Did anyone else catch the interview yesterday on MPR with a woman who has recently written a book about Rin Tin Tin? The author Susan Orlean spent eight years researching this real and fictional character of book and early television. It was a fascinating interview. While I have to admit I have never thought much about this hero-dog, I learned so much about him and all those who played him on TV, his owner and what his inspiration brought to so many. I found it so interesting that I just might purchase this book.

However the part of the interview that intrigued me most came from a caller who phoned in to talk of his own experience of being the owner of a German Shepherd. His dog is a ‘helping dog’. How does he help? He goes into elementary schools so children can read to him. I can’t stop thinking about this! The visual person in me has imagined these dogs,trained in this special way, sitting with a child as they sound out words and maneuver through making sense of black marks on white pages. My heart just goes immediately soft thinking about it.

This practice of using dogs as reading partners was a new concept to me. Apparently I may be alone in this. When I mentioned it to our son he readily reported that it has happened for some time and is instrumental in allowing children with speech difficulty or lack of self-esteem for any number of reasons to read without judgment. Again,my heart went limp. Imagining these young children, fearful to read aloud, laboring over words on a page while warm, loving, brown eyes watch attentively.

It reminded me of all the bumper stickers that reverse the letters for ‘God’. Things like ‘Dog is my co-pilot’ or ‘Dog is love.’ Indeed, in these reading relationships Dog is a co-pilot, riding shot-gun with a fragile being full of possibility, walking with hope and a wounded ego. Dog is also love, the kind of unconditional love we faithful so often equate with the Holy One. I would be so bold as to say that, in this instance, Dog and God might be one and the same.

We have been blessed recently to have a dog in our house again after several years. I have to admit that I am fascinated with his behavior and his devotion. How is it possible to have so much love in your body? But he does and so often I am the recipient of it. I don’t deserve it. I don’t even ask for it most of the time. But he is there, ready to offer this love whether I want it or not, whether I feel I deserve it or not. Sounds a lot like the words we preach on Sunday mornings.

Today I am thankful for dogs, those who listen to stammering stories without ever flinching. Those who smile their dog smiles and allow their eyes to look deeply into human eyes without ever feeling embarrassed or shy. Those who continue to love us when we are unlovable and down right mean. Those who, without knowing it, show us the kind of Love that will not let us go.

No matter what.