Herbert Brokering - Dog Psalms: Prayers My Dogs Have Taught Me

Copyright 2009 by Herbert Brokering
This edition copyright 2009 Lion Hudson

The right of Herbert Brokering to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Originally published in the United States of America by Augsburg Books in 2003.
Reproduced by permission.

Published in the UK by Monarch Books
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England.
Tel: +44 (0)1865 302750 Fax: +44 (0)1865 302757
Email: monarch@lionhudson.com
www.lionhudson.com/monarch

Reprinted 2010.

ISBN: 978-1-85424-936-4
e-ISBN 978-0-85721-390-7

Photos: Stockxchange, Roger Chouler

British Library Cataloguing Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Dedicated to dogs who have helped me pray:

Rex
Tippy
Peggy Ann
Scamper
Schnappsie
Spitz
Bruno
Millie
Blaise

Introduction

I know dogs in my life the way I know people and cats and trees and landscapes. Dogs are in my mindscape and help shape my thoughts, feelings, and prayer life. Dogs have taught me attributes I feel in myself when reflecting and praying. Dogs have shown me the spirit of being loyal, glad, overwhelmed, protective, committed, vigilant, patient, kind, energetic, discerning, forgiving. Unfolding these attributes of dog life opens my own spiritual being. My relationship with dogs mirrors my relationship with God. The title of this book might have been Dear God, I Am Dog .

In Dog Psalms the reader can use a dogs attributes to speak to God. It is a natural connection. Like a dog, I, too, wait and watch. Waiting and watching is a silent power, a gift in me. I wait for what I want, hope for, long for, need. I wait for what is next, for company coming, a voice on the phone, a word from the doctor. I watch for those who are away. Dear God, I pray in my waiting and watching. You have given me the gift of time. You have told me later, tomorrow, next year, later, later, later. You are my good master.

Who are the dogs I have known best? First, there was Rex, who lay in the sun with me on the cellar door of our parsonage in rural Nebraska. Rexs thoughts were my thoughts, and his ways were mine. I knew every flea on his body seventy years ago, and I cared for him as my mother cared for me.

Tippy and Peggy Ann, spotted terriers, were mother and daughter. I braided them collars and harnesses. They were in my homemade circus, under a tent where I was most often alone, watching, marvelling, in awe. This was a time before dog foods; Tippy and Peggy Ann ate our best scraps from the table. I cooked them porridge made of ground feed and wanted them to love it as I loved my porridge.

There were highs of births, scampering puppies; there were lows of giving puppies away, saying goodbye, dog burials. Then came life in the city and new dogs from dog pounds, especially Scamper, a Japanese spaniel from Louisiana. I experienced the spirit of joy, wisdom, melancholy, faithfulness, and adoration inside with each new member of the family.

Schnappsie, a dachshund in Detroit, taught me to relax, wiggle, welcome, snuggle, stretch, sleep. A white spitz in the Haeckel parsonage taught me that dogs nip, yip, protect, and say, This is mine, just as my siblings and I did at home. I saw Spitz and I saw myself.

Going to the Cronick home in Byron, Nebraska, was a high point. There was a bark of Bruno, a Newfoundland whose voice would have rung like an echo through the Swiss Alps. Each visit woke a dream in me to be a rescue dog in the mountains, searching for lost people and bringing them food and drink around my collar.

Millie is a dog who now visits hospitals and homes, walking corridors, greeting people in wheelchairs or on beds. She wears ribbons and hats and helps people smile who often lose their laughter. Some say she is an angel, some say a minister. Millie believes she is Dog.

Dog Psalms is about what dog lovers have learned from watching the best friend lying at their feet. These teachers wiggle and wag, snuggle, chase sticks, beg, depend on others for life, and exchange everything for lifelong commitments of faithfulness and love.

Dog Psalms is also about the human spirit, yours and mine. The readings are meant to help us speak out loud to our Master. We wiggle, we guard, we wait, we give, we hope, we hunt, we dig, we growl, we forgive, we beg, we stray, we whine, we jump, we snoop, we cuddle, we nudge, we pant, we charm, we heal. And our Master watches and loves us through it all.

Herbert Brokering

I trust

I am dog. I am loyal.

Your trust is in me. You help me grow my trust. More and more we belong to each other. I pledge allegiance to you, as you have to me. When you double your faithfulness to me, I triple mine to you. I lean on you when I cannot stand by myself. When you have need, I will hold you. I am willing to help and to be helped. Your trust grows my loyalty. I depend on your dependability. Trust was planted in me long ago in the womb. Our trust will have no end. I depend on your kindness for a good life. I am dog and I am loyal. I need your faith for my faith.

Dear God,

You have given me your trust. Loyalty is in me. I am yours as you are mine. In a storm, I lean on you and you hold me. You are my anchor; in doubt you are my hope. There is no clear line between us to keep us apart. You surround me and are inside me. You are above and below and beside me. Your faithfulness gives me faith.

I wiggle

I am dog. I love you.

My whole being shows you my affection. With eyes and lips and paws and tongue, I love you. I assume with my whole self that you love me too. I wiggle and wag and jump and climb and pant for you to love me. I am dog. I feel innocent even after proven guilty. I love you unconditionally, believing you love me the same. I am dog. The tides of the oceans are in me. I wiggle as I ride waves, hear love calls of ancient forests, feel the kiss of a wisp of wind. I have a spirit that runs through all times.

Dear God,

My spirit wiggles in me. I dance in my heart when I feel your closeness. I cannot hold my feelings still. Your spirit runs through me like a living stream, a slow rhythm, and with you I am young. You keep me alive with goodness from the earth and the heavens. You find the good in me. You move me with your joy.