Have you ever seen the show The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel? I saw it for the first time last week and I was immediately hooked. I started watching at around 11pm and didn't stop till about 2:30am or so. When a dog has a serious behavior problem and its owners don't know what else to do to get them to stop running after cars, biting people or emanating ear-splitting howls, they call in The Dog Whisperer.

It was just amazing to see how this "animal psychologist" was quickly able to tame even the most aggressive dogs - turning a vicious pitbull into a sweet, docile animal. His techniques worked amazingly fast. He simply had to show the dog that he was boss, not the dog. Once the dog realized he was no longer the alpha dog, he would mellow out and become a happy, submissive, loveable, peaceful puppy. It was astounding to see the transformation.

So how does The Dog Whisperer become The God Whisperer? Well, I practice a form of meditation called Lectio Divina. In a nutshell, Lectio entails opening the bible to a verse and reading till you find a word or phrase that feels like it's meant for you. Then you follow a four-step process: Read, Reflect, Respond, Rest.

Some people like to start at the beginning of the Bible and work their way forward, but I like to close my eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to lead me to the passage that I need to meditate on. And boy, does He answer that prayer. More times than not it's absolutely uncanny how appropriate the reading is to what I'm going through.

I have had so many jaw-dropping experiences doing this over the past year that it has strengthened my belief immensely. There's no way I could do anything but firmly believe in Jesus, God, the hereafter, Heaven, eternity, and the reality of temptation after what I've experienced through this meditation. (I'll go into more detail in some future post. But back to The Dog Whisperer...)

I don't think I had prayed Lectio since discovering TDW this past weekend. And it wasn't in my mind at all until after I finished the four R's of my meditation. Today's "random" reading was a passage from Isaiah that started "It is long ago now since you broke your yoke, burst your bonds and said, 'I will not serve!'" And later, God, through Jeremiah, starts using the animal metaphor some more, "A frantic she-camel running in all directions bolts for the desert, snuffing the breeze in desire..." In fact, this colorful passage makes all sorts of damning proclamations -- "...I had planted you, a choice vine, a shoot of soundest stock. How is it you have become a degenerate plant, you bastard vine?" Anyway, I was humbled to say the least and reminded of the many ways, especially lately, that I have disappointed my Creator. Perhaps I have refused to serve and am running around like an out-of-control, hormone-influenced wild animal...

That's when the idea of The Dog Whisperer popped into my head. I was immediately reminded of how wild each one of these dogs were before they were shown who was really in control. The Dog Whisperer said that the aggression the dogs were exhibiting was often because they were frightful, fearful and insecure. They felt like they had to be the big, strong leader of the pack. And when The Dog Whisperer came in and calmly took control from them and thus became the pack leader, the dog fell in line and became peaceful and content. It occurred to me that perhaps I have been like a wild dog thrashing around, barking my head off and nipping at those around me. And that I wasn't going to be at peace till I let God become my pack leader. Aha! Then it all made sense to me. This is the way that God has made all creatures. We exhibit the very same behaviors as dogs in a pack.

I was hesitant to call this post The God Whisperer, because I certainly don't want to compare God to a dog. And He's not the one that needs to be shown whose boss... but being an advertising copywriter, I couldn't help but want to have a little wordplay going on, and more importantly, God indeed is whispering to us all, if we take the time to be silent and listen. He is trying to train us to take his lead -- to let Him be our Pack Leader. Only when we do, will we be at peace.

God Bless,
Bill