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A Wagging Tail
Joe Killian • April 14, 2016
Every weekday afternoon around 5:30 I hear the whistle. My neighbor Bill arrives home from work and as soon as he gets out of his car he whistles. For years his dog Mackenzie sprang to her feet and ran to the front door to greet him, tail wagging.
Mackenzie died this past year and Bill and his wife got a new dog. Bill still whistles everyday. Maddie, the new dog, hasn't quite figured out that her master is home. We hear of a similar dynamic in this week's Gospel.
Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.” John 10:27-30
Jesus speaks these words to the Jews gathered at Solomon's temple. As comforting as these words sound they are spoken in an emotionally charged setting. In fact, Jesus' life is being threatened. The unbelieving Jews want to stone Him because Jesus has called Himself the Son of God. Also in the crowd are those who do believe Jesus' claims. These "sheep" know their shepherd's voice.
Do you? This is a very familiar knowing that occurs in the most intimate of relationships. The challenge in today's world is that His voice can be easily drowned out by countless "other" voices. We must intentionally choose to follow our Shepherd's voice.
Just as Bill's new dog is learning to recognize his whistle, you and I must attentively listen for Jesus' voice. When we do and follow Him, Jesus gives us eternal life. Imagine a happily wagging tail for all eternity!
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
