http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDg0C-78dik
I should preface this by talking a little bit about my own old dog. Glory was a beautiful yellow lab that was nothing but perfect. She spent a large part of her life with us, at least the last seven years of nine. Plain and simple, I loved her. She died about a year and a half back from complications of every last thing a dog could possibly get. She had diabetes, was blind, had sores and weak knees. She was obese, to boot. But I loved her nonetheless. Even in the last year and a half since her death, she's been on my mind in a pretty powerful way. I think part of that is holding on to the past I haven't wanted to give up, and part of it is that powerful love.
Glory was a large part of what endeared me to this song. So I pulled it up on YouTube (I lost the mp3 file I had of it) and took a spin. I didn't get too far before a line really hit me. Somewhere in the first verse, it goes:
"We just barked out commands,
Sit, Stay, Go Away, Stop Licking my Hands,
Those days are gone now
I wish Goldy could come out and play."
For a little while, Mom and Dad let Glory sleep in the basement with me. It was really cold outside, and we couldn't leave Glory out alone at night. We didn't have a good fence then, and she was prone to running away, so she came in from the cold and slept at my feet (kinda).
See, as prone as she was to running away, she was even more prone to running around in the basement while I tried to sleep. I couldn't help but wish she would go away and sleep, but all she did was walk around, lick my hands, and everything but sleep. At the time, I hated it. I couldn't stand having her keep me up, but she did nonetheless.
I started thinking about that kind of love tonight. Dogs, or at least good dogs, are capable of some kind of insane love that we just aren't. Glory was capable of that love. In time I realized that all she wanted was my love and attention. I can't give it to her anymore, and I wouldn't then, but that lack has taught me something incredible.
See, that's how we treat love.
We treat love like something we only want when it goes our way and comes in the form that we like. I didn't want to be kept up at night. I didn't want to try and sleep with wet hands, but I did. And that was love. That was her love. And her love was so like the love of God that I can't even understand it. Or the love of a parent. Or even the kind of love that we all seek out from a person to love forever. It isn't just a handle-pull operation where we get the cheese when we press the button. Love. Real love, the kind that we should try to attain, comes with all the benefits and none of the excuses.
A real love will cost us. It will come to us when we're not ready asking for a sacrifice, and we probably won't want to give in, but we must. For it's in giving in to love that we are loved in return. It's that real love that will come to us in the middle of the night, when all we want is sleep and to be left alone, and say, "Hey. This isn't where you need to be. This isn't what you oughta be doing." It's a real love that will keep us uncomfortable when it sees us not doing right. Or just not doing at all. Sometimes, real love will ask us what we don't want to do, but rather what we need to do.
It was after listening to "Goldie's Last Day" and thinking it over for a bit that I decided to listen to another old PFR song called "Do You Wanna Know Love" (Yes, the namesake for this particular entry). Again, you oughta go here:
This song got me really making the connection between the kind of love that Glory showed and the kind of love that God shows us, and asks us to show others. It amazes me to think about the various ways that God shows us his love and the nature of love in general, but this one is special. But really, when God shows us his love, he shows us the nature of love that we should be expecting in others. I know it may be the cliche line to a song, but His love is amazing. And although His love never changes, the way He chooses to show us, I thank God that it's always new and inspiring.
I look forward to sending a new short y'alls way soon. I'm trying to decide what to publish next, because I've already put out some of my best and my favorites. Also, I've got some new stuff coming, but I'm not too sure what to pursue first. This'll be a fun process, y'all! Please keep reading, and please tell others to check it out, too. I don't write just for the sake of doing so, but because I want my words to affect people. And that's not possible if nobody reads them. Y'all have a great Labor Day weekend, and as always, GO DAWGS!
Adam W.
Phil. 3:12-14
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