I heard the following true story at a dinner party the other night. One gentleman was cooking dinner for a friend, and his guest could not get over the fact that he let his Labrador retriever stay inside the house. The guest pointed out the obvious, (that the dog was on the couch), and the host responded, “Yes, I know he’s part of our family, and that’s where he likes to lay”.
The guest shot him a disgusted look and brushed the couch repeatedly as though removing hair. Later they sat down to eat and the old lab got down off the couch and came over and sat under the dinner table next to the host’s side and began gently whining and wagging his thick tail. The guest said incredulously, “”Are you going to allow – that — that – “DOG” to sit under the table while we eat?”
The host calmly handed the lab a choice piece of steak and said, “Yes, he isn’t hurting anything, besides he’s hungry too” The guest turned pale and was obviously disgusted.
Several more snide comments relating to this man’s dog were tendered throughout the evening. The host kept his cool however, and did not exhibit any malice towards the guest for making critical remarks about his beloved companion. At the end of the evening as the dishes were being cleared, the host put all of the dirty plates on the floor side by side and called his dog over. The old lab began to lick them until they were as clean as one of his gleaming white teeth. Afterwards and without further adieu, the host nonchalantly stacked them into the cupboard. The guest was near apoplexy and quickly beat it towards the door never to return.
We all had a big laugh about that one, but it wasn’t long until all of them started hammering on me because I don’t keep my hunting dogs in the house. It seems everyone but me keeps several dogs in the house. Most keep two or three, but incredibly one family actually houses 12 dogs, (setters and labs), in their home. (That’s right – 12 setters and labs in the house!)
Yikes! I keep my little Shih Tzu Cooper in the house and he has little toys strewn throughout. I can only imagine what it would look like if I emptied my kennels into the house. I just smiled and said “Coopy” comprises enough dogs in the house for us and my labs will continue to stay in their pen”.
We’re all still all friends even if we are miles apart in how we view dogs in the house, (and general hygiene).
Last night I watched a very unsettling movie, “Blood Diamond”, about the diamond trade in Africa and the human carnage of black on black violence. The revenue from the diamond trafficking business is used to finance the constant wars between those who have power and those who want it. In addition to adult soldiers a heart-breaking 200,000 children participate as death wielding soldiers in this conflict. They go into villages and wantonly murder people with guns and machetes by the thousands and take slaves to work in the diamond mines.
It seems we just cannot get along with one another in this fallen world and we are warlike creatures. Look at the middle east. For sure these people hate Americans, but they also hate each other dependent upon what sect they are such as the Sunnis and Shites. The same holds true in India, Russia, China, and other parts of the world. Of course Arabs, (along with just about everyone else), hate the Jews and they seem to hate Gentiles with equal vigor. Blacks and whites have conflicts as do other colorations of people around the world.
Everyday people all over the world just seem to hate each other because of differences great and small.
Hmmm… Recently I was going through my music collection and I came across the song, “Everyday People”, by Sly and the Family Stones. The lyrics in part:
There is a long hair that doesn’t like the short hair
For bein’ such a rich one that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks
There is a yellow one that won’t accept the black one
That won’t accept the red one that won’t accept the white one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha-
We got to live together
Beginning with Adam and Eve and the first murder involving Cain and Able, sin has managed to ruin the perfect creation that was enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. It was not intended to be so.
Before we start criticizing someone because they think, dress, look, believe, or act differently than us, we need to understand that heaven will house people of different ethnicities, denominations, personalities, and so forth. We might as well start practicing down here to start liking it.
God’s way is love for one and all. Here is what Jesus said about how our relationship with Him and others should be:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.