Lent 2022, Day 26

 


Today’s BiOY reading includes Numbers 22, which contains the Sunday school favorite, the story of Balaam’s ass, or if you grew up Baptist, Balaam’s donkey. It’s a story made for flannelgraph, a (sort of) light-hearted account in the middle of curses and wars. The best part of the story is that it’s about a donkey who talks. The second-best part is that no one in the story freaks out over the fact that a donkey talks. 

When my daughter was small, she had a dream that our dog Taylor could talk. It’s a dream that she still remembers fondly, the very definition of a good dream. 

It would truly be amazing (and also horrifying) if animals started to talk to us, could tell us what they think, what they need. For dogs, it might simply be like the Far Side cartoon where they all yell “Hey!” all the time, but I suspect it would be much more, much cooler, and depending on one’s relationship with animals, possibly horrifying. It would be a Very Big Deal and I imagine it would change a lot about how we live. 

Ever since Libby joined us, it’s been clear that she experienced serious trauma early on. I’ve wished many times that she could just TALK to us (or a therapist) so we could work through her issues together. I’ve wished that she could understand me when I tell her that she’s safe. But alas, Balaam’s talking beast Libby is not, and so even though I know she’s safe and will be loved and protected for the rest of her life, simply telling her that accomplishes nothing. Showing her, consistently, is the only communication that works. Which is sort of true for the rest of us, I suppose … we can be promised something all day, but if we never see the promise come to pass, it’s just empty words, empty sounds that mean nothing. 

So this week I think I will think about my words and my choices through 2 lenses: if my dog could understand this, would I still say/do this? And do the words I speak carry any actual meaning or are they empty? I just wish Balaam’s ass was around to offer her thoughts on the subject.

#lent2022 #rescuedogsofinstagram #bibleinoneyear #repentandbelieve




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