Pet Contentment

I want to be more like my dog. He is totally con­tent. For those that are not aller­gic to cats and have a few around the house, you too know what I mean. Our pets do not suf­fer from high blood pres­sure. They get by in life by just being cute. It is amaz­ing how much we talk to them and how much they seem to under­stand. It is also amaz­ing how sel­dom they com­plain. A whine here or there gets them what they need. (Dogs and cats can smile too.)

The Apos­tle Paul once said that, “With food and cloth­ing we are con­tent.” Those early Chris­tians knew that the tem­po­rary nature of this world and the eter­nal nature of the next freed them from a whole lot of worry in the here and now. They no longer danced to the tunes of oth­ers. They were con­tent.

Sim­plic­ity is a gift. Con­tent­ment is a grace. I do not need half of what I think I need. Pur­chases made for the sake of imag­ined secu­rity stem from super­fi­cial fears. Faith can save you a lot of money. All I really need today is a very lit­tle bit of food and the aware­ness of being fully alive. The rest is just a “chas­ing after the wind” — as Solomon would put it.

Worry is a habit. It accom­plishes pre­cisely noth­ing. My dog has no worry lines. He lives in total trust. All he has to do is be him­self. I need to pay atten­tion to that. There is Some­one look­ing down on me like I look down on him — and with a whole lot more care. I also need to learn how to play more. My dog gets more out of our walks than I do. He goes about them like they are absolutely novel. Each walk down the rou­tine trail is an adven­ture. He thinks he is Rin Tin Tin, but he is just a Minia­ture Daschund. He makes all sorts of friends along the way that I ignore. I need to pay bet­ter atten­tion to them. I might need them some­day.

When I go home, I always know where to find him. He is wrapped up in a blan­ket on “his” recliner. He is glad to see me and is fully rested for what­ever might hap­pen next. Every minute is pre­cious to him. I need to pay atten­tion to that too. I spend too much time rac­ing through some min­utes to get to oth­ers. Who needs a course in Zen when you have a pet?