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There
are three words that Arlena and I do not speak in Albert’s presence, as it
sets off an uncontrollable reaction in him, uncontrollable by us because he is
ready in a heartbeat to respond to those words. They are, in no particular
order: "go," "walk," and "ride." No matter where
he is in the house – up under a bed, behind a couch, on the back porch –
mention that word, sometimes only in a whisper, and he comes running. And
if we get near his leash, we do not even have to say "walk." He knows
and he is ready and raring to go. His exuberance knows no bounds and it is
useless to try to settle him down. All we can do is hurry up, put our coats on,
snap on his leash and open the door wide as he pulls us along. We say three
words – we really need to say only one of them – and Albert is ready to go
wherever we lead him. That
is how Albert responds. But how do we respond when Jesus says just two words to
us, "Follow me"? Does he receive the same reaction from us as Albert
gives to the word "go"? Are we ready and willing to follow, go
anywhere, excited, exuberant, enthusiastic to live out our faith? Or is our
response more gentle? Is it more of a ho-hum than a hooray? Do we look forward
to going where Jesus will lead or do we avoid the leash and hide even further
behind the couch, as it were? Our
faith, to hold with the analogy, can take us on some harrowing rides, take us to
places where we would rather not go, have us walk down paths we would rather
not, if, when Jesus says, "Follow me," we follow. We do not have to
follow, of course. We can walk away. But when we cast our lot with Jesus, when
we respond to his two words, he expects us to be as excited and as ready and
willing as Albert is when Albert hears those three words. Why
does Albert respond that way, react with so much enthusiasm? I don’t know.
What I do know is that he trusts us and trusts us implicitly. He trusts that we
will never put him in harm’s way; we will never lead him down any path, take
him on any ride, go anywhere where he will be in danger and left all alone.
Albert, I believe, somehow knows we would never, ever do anything like that to
him. And we wouldn’t, of course. We
should know the same from Jesus. When Jesus asks us to follow him, do we believe
he would never allow us to be left in harm’s way all alone? Or are we somehow
afraid, reluctant to do what we know following him demands of us, because we
think Jesus will leave us alone and we will have to go it alone? Jesus
wouldn’t, of course. Would
that my response to Jesus’ two words was even half as enthusiastic as
Albert’s is to those three words. I would be a much better person, a much
better Christian and certainly have a much deeper faith. And you? Thanks
for the reminder and the example, Albert.
WJP |