"GoD and DoG" by W J Francisco

GoD and DoG Thoughts by Wendy Francisco "I look up and I see GoD"
The one thing that bugged me about this line is that I don't really think of God as being "up" in a directional sense. He's everywhere and even inside people who invite Him to be there. But he's a higher being, so in that way, when you look up in your heart, when you think about better things, you ultimately conclude God...at least I do.

"I look down and see my dog."
I hope that the first two lines of the song conveys that people are in the middle, between two kinds of sincere devotion.

"Simple spelling G O D, Same word backwards, D O G."
In the English language, this is an amusing reality. It doesn't hold true for other languages, but is simply one of those linguistic coincidences that poets capitalize on. It just happens that the inverted spelling of these two words fits my song beautifully. I don't believe there is any cosmic signifigance in this, but when I meet God in person someday perhaps I will be corrected.

"They would stay with me all day."
The main reason I wrote God and Dog is that much of organized religion has portrayed God as someone he is not. I believe he has a love for all people, that he knows us deeply and yearns for a relationship with every one of us.

"I'm the one who walks away."
Everytime I leave my dog to go do something "important", he gives me a look that says, "I wish I could be with you". Many people believe they have failed God and that God has left them. That's because we don't realize how BIG God's forgiveness is. How silly to think that the cummulative mistakes of any person could outweigh the forgiveness of the God of the universe.

"But both of them just wait for me and dance at my return with glee."
My dog has a party when I return even if I have been gone only 10 minutes. The prodigal son left home and squandered everything his father had given him. The father didn't follow his son and hurl judgements and insults. He just waited. When his son returned, the dad didn't say a thing about what his son had done. He was so thrilled to have him back that he threw a big party.

"Both love me no matter what, divine God and canine mutt. "
We know how forgiving our dogs are. Their relationship to us is not based on a scorecard. Well many people think that God loves you based on how good you are. If this were true then it would be impossible to have an authentic friendship with him. We would all either be intolerably proud, or we'd be disfuctionally humiliated. This is why dead religion is often made of of intolerably proud people telling disfunctionally humiliated people what to do.

"I take it hard each time I fail but God forgives, Dog wags his tail".
What Jesus did was supposed to be a gift, not a guilt trip. If you don't believe that God's forgiveness is a huge aspect of who he is, you won't be able to forgive yourself... or anybody else either. God "remembers our sins no more".

"God thought up and made the dog, dog reflects a part of God".
I don't think of dogs as gods. I don't think that every dog is a total picture of God. I am not into fundamental creationism but I don't think that darwinism (or most anything that ends with "ism") is the complete answer. I think God created the universe and the creatures on earth. The order of creation in Genesis loosely reflects what science is telling us. This is utterly fascinating to me. My favorite things to read are the Bible, and books on particle physics, astrophysics, biochemistry, etc. People can shout about creationism versus science all they want... I wasn't there at the beginning of the world, so I don't know. But however the details were done, I think God expressed himself in the things we see around us.

"I've seen love from both sides now, it's everywhere, amen, bow wow."
When I treat my animals with respect, I gain a relational trust that is one of the most rewarding things in life. I think God encoded his entire creation with this truth - that when you love another being and give it room to be itself, you lift it's head, you draw it out, and you earn it's love. When you force and control an animal, something deep inside it retreats and you miss out. Do that enough and your life becomes silent, lonely, and cold. It's the same with our relationships to each other. When people control people, something deep in the spirit retreats and goes cold, physical health begins to decline, things unravel.

Some people think that God is a manipulator and a controller. To me it looks like God created this universe to flourish in the presence of love and freedom. True love is a result of the gift of freedom, it cannot be forced. God has shown in his creation, that love brings health and life. He is the originator of these things and these things reflect who He is. In my life I have seen miracles like crippled bones straightening out before my eyes after prayer... but that is not why I believe in God. I believe there is a God because I see the results of love and freedom, versus the results of control and manipulation on people and animals. I have become convinced He is there because this song plays over and over all throughout creation.

"I look up and I see God, I look down and see my dog
And in my human frailty, I can't match their love for me."

This is the humbling part. GoD and DoG love me unwaveringly and I can't match it. But I am learning...

Other thoughts...
I had been told by some that is isn't right to compare God to a dog. But Jesus said that he wanted to gather people like a hen gathers her chicks. I have a hen with chicks at the moment and she is so gentle and dedicated. It is a beautiful analogy. So I figure it's ok to point to the enthusiastic devotion of a dog and comment that God is at least that enthusiastic about us... and much more. Dogs are tangible and Jesus used comparasins to many tangible things to try and illustrate what God was like.

I had someone say my song was blasphemy. Oh well. Ya can't please everybody. I think people who have really loved a dog or any animal will understand the song and those who have not simply need to walk a few more miles.