My dogs sure are teaching me a lot. Rudy, the dog that joined our family just about a year ago is part yellow lab and part white German Shepard. He is pure white and his heart is pure also. He was shot as a puppy and we paid a lot of money to have his jaw fixed and to eliminate the poison in his system. He probably should have died, but he didn't. 

He became the family dog. He fit right along with Sandi, part collie and Katie, part Irish setter. The three fill our lives and seem to teach me many things about the spiritual side of life. 

Last night Rudy was positioned at the base of my chair and he looked at me. This is hard to describe but I knew what he wanted. So I opened my arms to him and he crawled onto my lap. Rudy is not a small dog. Rudy rested his head on my shoulder and commence to become a lapdog for the next hour. He was nuzzling me and was quite content. My wife was amazed because for the year we have had him, he has never done anything like this before. He looked at me. He wanted or shall I say needed me. He made a decision to come to me.

I remember when I decided to get baptized in the church. I was in my thirties and thought I needed a light bulb or something to happen. However, I realized I needed only faith, faith in what I believed in. The same for when I joined the church. The same when I married. The same for major decisions in my life. Faith. Before faith can be found, we must be open and to be open we must be humble and to be humble we must trust in a higher power than ourselves.

I wonder what lessons my dogs will teach me tonight?

B. J. Cassady

Copyright 2005