Garbage In, Garbage Out

Today’s scripture: Proverbs 16:25-33 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Robin Herman):

It is so easy to get caught up in the little piece of life that surrounds us. When I get upset, it’s usually over the small circle of circumstances that I find myself in. When I stop and spread my horizon a bit, things seem to fall into place. This snippet of the Bible seems to be saying to me that negative actions create negative results and even negative thinking can be detrimental.

I sure get that. Every day I wade though piles of emails about dogs that have been dumped at the pound. Dogs that have been injured, dogs that are pregnant, litters of puppies, but the ones that kill me the most are the old dogs.

Someone has had a dog for the dog’s whole life, and now that they’re old, they’re just too much trouble. These dogs are the most difficult to save, too. Usually they haven’t been given very good care. They’re matted and dirty, their teeth need work and they’re not very happy to be “saved.” They can’t figure out what’s going on and don’t appreciate the painful rehabilitation of baths and detangling.

People aren’t often willing to adopt an older dog. And that makes sense to me — who wants to fall in love with a dog, just to lose it in a couple years?

We took in a dog a couple weeks ago and named her Pandora. She was this little black dog just a few years old. Her hair was dirty and matted and she just kind of moped around. Some people were going to drop by to see of our adoptable dogs and I wanted Pandora to look her best. Her mats were bad enough that I thought she needed some real grooming work. I posted for advise on Facebook and lo and behold, one of my clients called her mobile groomer and begged her to come over and give little Pandora a makeover.

We told the groomer to do whatever she wanted. About an hour later, here comes little Pandora out of the van, her head held high and she looked so pretty.

She was a whole new dog!

She didn’t get adopted that day. But the next day, a wonderful family with two dads and a precious little girl adopted Pandora. That little girl was so proud of her new dog, just prancing up and down the hallway.

I find myself sitting in front of my computer some days just seething, getting so angry and frustrated. There is a never ending supply of homeless dogs, and apparently a never ending supply of people who are willing to just throw them away. I also know that too many of these dogs — the ones I can’t take — never make it out alive. I feel guilty and sad. Guilty because I can’t save them, and sad not only for the dog, but for the soulless bastard who threw them away. Sad also because I’m embarrassed to be “one of them” — a human.

This is when my faith is tested the most. At these times I have to look at a broader horizon and remember that God’s in charge and has a plan. And like so many other horrible things, I don’t get to know why it’s this way.

But for now, I’ll think about Pandora and her terrific new family.

Thought for the day: What negative thinking am I stuck in today? How can I expand my horizon to get some perspective?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.