I read a poem about a dog, where the poet imagines that in the dog’s dream, it went like this–

“…not quite barking. More like

Learning to speak. As if he’s in the middle of a scene

Where he must stand before the great dog god

Trying to account for his life.”

–Tracy K. Smith

This brought my Someone and I to a very important list.  It went like this:

DOG GOD:

1. Forgiving.
2. Happy to have you.
3. Doesn’t care if you found the perfect family.
4. “Did you try? You did? Good dog!… wait, you didn’t?  How about now?  Try now!  Look at this stick!  Come play!”
5. Gives no shits who Jesus is.  Only who you are.  And you are someone who belongs.

This list makes me believe in this:

God will not be outdone– out forgiving-ed, out loving-ed– by a Dog God.  Imaginary or not.

“Dog God is so fun to be around,” I told my Someone.

“Yes!  Dog God is just so happy we are all together!” my Someone said.

“Dog God is saying, ‘Hi, My Name is– uh, doesn’t matter!  I’m so happy to see you!  Do I know you?  Of course I know you!  I know everyone and everyone is a good dog!”

That is when my Someone said this:

“For a second, I forgot we were talking about Dog God and thought we were talking about Jake Larson.”

Jake Larson is our friend.

I said:

“Jake Larson is a good Dog (God).”

Which made me believe this:

God will not be outdone by our friend Jake Larson.

My friend Kelsey sometimes says this:

“All that matters to me is, what about Jesus?  Because if we can agree on that, we’re good.”

And I say, sometimes:

“I’m not sure.”

But then, Kelsey is still my friend.  She invites me into her home.  We share recipes and sometimes secrets and I make her muffins and she lets me cuddle with her baby boy.  Kelsey loves me.  It turns out, this name for God she uses doesn’t change the love part at all.  And I think that, maybe, a God who is

1. Forgiving.
2. Loving.
3. Forever.

will not be outdone by Kelsey.  Or, at least, it’s hard to believe that S/He wouldn’t at least learn from Kelsey, Her little love creature, and as a

1. Humble
2. Gracious

God say–

“Kelsey, you’re really on to something.”

And then, God would say this–

“Did you try?  Yes?  No?  Look at this stick!  Look at these neat things we can explore together!  Let’s go!”

And, because Her anger is short and Her love is long– even longer than Kelsey’s– we would all go on, restored, together.  Forever.

So, maybe I believe it to be like this:

If we are loving and forgiving, where would we have learned it from?  How could forever love come from One who isn’t also willing to be Forever Love?  I think God will not be outdone.  She will top even Dog God and Jake Larson and Kelsey.

It’s hard to imagine that much love.

Woof.