Coming To Me After Getting Out…

One very frustrating thing about dogs is when they get out, they don’t want to come back. What makes it worse is if they can tell you’re angry, then they really don’t want to come back. So, in order to not have to chase them all over creation, you have to make them think you are happy. Dogs like it when you are happy. The easiest way I’ve found to not have to chase them is to sit down and call them. If you are sitting, it doesn’t look you are angry at them and they’ll more likely want you to pet them. When they come to be petted, you simply get a firm hold of their collar and take them inside. But…they still are clueless that they’ve done something wrong, so you still can’t punish them, otherwise they’ll think you are punishing them for coming to you, which will make it less likely they’ll come to you the next time.

Some people see God as a vengeful, angry god who punishes for all kinds of things. After observing our dogs’ behavior it seems to me that that’s illogical. Hell is our punishment. Anything “bad” we experience on earth is not punishment, but God teaching us something or, at the very least, getting our attention. Just as our perception of cause and effect is much more advanced than a dogs, God’s perception of cause and effect is much more advanced than ours. When a dog does something, the wise dog owner determines whether or not the dog will correctly perceive any discipline as the effect of the undesired cause. If it’s to late (more than a few seconds after the offending deed) then no punishment would be perceived correctly, so none should be given. To be truthful, our perception of cause and effect is not that much more advanced than a dog’s. If something bad happens (let’s say I scratch my car on a tree) at what interval could I safely and correctly perceive it as a punishment for something? One minute? Maybe. One hour? Probably not. So causing something bad as punishment would not be very logical for God to do. Therefore we have to remember it’s not punishment, it’s teaching, and try to learn what it is we are being taught.