The Simple Salvation of God Dog

I consider myself a spiritual person.   I'm not quite sure what that means exactly, other than I believe there is some loving force that connects everything in the universe.   What this intelligent force wants or needs from my miniscule existence, I don't know - maybe nothing.   Maybe it's enough just to exist, or maybe on some soul level it finds human life rather entertaining, like a good movie or video game.   Life has its moments, I'll give it that.   It also has quite a few challenges, especially these last few years.

Faith is something that is usually talked about in connection with religion.   Being more spiritual than religious, I can only surmise that faith in a religious context means the belief in the grace and goodness of god.   Yet, as a spiritual guy just trying to find his way, I also find faith to be of the utmost importance.   Faith that we are more than just the miraculous fusing of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen; that there is actually reason and purpose to our lives.

None of us want to look back on our lives and feel like life has passed us by.   What defines “life not passing you by” is a matter of interpretation of course.   To some it means you've climbed a lot of mountains and jumped out of an airplane.   To others it means making a lot of money and living the high-life.   And to others it simply means having loving friends and family, and having been the best person you could be.   I like the last definition the best personally, but then again I'm sort of afraid of heights.

In my humble opinion, life is most difficult when you've lost faith in the goodness of the universe/god (whatever you want to call it).   The world suddenly appears dark and frightening when you have faith in nothing.   Worse yet, you start to doubt that the universe is a loving place at all. 

In those dark times, I have found that simple salvations are always the answer.   Find something, anything, in the world that reflects its pure goodness and love.   For me, it’s usually my dog.   She is 15 pounds of pure love.   She is always glad to see me when I come home, and jumps up, bone in mouth, shaking her tail, whining an excited greeting as if seeing me is the greatest joy of her life – and it is.   She has no judgment, no ulterior motive.   All she wants is a few pets, a couple treats, maybe a kiss or two, and some tosses of her favorite purple dinosaur toy.   She is not complex; she is the purest loving simplicity I could ever imagine. 

So, if you’re ever wondering if god is a loving god?   The answer must be yes, because only in a universe that has as its essence love, could such an incredibly pure, loving, and loyal creature as a dog exist.   In fact, just now, when I went to type dog, I accidentally typed god.  Indeed, I think it was no accident at all.

Jeffrey Mindell writes poems, articles, comics, and has even written a few books (unfortunately yet to be published).  He can be reached at jmindell@gmail.com