“Only One Question”
“Only One Question”
I Was Thinking…
I picked up a book not too long ago by Alexandra Horowitz entitled “Inside Of A Dog”. It struck my attention because Sharon and I have two Havanese pups…our furry children. Caya and Luie keep us laughing and loving even when the world would dictate otherwise. Sometimes Luie is challenging and keeps us wondering if he’ll ever fully be potty-trained. Sharon is not as much a dog person as I am which is understandable after all “a dog is man’s friend”.
I’ve learned some important wisdom from Horowitz. For example I never knew that things directly in front of a dog’s face are visible to them, but they are not quite as sharply in focus as they would be for us. Breeds of dogs differ so much in their retinae that they see the world differently. Pugs are not typically so-called “ball dogs” but long-nose Labrador retrievers are. Labradors are visually equipped to notice, say, a tennis ball traveling across the horizon, without having to shift their gaze. For a short-nosed dog (as for all humans of any nose length), a ball tossed to the side just disappears into the periphery if they don’t follow it with their head. However, short nosed dogs are better at bringing close objects into focus—say the faces of their owners on whose laps they sit. Some researchers believe this makes them more attentive to our expressions, and seem more companionable. (Pp.127, 128)
In other words some dogs are very good at seeing what is right in front of them and others…well, they are not as good at seeing such things. I’m not a dog (even though I am a ‘dawg’! All of our children went to UGA…we are ‘dawgs’ at our house). I’m very human and often my humanity gets in the way of me seeing what is right in front of me. How about you?
Miracles are all around us and yet we wonder “Do miracles still happen?” My 26 year old nephew just had a heart valve replaced with a cow valve and a birth defect was corrected…A Miracle! We wonder “What is the world coming to?” This phrase is often in the context of despair and hopelessness. And yet in every child’s face I see hope, innocence and joy…especially this time of year. I see Grandchildren smarter at age 8 and 6 than the people of my generation were in the upper elementary grades. I see parents caring for children and safety being more of a concern than it was in my childhood. Yes, there are exceptions and often ‘many’ exceptions but I contend there is far more good than there is evil in this world and it is right under our nose if we’ll just open our eyes.
I wonder if the shepherds in their fear of that great multitude of angels found their fear subside once they looked beyond their fears into an animal feeding trough. Right under their nose was a baby…the hope for the world for ALL of time.
This Christmas week I have only one question for you ‘Do you see what I see…right under our nose?’ I’ll give you a hint…it’s an EVERLASTING miracle and it is VERY GOOD!
Always Thinking,
Terry
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