meaning as man.  Not poor in the sense of poverty.  It is more of a constant need for strength, love, and a desire that could never be filled outside of Christ permanently. 

Man is described as the weaker.  God didn’t design him in mind to become a God.  He designed man with an ever presence aching or longing for something greater.  He created Him to never be satisfied in his own strength, money, or position, which is why when you see someone chasing after material things in this life, it is never enough.  The more one attains, the more one wants.  It’s never enough money, enough cars, enough clothes, or designer bags for some.  Some people spend their whole life chasing down dollars to find themselves and life wasted beyond measure in an early grave where society could care less what their financial worth was.  Who was this person?  How did that person make a difference? 

God created man for His glory.  He didn’t just form one to be a groundskeeper and sheep herder.

Genesis 2:15

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Isaiah 43:7

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Genesis 1:26

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Did you notice that He says “And let (them) have dominion over the fish…”?  He had already decided that He was not just stopping at creating one man (Adam).  He had in mind all along to create a world filled with mankind.

Genesis 2:18 

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

What I also find interesting is how God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone”. 

So he makes a woman.  Why would God say anything about being alone, if He had not experienced loneliness?  Is it possible that God felt the need for companionship at some time?

Absolutely, I say.  We were formed to praise Him.  As pompous as that sounds, seriously think about this.  Say, you are the coach of a football team.  Your team has worked hard in training and has made touch down after touch down.  They win every single game!  As the team mates enter the locker room whooping and hollering with their victory of another massive win, they find you standing there to greet them with your arms crossed and this lemon sucking sour expression on your face and totally disinterested.

You don’t even offer as much as a hand clap, or word of congratulations.  “Coach why aren’t you excited? The team ask.  “Didn’t you see us brilliantly score tonight?”  The Coach’s response, “Yes, I’m cheering for you on the inside, can’t you feel it?”  That sure sparks a desire for the team to want to continue doing their best.  Not!  Imagine if these top winning football teams Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, St. Louis Rams, Green Bay Packers had not had a coach that praised their efforts, encouraged their endurance, loved their passion for the game…do you think they would have stood a chance?  If their coach sat on the side line staring at them with a dead blank look with no expression that wouldn’t be showing much love or even belief in their ability to achieve what they set out to do. 

It takes the praises of the coach to encourage the team.

I do believe that God even though all powerful desires to feel loved, congratulated, praised, and honored for His majesty and mighty works.  I also believe He desires and needs to know that we love Him when things don’t always go as planned, in turn this makes Him want to bless those whose minds are stayed on Him.

Here’s another scenario for those not into the sports arena:

You spend all day preparing this wonderful surprise birthday party, shopping for presents, cooking a huge feast, decorating, and inviting guest for your teenager.  When they arrive through the door with a room full of people jumping up and shouting, “Surprise!” and they respond with, “Eh” (with a quick nod of the head) and quickly head off to their room to play on their PlayStation or IPod.  Would that not be a slap in the face?

God wants honor and for us to glorify Him.  He wanted interaction with someone who would choose to love Him. 

Revelation 4:11 

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

He wanted desperately to give a being free will to choose to serve Him.  What greater feeling it is to have someone love you without begging them or requiring it.  Do we as human beings not also crave that kind of love?  Where did this need come from, if it did not come from the one who created us? God…the one who also desires to be loved.

How sad it is to watch folk in church stand there and not even utter a word of praise whether through singing, or a simple amen.  Acknowledging the fact that God has given them breath, a life to enjoy and a family to love.  Instead they sit in pews looking like they are waiting for the coroner to take them away.   

Sometimes, I personally feel like checking for a pulse… “Nope this one’s still breathing…get the smelling salts”.   But turn on a football game…and it’s on!  You’ll hear shouts like no other.  

Grown men will paint up their faces and wear paraphernalia in ridiculous ways honoring the team they love all the while shouting from the stands so everyone sees...yet too afraid to be seen in church raising a hand to God Almighty the Creator of all things. 

People hang in droves to celebrate the almighty leather structure that gets tossed, slammed, taken, and thrown.  

But to lift a hand unashamed to Christ who literally bled and was tortured for our sins..."no way...not me" they say.  The one thing He wants most is for us to love Him with all our hearts, mind, and soul.  That literally is His first command, and unashamed. (Luke 9:26)

Deuteronomy 6:5

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

How can we love the Lord to this extent if we aren’t even willing to show it?  It’s like saying to him, “I am praising you on the inside God, can’t you see it?”  His glory can’t be shown when everything is hidden in the dark.  Just like the earth without form, and void in total darkness.  It didn’t come to life until light was shown on it.  To be shown, you have to see, not just feel it.  How can one see a praise on the inside when it doesn’t convey on the outside?

