Barking at Waterfalls

Psalm 55:22

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."

We have written here about two of our dogs: Bentley (Bones), and Matti. We have a third dog, Molly, who belonged to my mother before she died.

Molly is a Doxie; a purebred that was given to her by my first cousin Rick, in Atlanta. Rick and his wife knew mom loved Dachshunds, and Rick wanted to do something special for Mom. So he found Molly at a breeder in Atlanta, and flew out to California with Molly on his lap. Molly's original name was Duchess, but the name didn't seem to fit her. Mom and my daughter Janel liked a character on West Wing named Molly, so Duchess was re-dubbed Molly.

Molly is a big barker. Our pool has a waterfall feature that comes on daily at 11:00 am. She barks when it comes on, and barks when it goes off. We found out Molly had an internal clock the week we drained the pool to replaster it. Even though the waterfall was turned off during the work period, Molly would run to the door at 11:00 am and start barking. We feel very fortunate that Molly protects us daily from the waterfall monster. To her, the threat is real, and no matter how I have tried to keep her from doing it, she continues her insane tirade.

There are lots of monsters out there, real and imagined. And likewise, there are Mollys everywhere yapping at us with dire warnings that doom is very near. I know that the world is a dangerous place. We live in scary times. But I also know that throughout my life, there have been countless of times we have been told that the end was near, only to have the deadline pass without incident.

Mark Twain is credited (perhaps incorrectly) for saying ‘I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.’ It is a quote I think about often whenever I have a feeling of dread for what may or may not be ahead.

When that happens, it is good to recall Psalm 55. In it, the writer tells us that all around him are enemies that seek his destruction. But in verse 22, he changes the tide of his remarks, saying that God will sustain us during those time that rattle us, and cause us dismay.

So, put your mind at ease. Go about today without fear, and think about righteousness. Strive to attain it. Learn from Molly's futile lesson. The water monsters we fear are most likely just imagined.