Keep Walking

There are the walks we take- the daily grind ones to the grocery store, to CVS, to the kitchen to make French press coffee; the walks with the dog who is thrilled you’ve woken up and you are paying attention to her, and now for her it’s an unbelievably fantastic day, and she bounds in front of you, turns back to look, you offer a tiny treat and that’s the big reward. Your dog races back.

“Sit,” you say.

She does, kind of, her butt barely touches the ground. Ok. Good enough. You give her the treat. All is right in your dog’s world.

Another walk. Another day. Your heart is heavy. You have too many questions, you’ve gotten some tough news. You take the same walk with your dog. She senses something is up, and stays a little closer, but the treat, yep, that’s still her prize. You reach past your heavy heart and let her run forward, then back again.

“Good girl. Sit.”

Treat extended. She takes it, woofs it down without chewing. She looks at you. So what are we going to do now? You take the long way around the neighborhood, past the houses of people you know and don’t know. One thing you do know — everybody’s got a heartache. You keep walking, you rub your dog’s head. Three days ago the medical tests came back — early in the morning they came— on your phone. And you started looking up the baffling medical terms and tried to diagnose things. Who picks these crazy names for bloodwork? What do these numbers mean? It was too early to call your doctor. After an hour of research you concluded you were either healthy as a horse or you had three hours to live. Some news comes quickly like a badly pitched baseball shattering your window. Two days ago you were one person, now it feels you are another.

I have a kaleidoscope made by an artist in Israel. Carved on the side of it are these words: “For I know the plans I have for you…” God’s words. Good words to put in your pocket when it feels like your plans have changed. And you know how kaleidoscopes work — same cut colored glass inside and it only takes a shake or a turn to change the pattern. But each pattern has a beauty to it especially when you look at it through the light.

So here you go down the road with your dog who is thrilled by it all. Give your dog a treat. Give yourself one, too. And keep walking.

Thanks for being here. Please help spread the word…