But God didn’t just create us in mind to love Him, He had another purpose in mind that we were to carry out.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

He also desired friends for Christ (His only begotten SON).  What parent wouldn’t want their child to have friends?

John 15:15    

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

When mankind failed to follow through with the intent of living in His will and caused a tidal wave of sin to cause separation from the Father, He sacrificed His (ONLY SON) to suffer for our sake… for what?  To bring us back into relation with Him who created us, ALMIGHTY GOD.  Because why?  HE LOVED US SO MUCH! 

John 3:16-17

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

He still desired to be loved despite the sin of mankind, and desired for us to declare His praises.  He wants us to share the declarations.  This means in conversations, in the sanctuary, in our prayer time, in reading of His word.  Acknowledging Him and bringing glory to Him.

Isaiah 43:21

The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

He created us simply for HIM! 

Colossians 1:16

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

I know that’s a hard pill to swallow and maybe a rude awakening for some.  When one goes about in their “ME Addiction” syndrome seeking out “fame, fortune, and the freedom to be me” they fail to grasp their purpose or even their true identity.  Then there are those who stay in a constant state of, “What about me?”  Expecting to be served on a chronic basis.  These folks are so consumed with their own pain, whether physical or emotional, they refuse to allow room for God to use that situation to help further His kingdom…stuck in a pit of prolonged self-pity.  Is it possible to serve God and others in an illness?  Absolutely!  Just read this most inspiring story below:

Joni Eareckson Tada, the Founder and CEO of Joni and Friends International Disability Center, is an international advocate for people with disabilities. A diving accident in 1967 left Joni Eareckson, then 17, a quad­riplegic in a wheelchair, without the use of her hands. After two years of rehabilitation, she emerged with new skills and a fresh determination to help others in similar situations.

During her rehabilitation, Joni spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. Her high-detail fine art paintings and prints are sought-after and collected.

Her best-selling autobiography Joni and the feature film of the same name have been translated into many languages, introducing her to people around the world. Mrs. Tada has also has visited more than 47 countries.

Mrs. Tada has served on the National Council on Disability and the Disability Advisory Committee to the U.S. State Department. She has helped guide evangelism strategies among people with disabilities worldwide as Senior Associate for Disability Concerns for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization.

She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Victory Award from the National Rehabilitation Hospital and the Golden Word Award from the International Bible Society. Joni has been awarded several honorary degrees, including: Doctor of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary; a Doctor of Humanitarian Services from California Baptist University; and a Doctor of Humane Letters by Indiana Wesleyan University where she was inducted into IWU’s Society of World Changers

Joni has written over 50 books. She has received the Gold Medallion Lifetime Achievement Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Joni’s latest book is Joni & Ken: An Untold Love Story published by Zondervan.

Since 1982, Joni has been hosting the short-feature radio program "Joni and Friends" which is aired on more than 1,000 outlets. In 2012, the National Religious Broadcasters inducted Joni into its Hall of Fame.

In 2012 The Colson Center on Christian Worldview awarded Joni its prestigious “William Wilberforce Award.” She has been interviewed on “Larry King Live,” “ABC World News Tonight,” and in magazines such as Christianity Today and World Magazine.

Joni and her husband, Ken Tada, have been married since 1982.

 

Nope, you were not put on this earth to serve only you.  Not that God doesn’t allow us time to relax, enjoy the fruits of our works, or experience wealth or fame.  It is what you do with what He blesses you with that becomes a deciding factor of whether or not it is to bless Him or His Kingdom. Everything we attain is pre-owned.  We own NOTHING.  It’s God’s to begin with. 

So back to the question of why God made man?  He wanted to experience the relationship of love, and not one that was one-sided. It is when we freely love Him that He releases the blessings, peace, freedom, and abilities to endure, and become all that He intended.  This is when we see the glory He so desires to be shown.  This is when a circumstance of chaos turns to cheer for many who suffer as they watch a child of God overcome incredible odds.  It causes a cataclysmic collapse on Satan’s devising destruction in God’s Kingdom. 

I imagine God said… “To be…that is all I need to know” -Selah

Discover your purpose CLICK HERE to get "ME ADDICTION" a book that will change your life.

Brenda A. Graff / Founder
FOOD FOR SOUL MAGAZINE