If you find what Jesus has to say in the Sermon on the Mount abouit dogs, unhelpful, you are not alone. ‘Don’t give dogs what is holy’ is accompanied by ‘Don’t cast pears before swine.’ But surely, you will say as you tickle the ears of your cocker spaniel, dogs are God’s creatures. They deserve proper respect.
Quite so. And ‘proper respect’ means not treating them as we treat human beings. Dogs are beautiful creatures. They are loyal companions; they earn medals for bravery; they protect their owners; it is almost true to say that they practise self-sacrifice when necessary. Watch-dogs, guide-dogs, gun-dogs and herding dogs earn their keep. One of their key-virtues is obedience; they learn to do what they are told.
We give our dogs names. Sometimes they accompany their owners to church and behave appropriately. Like toddlers, they cannot comprehend what is going on but, like toddlers, we quite reasonably think they may be aware of being present at matters of consequence. They may even haves a sense of awe.
We find an acknowledgement of this in the language we find in the Gospels about worship. When people kneel in homage, the Greek word used is based on the word ‘dog’. The person encountering Jesus is said to crouch before him, as a dog crouches to await the owner’s order. The episode of the woman coming to Jesus and asking for his help, became involved in chopping logic with Jesus about the place of dogs (Matthew 15.21-28). When the woman made her plea, the word used is ‘proskuneo’. She prostrated herself like a dog.
This veneration, self-abasement, dutiful submission, is part of worship. Worship is not a meeting of equals. Doubtless this was more conspicuously evident in the case of people who met Jesus than it is for us today but the principle is the same. We can learn from dogs but we must refrain from regarding a dog as something hardly different from us. Dogs do not need us to patronise them.
BEDLINGTON TERRIER
The Bedlington Terrier was bred as a miner’s hunting dog. It is said to look like a lamb but its pugnacious temperament means it stands up for itself. Bedlington is its place of origin. St Cuthbert’s parish church was a resting-place for Cuthbert’s remains when monks were fleeing from William in 1069. Bedlington is the birthplace of Daniel Gooch, railway engineer, who worked with Brunel on the Great Western Railway. His three brothers were also engineers. The church website has lively videos, featuring of course a Bedlington Terrier and daily prayers with a wide range of Gospel maxims.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.
Comments