WORLD’S UGLIEST DOG CONTEST

 

This past week there was an interesting contest held in California. I  hope it was all done in fun. I hope this was staged to encourage people to choose a new pet, a dog who is ownerless and neglected.

 

How do you nominate the “world’s ugliest dog contest?” 

 

But let us examine what could be an ugly dog?

 

Do you judge by appearance? Are hairless dogs actually ugly? To their owners? To their mothers? Who determines whether a dog is ugly?

 

I am very appreciative to have got to know a seeing-eye dog that was the constant companion to an older blind lady. The dog could read the traffic, read the red and green llights and recognize ice on the side walks during winter. The more a got to know the seeing-eye dog the more I appreciated what a incredible animal this actually was.

 

Now, how could there ever be an “ugly dog?”

 

Our Christian faith gives us rock-solid truth about all creation. In the story of creation (Genesis chapter 1 and 2) God stands back at the end of every day of creation and says, “and it is good.”  All creation nis good.  Even the green slime in our prairie sloughs is good!   

 

This ugly dog contest challenges us. Is there any part of creation that is ugly?

 

Take a few reflective minutes to see how beautiful each bird that flies by is. Enjoy the beauty of each cloud in the sky.

 

And look into the eyes of each person you will deal with today. What bauty! What a beautiful expression of God’s creative power.

 

There is no “world’s ugliest dog.” 

 

Everything is creation is a gift. How good God the Maker/Creator is. 

MOVING US TOWARD GOD

 

One of the great drives toward  a religion on the part of all human beings throughout the world is for security. We want a divine power that will protect us, give our lives strength and meaning and enable us to get along with life.

 

But that is only a part of what religious faith is supposed to do.

 

The other part (and the most important part) is  for human beings to get in touch with the direction that God wants for the world and for our individual lives.

 

The gospel reading for this Sunday ( Mt. 15, 21-28) about the Cananite woman (an outsider) marks a deepening in the ministry f Jesus and in the life of the people of the Church.

 

She does not belong among the Jewish people. She is an outsider but she is persistent. Jesus (as a typical Jew) referred to her as a dog! But she is sharp and she is determined: “But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.”

She had him. At this point in time the vision of Jesus was enlarged. His ministry was al for all people: Jew and Gentile alike.

 

This is where this event in Matthew’s gospel expands and challenges all the Church. The mercy and redemption of the death and resurrection of Christ is for all peoples.

 

This is why our Christiaan faith is a daily challenge. Are there peoples who we exclude? Do not give fair and equal employment opportunities because they are different? 

 

All cultures have a black history of exclusion to people who are different based on their skin color, the ethnic background or their  educational background.

 

This Sunday’s gospel selection is a bold challenge. God’s heart and vision are so much bigger than our own. We are being stretched.

 

How do you feel challenged by the insight that this Cananite woman gave Jesus? And what does she give to us about God’s heart?

 

 

CREATION: WHERE DOES IT FIT IN THE PLAN OF GOD?

In this history of Christianity certain aspects of God has been emphasised and others parts neglected. 

We now live in a time of history when there is great danger that humanity will warm up the atmosphere and make it very difficult for life forms to flourish. Three is a real danger that certain parts of the globe will no longer be habitable for humanity. We can   picture milli0ns of climate refugees. 

What does our faith have to say to that? What can our salvation story offer?

We are not empty handed here. We need to go back to our very understanding of who and what God is. 

The first part of our creed is very clear. All of creation comes from the very hand of God. “I believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth.” 

When we go b ack to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis in the Bible we see that God created  all that is. He made creation in six days. Notice that at the end of each day “God saw that it was good.” And on the seventh day God rested. God too pleasure and joy in all that he had created. 

This means that for you and for me we need to see each cloud, each green leaf, each deer from wanders into town from the park is an expression of God. Each small cell and each massive tree is created and loved by the very  had of God.

The first cathedral of God is found in nature. We need to spend time during this  rather hot summer to sit back in enjoyment and gratitude for the goodness of God, the hand of God fluttering in the breeze.  The first book of revelation is nature.

We need to see every bird and animal as a gift of God. A gift  of God that comes solely out of the goodness of God. 

And now we must move from seeing God’s hand in creation to loving the earth with the same love and enjoyment that God has in creating he earth. 

As we grow in our concern for the future of the earth we need to dig deep into what our faith offers us? Challenges us? And empowers us  to work to ensure that call creation thrives.

You will never try to preserve what you do not love. You will never work to preserving thre earth if you do not  love the handwork of God.

Spend some time today, coffee cup in hand, just enjoying all creation as you sit on your deck this afternoon. And let the prayer of praise from in song and joy from your heart.