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Have You Ever had a Conversation with Your Dog?

Have You Ever had a Conversation with Your Dog?

Last updated on: January 21, 2022 at 7:51 am by Mark Williams

Have You Ever had a Conversation with Your Dog? 2022-01-21T07:51:08-07:00 Mark Williams

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HAVE YOU EVER HAD A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR DOGS?

Williams

Have you ever had a conversation with your dog, only to find out their answer to your rhetorical question was right?

I think God engages us in conversations with Him—through animals. I think dogs mostly, only because I’ve never owned a cat so you cat people can answer that one and I think I had a parakeet when I was a small child, but that could be a dream-or a hamster. But I do know about dogs.

Wait, don’t bail on me yet!

Wait, before you change the channel here, siting this fruit-loop is crazy, hear me out. Let me ask you—isn’t it easier to talk to a living, visible thing, than to the air? Something which looks back at you, with eyes? Maybe even participating in the conversation with a wagging tail as you speak to it? Tilting its head one way then the other and then coming up and wiping its wet nose on you and something on its jowls which looks like he/she has been eating poo from the yard again?

In my youth, a person came up with the idea to sell rocks. He put them in boxes and sold them in stores as pets. People named them. Kept them in the box and took them out once a day to play with them. Everyone had to have one and that Christmas, every stocking in the free world had one in it. They sold a gazillion of them and I am sure that guy is living on some Caribbean Island now sipping Mai-Tai’s and trying to decide if their wallet is too small for their fifties.

Imagine driving down the street with your pet rock in the front seat. Do you seat belt it in? How do you seat belt it in? Why would you seat belt it in? Imagine those conversations where you are talking about a career change, a relationship issue and you are seeking an answer—from a rock. At least with a dog, you will get a response.

Dogs want what we want

Dogs want whatever you want. They want you to be happy. They don’t have thumbs, and an IQ of a two-year-old so you don’t want them giving you financial advice, but they are a comfort. Cats, well they just want to sleep and steal your pie. Birds just want to grow up and be a Condor.

We are a species so unsure of ourselves, lack confidence in ourselves, even the fastest and smartest of us, we need that affirmation telling us we are on the right course, we will be successful if we keep doing A, B, C.

So, what happens to us, our heart, our spirit, when we fail?

God is everywhere

That’s why I think God is in a dog. Or if you don’t want to go that far, uses them to talk to us. Yep, He is in the car as well, church, in bed, on the patio, in our hearts, God is everywhere, but for some, talking to the air is hard. It is as if we get embarrassed at our conversation, maybe someone will see us. If we’re talking to a pet, that is completely understandable.

Pet rocks, not so much anymore.

God loves to hear our voices

Dad wants to hear us. He wants and desires to sit with us and listen. He loves to listen to us. If you have ever had a child, been around a young niece or nephew when they are learning to talk, you don’t really have to answer them with anything of value, you just like listening to them so engaged with you they are loving it. ‘Papapapapapapapapapapapa!’

Yes?

I dilbertiain ang solo benatincon!!

Okay, we can next Tuesday.

Yeah! Donkinsure filenspish.

We can do that right after.

Yeah.

No judgement, no correction. Just meeting our sloppiness where we are. That’s what Dad does. He loves us enough He bought us. It cost him his son, but his son is now my Lord. His spirit is in me. Huh? The cat could never, in a million years, figure that one out.

God loves talking with us

Frankly, you don’t need a pet to talk to God. If you have one, stand by because the moment you ask if they like that dog treat, God will someway find a way to weave Himself into the conversation. If you take the dogs for a walk, it is guaranteed. God loves walks.

The Evil One loves us to be busy. It is a great distraction from talking to our Lord. The last thing he wants us to do is talk to God. He wants us to focus on making that pile of money, get that car, be seen at that restaurant. Anything other than talking to God.

Which is exactly what we need, exactly where we need to be.

Be still and know I am God he tells us. Try it and see.

Enjoy the ride.

www.markjwilliams.com

About Mark Williams

Mark Williams retired from law enforcement in Arizona with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Organized Crime Division, Special Investigations Section, after twenty-one years of service and has been teaching English in an inner city high school since 2001, retiring in 2019. He has frequently traveled around the United States to speak about adult education and law enforcement. Throughout both careers, he has been training educators, business communities and churches on surviving active shooters with his book, Forty-Seven Seconds. Mark has authored several fictional pieces, including screenplays, short stories, magazine stories, training manuals, and novels. The Good and Kind Man is Mark’s eighth novel, coming out this fall through Leaping Armadillo Press. He has been married for over thirty-seven years, and widowed in 2018. He has three grown children, and ten grandchildren. He currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona and attends Open Door Fellowship Church. You can find out more about Mark’s writings at www.markjwilliams.com. You can read more about the author here.

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