LESS DOG, MORE GOD
By Uriah J. Fields

      God spelled backward is dog and dog spelled backward is God.  Shakespeare extolling man exclaimed, "How like a god." Today, the exclaimation might well be "How like a dog."
      For many people the dog has become more than a household word..He is a household occupant or resident, a pet that dwells inside the home and  an intimate partner to his owner with bed-sharing privileges. The dog is embraced and accepted to be man's best friend." More of a friend than the Creator of both man and the dog. Although the dog is referred to many times in the Bible but never as a pet.  But rather as a protector of sheep or night watchman of the house.
    How many dogs are too many? Americans with a human population of 322.2 million own approximately 70 to 80 million dogs, 37 to 47 percent of all households of the global human popoulation of 7.2 billion owning 900 milloin dogs. The United Sfates is third in human population, about 5% of the world's population, after India and China with most people, owns appproximsely 10% of the world's dog population.
       While most domesticaed dogs in America claim pet status, they often serve other purposes and function as search dog, attack dog and fighting dog.
     At least 4.5 to 4.7 millon Ameircans are bitten by dogs each year. About 300 people bitten by dogs die annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
       The cost of owning a dog include veterinary care and may consists of neuter, euthanize, dog shelters, dog sitters and much more.
     Many apartment dwellers own dogs and they are a source of many complaints made by people who are dissatified with having to live in close proximity with dogs. Some of their complaints are justified. Some apartment landlords do not rent to dog owners. The question being asked more often than before is: "Has America gone to the dogs?"
     Has people's attanchment to dogs,  their intimate relationsihp with dogs and their affection for dogs made dogs their idols that replaced God as the object or subject of their supreme affection? The Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther reminds us to "Let God be God." In some homes the dog receives more affection and loving-tender care than any other creature in that home. Many dog owners expect other people to acknowledge and even relate affectionately to their dogs. It is much more welcoming by some dog owners for people to talk about their dogs than to talk about God. God forbid that humans esteem dogs more than they do the Creator of dogs and the dogs' owners.
   "How like a god?" "A dog is man's best friend." "Have we gone to the dogs?" Ponder these things.
    My best friend can never be a dog. My best freind is God who first loved me and Who I love most. A dog is a long way down from second on my list of friends.

Copyright 2016 by Uriah J. Fields